Chapter 1

Lucille's POV

Of course, I wasn't going to pay my respects to Casey Clarke, of all people.

Alexander York stood there, his expression already cold. "Lucille, don't make me ask twice."

I removed my veil. "This wedding is off."

The entire ballroom fell silent.

Casey quickly broke the silence with a laugh. "Oh, come on, Lucille. You seriously can't take a joke? Al didn't even blink and called me 'Daddy'. One would think you could handle a little more than he can."

The groomsmen joined in, laughing and egging me on.

Alexander's mother, Mildred Smith, shot to her feet. "Lucille, do you have any idea where you are now? No matter what you're upset about, we can deal with it after the ceremony. Just finish the wedding."

His father, Ethan York, remained seated, but his face had darkened. "All of the York family's guests are here. If you call off the wedding now, what exactly are we supposed to tell them?"

I turned to Alexander. "So, did neither of you plan to explain to the guests or to me what the two of you had been pulling?"

He took the microphone from my hand. "Sorry, everyone, but Lucille isn't feeling well. We're putting the ceremony on hold."

I softly corrected him, saying, "I'm not unwell. I don't want to marry you anymore."

Alexander finally looked at me. There was no concern in his eyes, just the anger of a man who had been publicly defied.

Mildred grabbed my hand. "Haven't you embarrassed us enough? There's no marriage without hurt feelings. Casey's been like this with Alex since they were kids. You really had to make an issue of it today?"

So, this was the first thing I was supposed to learn after marrying into the York family—swallowing my grievances in front of everyone, no matter how humiliating.

When Casey sensed how tense things had become, she casually picked up the veil I had left on my chair and plopped it over her head. She planted her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at Alexander.

"The bride's walking out? Fine. Your best man will take her place. Son, come on. Lift Daddy's veil."

The guests burst out laughing again.

Alexander reached over and shoved her away. "Go away. Stop making things worse."

He sounded annoyed, but there wasn't a trace of real anger in his eyes.

As Casey backed away, she stepped on the veil. The sheer white fabric dragged across the carpet, leaving a long black streak across it.

That was the last thing Mom had left me before she died. Everyone knew that.

Yet when Mildred saw the stain, all she did was frown. "It's just a veil. We'll get a new one later."

Only then did I understand that none of these people had ever cared about me, let alone my family.

Alexander grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the private bridal room. The second the door closed, the last remnants of his patience disappeared.

"What on earth was that? Casey made one stupid joke, and you're going to ruin the entire wedding over it?"

I looked at him, yet strangely, it didn't hurt me as much as I thought it would. Maybe I had been disappointed far too many times that by the time it came to this, even arguing with him felt pointless.

"You're right. Her joke isn't worth ruining a wedding over."

His brow twitched. "Stop saying things you don’t mean out of anger, Lucille. We're already legally married. Even if you walk out on me today, you're still my wife."

I looked at the red marks around my wrist, left by his tight grip. "Then we'll get a divorce."