Chapter 1

Victoria's First-Person POV

My fiance, Zachary Everdon, immediately blew up after I sent over the purchase record.

He started calling me relentlessly, his pitch higher than usual. "Victoria Stone, have you gone mad for money? It's just a stupid wedding dress that probably only costs a few thousand dollars at most. And you actually photoshopped it to claim it's worth 200 million? Who do you think you're fooling?"

A harsh, mocking laugh came from the other end of the line.

Zachary continued, "Does a woman from the slums like you even know what 200 million dollars is like? Even if I sold you, you wouldn't come close to fetching that kind of money!"

I listened in silence, feeling like the man shouting in my ear right now was a completely different person from the Zachary I had decided to marry.

Three months ago, he had gently whispered in my ear, "Thank you for staying with me as I built everything from scratch for the past five years, Victoria."

But now, Zachary had shed all pretense of cordiality over a single wedding dress.

I took a deep breath. "I'm only giving you two choices, Zachary. Either you give me an identical wedding dress, or you compensate me in full."

Zachary let out a cold laugh, indifference lacing his tone. "It's just a stupid wedding dress. I'll just give it back to you. But you've really got some nerve asking for 200 million dollars. If you're going to lie, at least make it believable.

"What, do you think you're a wealthy heiress or something? You really need to reflect on yourself. It's truly hard to imagine someone as vain as you marrying into my family!"

Still grumbling, Zachary hung up before I could say anything.

My gaze slowly turned cold.

Zachary didn't know that I actually was a wealthy heiress.

For the five years I was dating him, I had been carefully keeping up the appearance of being poor, all just to protect his fragile pride.

Now, it seemed there was no need for that any longer.

…

Two hours later, Zachary had someone toss the worn wedding dress in front of me. "There you go. I've returned your stupid wedding dress now."

Mary Lovelett looked like she had been crying. Her eyes were red and swollen as she choked out, "Please don't be upset, Victoria. I've returned your wedding dress exactly as it was. It's all my fault. Please don't argue with Zach because of me."

My gaze fell on the dirty hem of the wedding dress.

The once pure white wedding dress now had a corner stained with obvious dirt, looking grimy. Some unknown liquid was smeared on the other side, giving off an unpleasant scent that seemed suspiciously like semen.

Suppressing the urge to gag, I covered my nose and coldly asked, "What's this on the wedding dress, Mary? Are you deliberately doing this to disgust me?"

Zachary's expression immediately darkened. He cut me off and said, "Why are you making such a big deal out of it when the wedding dress has already been returned to you? Isn't it enough as long as it's wearable?"

Seeing my pale complexion, he seemed to realize his tone was too harsh and softened it a little. "Alright, she just wore your wedding dress once. It's not like it's damaged.

"Our wedding is tomorrow, and everything's already been prepared. It's just a bit of dirt on the hem. You can just wash it off. Can you stop making a fuss?"

With reddening eyes, I took a deep breath. "Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to? Something as intimate as a wedding dress isn't supposed to be worn by someone else. It'll bring bad luck."

Mary teared up instantly, looking wronged as she wiped her tears away. "Are you saying that I'll bring you bad luck, Victoria? I know I'm just a mere secretary. I don't have your kind of luck, getting to marry a CEO like Zach. But you can't humiliate me like this—"

Crying, she was about to run off, threatening to jump off the Cloudsville Bridge.