Chapter 3

A faint hint of disgust flashed in Selene's eyes. "Your physical needs are your own problem. They have nothing to do with me."

Cyrus didn't know what to say in response.

"Can you drive?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Then drive me home," she commanded.

"My scooter is—"

"I'll compensate you for it."

Cyrus faltered. "You're forcing me to be a kept man, aren't you?"

He stared at the sea of honking cars ahead, unable to stop himself from asking, "What about the reception tomorrow?"

His father had gone to a lot of trouble planning it, all so he could hold his head high in front of the entire village.

"Call it off." Selene's answer was brisk and without hesitation.

Cyrus fell silent.

…

"What? You're changing the bride? Have you lost your damn mind, Cyrus?"

Back at the family home in their hometown, Tom Reed was shaking with rage by the time Cyrus was done explaining the situation.

Cyrus raised his voice. "Dad! Just let me finish. It was Charlotte who crossed the line first! She brought some random guy into our brand-new apartment and let him screw her on the new bed I just bought!"

The other end of the line went dead silent. Only rough, heavy breathing came through.

After a long moment, Tom finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "Then… then what's the deal with this new bride?"

"Don't worry, Dad. You'll love her. She's a thousand times better than Charlotte. It's just that… we have to cancel tomorrow's reception." Cyrus paused, his voice lowering. "I'm sorry, Dad…"

He heard the sharp click of a lighter through the receiver.

Tom sighed. "Well, what else can we do?"

He suddenly sounded much older and more worn out. "With how you've changed brides at the last minute like this, my pride… I can't afford the shame."

Cyrus could just picture Tom standing on the porch, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his brows knotted in frustration. He felt like there was a boulder sitting on his chest.

Canceling the wedding was just losing a ceremony for him, but for his father, who'd spent his life trying hard to keep his head held high, it was a major humiliation.

"Dad, give it some time. I'll bring my new wife home to see you," Cyrus said.

"Alright…" Tom's voice was muffled and low. "Oh, right! What about the betrothal gifts we gave Charlotte and her family? Can we get them back?"

Cyrus froze. After being cheated on and rushing into a contractual flash marriage, his brain was still spinning. He hadn't even had the bandwidth to think about that.

"Don't worry, Dad," he quickly said. "The laws are different now. We'll definitely get them back."

Just then, he heard a beep indicating that he had another call coming in. He checked the caller ID to see Selene's name on the screen.

His heart clenched. He hurriedly told Tom, "Dad, I've got another call coming in. Don't worry about the betrothal gifts."

Cyrus hung up on Tom and immediately answered Selene's call. "Hello?"

"Come with me to see my grandfather tomorrow at 10:00 am." Selene's cold voice carried a clear note of command.

"Tomorrow? Do I need to buy anything for him?"

"No." She cut off his concern without a second thought. "I'll pick you up then."

The line went dead right after she finished speaking. All that remained was the hollow silence ringing in Cyrus' ear.

He stared blankly at his phone. "Can this woman be any bossier?"

…

The next morning, Cyrus arrived at the delivery hub where he'd been working for the past three years. The moment he parked his electric scooter, a mocking, nasal voice buzzed across the lot.

"Well, well, look who it is. Isn't this our groom-to-be, Cyrus Reed? What are you doing delivering takeout on your big day?"

Ken Wade, a thuggish food delivery guy, had a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he lounged on his scooter, eyes full of provocation.

He had always had it in for Cyrus. They'd fought over a VIP customer last time, and he'd lost. Cyrus had walked away with the bonus for making the most deliveries, and Ken had been stewing about it ever since.

Mike Tate, a scrawny coworker who always followed Ken around, immediately chimed in, "Come on, man. Gotta keep up with the news. Our groom here didn't exactly ride off into the sunset with his bride.

"He got slapped with a spectacular show of catching her in bed with another guy. I heard the whole thing was just…" He clicked his tongue.

Ken widened his eyes in exaggerated shock. "What? He got cheated on? What happened? Spill!"

