Chapter 1

Colin's POV

The room was so quiet that everyone could hear each other's breathing.

"Oh," my bride, Vera Johnson, said. "I must have misremembered. Colin graduated in 2012."

She coldly corrected herself as if nothing happened.

My best friend, Steve Hayes, smiled and tried to smooth the situation over.

"Vera's been really stressed for the past few days. It makes sense that she misremembered. Don't make things difficult. Your friends and family are watching."

Everyone else chimed in to convince me to let Vera's mistakes slide.

"It's supposed to be a happy day. Don't make such a long face. You should smile more."

"You can just punish Vera in bed later since she got the questions wrong. Don't delay the ceremony!"

Everyone thought that I was making a mountain out of a molehill, but only I knew that Vera had changed.

In the past, she would immediately ask me what was wrong if I looked upset. She would also tell jokes and give me presents to appease my anger.

However, at that moment, Vera kept her eyes on Steve and refused to look away.

"Alright then. Let's go."

I didn't want to put my friends and family, who had come from out of state, in an awkward situation, so I piggybacked Vera like I was supposed to.

Vera pinched the muscles on my back and said with a smile, "Your body fat must be over 25%. Your muscles aren't tight at all."

I frowned at how she mentioned 25% instead of any other number.

It was the exact same number that Steve had posted on his social media account when he was showing off.

"Were you piggybacked by someone with 25% body fat?" I asked nonchalantly.

Vera stiffened before she shook her head. "Of course not. Don't overthink things."

Just then, Steve rushed to explain himself.

"My body fat is 26%. It wasn't me."

My lips twitched.

It was blatantly clear that they had let the cat out of the bag without meaning to.

However, I didn't expose their lies. I wanted to see how much longer they were going to keep the act up.

Steve insisted on joining Vera and me in the cramped sports car, squeezing himself in between us.

"You don't mind, right, Colin? There's no space left in the other car. We'll just have to squeeze together."

I didn't say a single word.

Steve chattered away during the car ride. He seemed even more excited than me even though I was the groom.

Vera responded to everything he said, making me seem like I was the one who wasn't supposed to be there.

Steve suddenly patted Vera's back when the car turned the corner. "Do you remember the bakery in Northshell that sells those honey cakes, Vera?"

Vera nodded immediately and said with a smile, "Of course. Let's buy some."

She then ordered me to turn the car around and drive in the opposite direction of the church.

I frowned and stopped the car just in time, saying, "There's not enough time, Vera. That bakery is nine miles away. The wedding ceremony's starting in an hour. What if it gets delayed?"

Vera glared at me and snapped, "It's on the way. We're not going to waste too much time buying a few slices of cake. You're just being petty and taking revenge on me because I didn't get those questions right."

I bit my lip and clenched my fists.

So if I gave Vera the cold shoulder for answering the questions wrongly, I would be delaying the ceremony. Meanwhile, the bakery was "on the way" when Steve wanted to buy cake from a bakery that was out of the city.

If that was the case, I wasn't going to rush to the church anymore. Besides, I had no intention of marrying Vera.

A message popped up on my phone a few seconds later.

It was from Mom and Dad. "The car's waiting outside the church, Colin. We can leave anytime."