THE COLD CEO'S WRONG BRIDE

MONICA

"This can't be happening," I gasped, as I pulled the expensive lace custom wedding gown out from the garment bag. Celeste would be putting this on in thirty minutes and the gown was now torn clean along the seam.  There was no way a spoiled girl like her would set foot down that aisle in this.

 This wedding was the biggest to happen in Palm City in years. Every camera would be pointed at that gown.

I grabbed my tiny hand sewing machine and got to work. I needed this fixed before Celeste walked in, or she would scream the whole house down. 

 Just as I tied off the last stitch, the door slammed open. Madame Margaret staggered in, mascara running in two black rivers down her face, sobbing heavily. "She's gone. My baby’s gone…" The words came out in pieces. 

She held up a cracked little phone with both hands, staring at it as if it might just ring again. "She said… She said she couldn't do this…Couldn't spend her life with that… that monster." Her hands started to shake.

 "Where did she even get this thing? A burner phone? My daughter doesn't even know what a burner phone is", she continued as she took a seat.

The phone slipped from her fingers and hit the marble floor. 

I stood there, my fingers wrapped around the grip of the machine, and for a second I genuinely did not know if I should hug the woman or back out of the room and pretend I'd never seen any of this. Today was not going the way I had planned. A torn gown was one disaster. A missing bride?  An entirely different situation. My first solo job as a wedding planner among the movers and shakers of Palm City, was sure interesting.

I dropped the sewing machine,crossed the room, sat with her and put a hand on her back, murmuring something about breathing, about it being okay, though nothing about this felt okay. My words didn't do a thing. If anything, she cried harder, gulping in air like she was drowning.

The door opened again. This time, Mr. Blackwood filled the frame.

"The cameras are rolling. Livestream started six minutes ago. The Thorne family is already seated." His voice was flat and clipped, each word landing hard.

 "I'm finished. Do you understand me? Finished! This daughter of yours has ruined this family, and we have ten minutes, ten, before that wedding is supposed to begin."

"This daughter of mine?" Madame Margaret's head snapped up. Her voice cracked right down the middle. "Because she did something you're too proud to admit is your fault? She is our daughter. Not mine alone!"

"If you had been paying the slightest attention to your own child, you would have known she was planning to run." He was pacing now, hands raking through his hair. "This merger with the Thorne family was supposed to elevate our status in this city but now?..."

He stopped mid-stride. His eyes landed on me like he was seeing me for the first time since he'd walked in.

"You" He crossed the room in three strides and hauled me up by the arm.

 "You're walking down that aisle."

"What?" I nearly laughed, except nothing about his face was joking. "No. Absolutely not. I plan weddings, Mr. Blackwood, I don't walk down aisles playing pretend."

"That gown suits you." He said it like that settled the matter entirely.

I had tried on Celeste's backup gown the second the bridal shop delivered it, just to check if it would fit because Me and her were about same size. I never got the chance to take it off. The moment I saw the tear in the main gown, I'd grabbed my sewing kit and forgot I was still wearing the second dress at all.

"Nobody will notice," Mr. Blackwood said, already reaching for the veil on the mannequin beside me. He dropped the heavy lace over my face before I could get another word out. "You should be thanking me. Not every girl gets handed an honor like this."

"Sir, please, I can't." My voice came out smaller than I wanted it to, and I hated myself for it. "This isn't a costume. You can't just…, I mean, people will know. His family will know."

I looked at Madame Margaret, silently begging her to say something, anything. She only stared back at me, lips parted, no sound coming out. She looked as trapped as I felt.

"One more word," Mr. Blackwood said, low and even, which was somehow worse than if he'd shouted, "and I will make sure your agency never books another event in this city again."

And that shut me up very fast. Five years I'd worked at Crystal Events, playing assistant. The only reason I was even handed this wedding was because our top planner was double booked and our manager took a gamble on me.

I had promised myself I would make Crystal Events the name every bride in Palm City wanted on speed dial. Instead, here I was, standing in someone else's dress. Luck, it seemed, wasn't on my side today.

 "Smile," Mr. Blackwood ordered, tucking my hand into the crook of his elbow and  threw open the villa doors.

Light hit me first. Then the noise, a wall of camera shutters and a low murmur that rippled through hundreds of guests. I was shaking under the veil, but I locked my spine straight and kept my chin level.

"Such a gorgeous bride," someone whispered.

"Didn't think the Blackwoods could top last year's wedding, but look at that dress."

"She's smaller than I expected. Prettier too, honestly."

Halfway down the aisle, I saw him.

Adrian Thorne stood at the altar like a man attending his own execution. No smile. No flicker of anything behind those eyes, not curiosity, not warmth, not even irritation.

 Just a stillness that made my skin prickle. The rumors hadn't exaggerated a single thing about him. Looking at him, I understood exactly why Celeste had disappeared rather than spend the rest of her life waking up to that face.

We reached the officiant and said the words. Adrian never turned his head to look at me, not once. I was fairly certain he wanted this wedding about as much as I did.

Then it was time to sign.

Adrian signed first, his pen moving in short, hard strokes like he was signing off a business deal he hated. I picked up the pen after him, my hand trembling so badly I had to press down harder just to keep the letters from looking awkward.

The crowd rose to their feet, applause cracking through the garden like thunder. Cameras flashed until the whole world went white behind my eyes. Somewhere out there, millions of people were watching this on their phones in real time.

I had just become the wife of a man who had no idea he'd married the wrong woman.