He deliberately raised his voice so everyone could hear, drawing curious looks from nearby coworkers.

Mike, seeing he had an audience, became even more fired up. "Honestly, it was by pure luck that I found out about this. I was delivering an order to a unit in the same neighborhood Cyrus just bought an apartment in yesterday. Guess what I heard coming from the 'bridal suite'?"

"What?" Ken and a few others leaned in, all ears.

"I heard the bride saying all daintily, 'Cyrus, I just wanted to test how bouncy the mattress was. We couldn't help ourselves and tried it out.'" Mike deliberately pitched his voice higher to sound more like a woman, then burst out in shrill laughter.

"A new place, a new bed, and a new wife—yet the one 'breaking in' the marital home wasn't the groom. Tell me that's not wild!"

"Damn! That's savage!"

"Keep going!"

Another coworker named Bill Green jumped in, spitting as he talked. "And then Charlotte says she's gotta find her own ways to make a little extra cash because she's stuck with a broke loser like Cyrus. She's a real hustler, isn't she?"

He and the rest of the gang howled with laughter.

Cyrus clenched his fists so tightly at his sides that his knuckles cracked. He hadn't expected that humiliating scene from yesterday to have had an audience, let alone these jerks.

"Shut the hell up, all of you! You and your posse better watch your mouths, Ken!"

Cyrus' best friend, Ray Johnson, had just arrived. His face flushed red the moment he heard the filth Ken and his lackeys were spewing.

He threw his scooter aside, rolled up his sleeves, and charged forward, ready to start a fight.

Cyrus grabbed his arm and yanked him back. His chest heaved, and his eyes were bloodshot from holding back his fury, but his voice came out surprisingly low and hoarse. "Ray, don't."

"But Cyrus, they're going way too far!" Ray's eyes turned red, too.

Seeing Cyrus actually hold himself back instead of swinging annoyed Ken. After some thought, he shouted at Cyrus, "Man, if we'd known your bride was that desperate for cash, we would've helped her out, too. I've never tried what it's like to have a bride the night before her wedding!"

He deliberately emphasized the words "help her out" and "try what it's like".

"It's not too late, Ken." Mike immediately chimed in, fawning all over him as he pointed at Cyrus. "The groom's right here, isn't he? Just ask him for her rates!"

Ken's eyes lit up. "Man, how could I forget? Cyrus, how much does your bride charge for a round? Since we're coworkers and all, how about you hook us all up? You know what they say—don't let a sweet deal go to waste on outsiders. Am I right, guys?"

"Yeah! Give us the insider price!"

"We're all buddies here. We can help your business out!"

Ken's crew roared with laughter, loud enough for the entire hub to hear. They drew even more curious stares.

The tension grew palpable as Cyrus' temples throbbed violently. Next to him, Ray was so furious his chubby body trembled, his fists creaking as he clenched them. If Cyrus hadn't been holding him down, he would've already launched himself at the other men.

Cyrus took a deep breath, then walked toward Ken and his gang.

Just when everyone thought he was finally going to start swinging, he did something no one expected. The corners of his mouth lifted in a faint smile. "You guys really want to try her out?"

Ken and the others were thrown for a loop by that reaction. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

With Cyrus' temper, shouldn't he have charged at them by now? Then he would've gotten fired, had to pay compensation, and Ken could pick any scooter he wanted as part of the fallout, right?

So what was with all this cheeriness?

"O-Of course we do!" Ken stuck his neck out, forcing himself to keep up the bravado. "What, you actually willing to make the introduction?"

"An introduction? No problem." Cyrus' smile deepened. "But you get what you pay for. Charlotte's going rate isn't exactly cheap these days, and my 'referral fee' isn't cheap, either. Are you sure…"

He deliberately dragged out his words, sweeping a contemptuous gaze over Ken and his gang. "…You can afford it?"

"You…"

Ken and his buddies instantly turned beet red, unable to come up with a retort to his mockery.

