Chapter 1

Elena let out a sharp scream and dove under the blanket before bursting into tears.

Everyone around us froze, stunned by what I had just done.

"Are you out of your mind, Jasmine?" Miles snapped out of his shock and snatched the cameraman's camera with a hardened expression. "We're in public, and someone's filming here. How could you lift a young woman's skirt? You're unbelievable!"

I shook the wedding shoe in my hand. "She tied the shoe to her waist and asked you guys to grab it. Wasn't she asking for someone to reach under? You couldn't do it, so I helped you. What's wrong with that?"

His brows knitted together. "She was just messing around. Did you really have to go that far?"

The groomsmen chimed in one after another.

"We're guys, and even we know how humiliating that was. You've really crossed a line, Jasmine."

"Ellie loves to joke around. You're her best friend. How can you be this petty?"

Elena's sobs only grew louder when they took her side.

Miles shoved me toward the edge of the bed and ordered, "Apologize to Elena or there won't be a wedding."

For a split second, I wondered if I had misheard him.

We had been together for five years, and this was the wedding I had dreamed of for so long. Yet, he was using it as leverage to force me to apologize to Elena.

He didn't even stop to think before playing along with a joke that had no sense of boundaries whatsoever. He was like a dog who would follow anyone home the moment they waved half a bone at him.

He did not have the mindset of a man who was about to become someone's husband.

I did the right thing, yet somehow, I was the one who needed to apologize.

All of a sudden, the man I thought I knew felt like a stranger. He was nothing like the elegant, charming man I met at that reception years ago.

His friends urged, "Jasmine, if you don't apologize to Ellie, we're not going to be your groomsmen anymore. Nobody deserves to be treated like that!"

Looking at their righteous demeanor, I chuckled. "Fine. I won't go through with this wedding, then."

As soon as those words rolled off my tongue, Elena peeked out from under the blanket. "Really?" she asked with teary eyes.

I pulled off the veil from the top of my head and tossed it onto the floor. "Yes."

Her eyes misted over once again. "I'm sorry, Jasmine. I didn't know things would end up like this. You're my best friend. I just didn't want them to take you away so easily, so I came up with that stupid idea…"

Her voice cracked, and tears started rolling down her cheeks again. Elena looked so pitiful that the men immediately offered her tissues.

"It's not your fault, Ellie. You went out of your way to be her bridesmaid, yet she didn't even appreciate it!"

She sobbed even harder. "If Jasmine cancels the wedding because of me, I'll never forgive myself for the rest of my life!"

Miles looked at me coldly. "That won't happen. She's just an ordinary office worker. She doesn't have the ability to call off a wedding.

"This ceremony costs a million dollars. If she wants to cancel it, she has to consider whether she can afford it."

I walked straight toward the hotel manager, who had been waiting at the door. "What's the total cost of this ceremony, Mr. Shepherd?"

"The total is one million dollars, Ms. Hansen," he answered respectfully.

Miles' indifferent voice sounded behind me. "Now, do you see where you really stand?"

"How does being an office worker automatically mean I'm poor?" I wondered. I flashed a polite smile at the hotel manager. "Please send me the payment details when you're free."