Chapter 2

The next day, at the wedding rehearsal, I sat alone in a corner of the hotel's dazzling ballroom. In my hand was the crumpled officiant's script. My eyes were so dry they felt like the desert.

I didn't sleep at all last night. The joy of coming home had turned into despair and rage.

What kept me awake most of all was yesterday's "bachelor party".

I had to drive Alex around like his personal chauffeur, watching as he and his friends drank themselves senseless. I also had to listen as he bragged right in front of me about how he'd "bagged" my fiancee.

"You guys have no idea how eager that woman is in bed," he'd proclaimed in a drunken stupor. "I'm way better than my loser brother!"

His friends roared with laughter. "Alex, you've got Noah driving you around while you sleep with his woman? You're a legend, man!"

As I listened to their jeers, my knuckles went white around the steering wheel, and my nails dug into my palms.

…

"What are you thinking about, Mr. Officiant?" Alex's voice rang out above me.

He was wearing my custom-made suit, the one I'd spent 30 thousand dollars to make before I left.

I looked up and forced a smile. "Nothing. I just haven't fully come to terms with everything yet."

"What's there to come to terms with?" He sat down beside me and handed me a glass of champagne. "You should be thanking me."

"Thank you for what?"

"For helping you continue the family line," he replied nonchalantly before lowering his voice. "But honestly, Erica's body? Damn. It's your loss, man."

My grip tightened around the champagne flute. "Do you even hear yourself? She's my fiancee. We've been engaged for three years."

"Is that so?" Alex snorted scornfully. "Because I'm the one who knocked her up. Oh, hang on."

He paused on purpose and smirked at me. "I guess it's also your baby. After all, you're going to be the second dad."

The second dad, huh?

The word stabbed me right in the heart, and I nearly crushed the champagne flute.

Just then, Erica walked over. She was wearing a beautiful white dress, the one I'd given her as a gift before I deployed.

She looked at me and said sweetly, "The rehearsal's about to start. Did you find the officiant's script?"

I lifted the wrinkled paper mechanically and replied in a hoarse voice, "Yes."

"That's good." Erica smiled before leaning in close and lowering her voice. "Actually, I think things are pretty good like this. While you were gone, your brother took very good care of me."

My fingers clenched, and the champagne flute shattered in my hand. Shards of glass pierced my palm, drawing blood.

"Hey! You shouldn't be so careless!" Erica exclaimed with fake concern, attracting everyone's attention. "Look at you! How are you going to take care of the children when you can't even hold a glass properly?"

"Noah!" Dad roared from behind me. "What are you doing? The rehearsal's about to start, and you're hanging around here daydreaming? You even got your clothes dirty! You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"I'll go change," I said quietly, wanting nothing more than to get out of this suffocating ballroom.

"There's no time for that!" Dad snapped. "Just leave it. You're just the officiant anyway, not the main stars of the event. Who's going to pay attention to you?"

"Right," I muttered through clenched teeth, my fists balled as I swallowed back all the rage and humiliation I felt.

The rehearsal began. As I stood on the podium, my bloodstained suit drew strange looks from the others in the ballroom.

When the emcee introduced me, he specifically added, "This is the groom's younger brother, and also the child's second dad."

Everyone burst into laughter and started whispering among themselves.

"Hahaha! Second dad? That's hilarious!"

"The groom looks pretty healthy to me. How'd his fiancee end up in his brother's bed?"

"I heard he got injured working out of town, so he can't get it up anymore."

"Oh, well. A guy like him can only let someone else's children call him dad then."

Up on the podium, I read out the officiant's script like a robot, my heart as cold and dead as it could be.