Cyrus let out a derisive snort and swept his gaze over the ring of onlookers. He raised his voice and asked, "Besides, who told you Charlotte's my bride?"

"Did getting cheated on fry your brain, you dumbass?"

"Yeah, man. The wedding invitations were sent out yesterday! If she's not your bride, then who is?"

Even Ray leaned in nervously and lowered his voice. "Cyrus, are… are you okay? Don't freak me out here."

Cyrus patted his shoulder and laughed out loud. "Relax. I'm great. I'm actually here today to quit because I, my friend, have just married a rich, gorgeous woman. I'm heading straight for the top now!"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Ken and his crew howled with laughter.

"A rich, gorgeous woman? Hahaha! You? Cyrus, you're full of it. The whole galaxy can't contain your bullshit!" Ken laughed so hard he nearly doubled over, tears gathering in his eyes.

"You ever look at yourself in a mirror? You're out here riding a beat-up scooter delivering takeout, and you claim you married some rich lady? You've read way too many novels," Mike joined in, his laughter sharp and grating.

Ken eventually forced himself to stop laughing and stepped forward, slinging an arm around Cyrus' shoulders with malicious amusement.

"Come on, don't say we didn't give you a way out. Tell you what—if you can prove that you actually married someone rich and gorgeous, I…" He thumped himself on the chest. "…will get down on my knees and literally kiss your ass three times. How's that?"

Cyrus looked at him, the corners of his lips curving upward in a smile. "Sure."

"But if you can't prove it…" Ken spread his legs and jabbed a finger at his crotch, sneering. "You're gonna crawl through here in front of everybody and bark like a dog three times. You got the guts for that?"

"No problem," Cyrus answered without missing a beat.

His gaze swept over Mike and Bill standing beside Ken. "But you won't be doing it alone. The three of you are getting on your knees together and kissing my ass."

Mike and Bill practically jumped to their feet at the taunt, pointing at Cyrus and cackling.

"Being cheated on really got you good, huh?"

As far as they were concerned, they knew everything there was to know about Cyrus. Sure, he was decent-looking, but his family was so poor they were practically living hand to mouth. His only real friend was Ray; he had no other connections.

And he expected them to believe he had married a rich beauty? Pigs would sooner fly.

"So where's this rich, gorgeous wife of yours? I don't see her anywhere. Or is she still in your dreams?" Ken lit a cigarette, snorting derisively.

Cyrus was just about to speak when a low rumble cut him off.

The roar of an engine rapidly grew louder, rushing closer from a distance. It instantly drew everyone's attention.

A streak of blazing red shot toward them, wrapped in the rush of wind and the piercing screech of tires grinding against pavement, before coming to a steady stop right in front of them.

The molten red paint shone under the morning light, dazzling to the eye. It was a Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

The entire hub went dead silent.

Ken's jaw dropped so wide he forgot to close it. The cigarette in his fingers slipped and fell to the ground. Everyone else stood frozen, stunned into silence by the sudden appearance of the top-tier sports car.

The scissor door lifted gracefully upward. A slender foot in an exquisite crystal heel touched down first, its lines as perfect as a work of art.

Then, a tall, willowy figure unfolded from the driver's seat. Her long hair flowed down her back like a waterfall, swaying gently in the breeze.

She wore an off-white, boho-style maxi dress that traced out a heart-stopping silhouette. Oversized sunglasses covered most of her face, but they couldn't hide that flawless jawline or the frosty, aloof air she exuded. She was sharp and overwhelming.

Silence. Absolute silence.

Everyone nearby—people from all walks of life—stood rooted in place like they'd been frozen by a spell. They stared dumbly at the stunning woman who had just stepped into their world.

Her high heels clicked crisply against the concrete. She took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of clear, mesmerizing eyes.

Selene's gaze locked onto Cyrus with pinpoint accuracy. Her red lips parted, and her crisp voice, laced with a touch of impatience, shattered the stillness.

"Cyrus, I said you were coming home with me today to meet my grandfather, didn't I? Why are you out here delivering takeout?"