Chapter 3

"Hayden, are you okay?" Jace walked over with red-rimmed eyes and caught me by the arm before I could sway any further. "That woman is unbelievable. Absolute garbage. I'm calling my sister right now. She'll bring people, and we'll handle this."

"Don't call your sister." My voice was cold. "I'll deal with trash like her myself."

I picked up my phone and dialed. It connected before the first ring had even finished.

"Hello? Sweetheart, your aunts and I are already seated in the VIP section. When are you coming out? I can't wait to see you in your groom's suit!"

The sound of Mom's voice hit me somewhere deep, and for a moment the sting behind my eyes nearly won. I forced it back.

"Mom." I took a long breath and made every word count.

"The wedding is off. Meredith just took another man, tried to give him my groom's suit and my boutonniere, and went out to the ballroom to hold the ceremony with him. She said she owes him a wedding from when they were young, some unfinished business she couldn't let go of."

On the other end of the line, the background chatter cut to dead silence. Five full seconds passed. Then, a roar tore through the receiver, loud enough to shatter glass.

"How dare she?!"

I could hear what sounded like Mom's fist cracking the solid wood table in front of her.

"That woman built everything she has on scraps that fell through our family's fingers, and she has the nerve to humiliate my son like this? Does she think the Rourkes are pushovers?"

"Mom, I want her to be left with nothing. And I want it now."

My voice was steady.

"Leave it to me." Mom's tone had gone ice cold. "Stay in the dressing room. Five minutes. I'm coming to get you myself. I'll make sure that ungrateful little creature learns exactly who runs this city."

I hung up the phone and turned to face myself in the mirror. The pure white suit I was wearing had been custom-tailored to match Meredith's taste, all soft lines and quiet refinement. Right now, it looked like a joke.

"Jace, help me get this thing off."

Ten minutes later, I stepped out in a sharp black couture suit with a razor-clean cut. The shoes were polished custom leather. My hair had been slicked straight back, and on my wrist sat a watch with a cold metallic edge to it.

The dressing room door swung open.

My mother, Gwendolyn Harlow, walked in at the head of a small army. More than a dozen broad-shouldered bodyguards in black suits and dark glasses flanked her on either side, and behind them came the chief legal team of Rourke Group.

"My boy. I'm so sorry you had to go through this." She looked me over, and a flash of pain crossed her eyes, but what followed it was approval.

"I'm fine, Mom." I fell into step beside her, and the faintest trace of a cold smile pulled at the corner of my mouth. "Let's go see what kind of grand wedding Ms. Soames has put together for the love of her youth."

The Diamond Ballroom on the hotel's ground floor was blazing with light and buzzing with hundreds of voices.

Every cent of this wedding had come out of my pocket, from the venue to the top-tier floral arrangements to the world-class catering team. Twenty million dollars in total.

Meredith's roots in Lynworth were still shallow. Of the guests here today, only a handful were executives from her company.

The vast majority were heavyweight names from the business world who had shown up purely out of respect for the 'anonymous investor' behind the invitation.

Those heavyweights were seated now, watching the stage and trading bewildered glances at a groom none of them recognized, a man whose manners made it clear he had never set foot in a room like this. No one said a word, but it was only a matter of time.

"Distinguished guests, we are gathered here today to celebrate the sacred union of Ms. Meredith Soames and Mr. Royce Trafford..."

The host delivered his lines from the stage with polished, practiced warmth.

Meredith stood under the spotlight in the gown I had bought her, radiant with the certainty of a woman who believed she was exactly where she belonged.

Royce, in a cheap rented suit, walked toward center stage with Meredith's parents at his side.

"Ms. Soames, do you take Mr. Trafford to be your husband, in poverty and in wealth, to love and to cherish for as long as you both shall live?"

The host extended the microphone. Meredith gazed at Royce with deep, adoring eyes and opened her mouth to say the words.

The ballroom's massive brass doors, ornately carved with intricate floral patterns, were kicked open from the outside by a wall of bodyguards in black.