Chapter 1

"Hugo, put the wedding on hold. I'll be right back. Wait for me!" As soon as her words fell, Nalani Smith hurried toward her adopted younger brother, Felix Smith, and their son, Nathan Smith, ignoring the onlookers who were pointing fingers at me behind her back.

"I can't believe the man at the top of the pyramid—the richest man in Brimstone—can be cuckolded, and she even had a child with the other guy... God knows how many times those two have done it..."

"Shh, keep it down! That homewrecker is no ordinary man; he's Mrs. Chandler's younger brother…"

The taunts pierced my ears like needles. Deep down, a storm raged inside me, but I forced myself to remain composed on the outside.

To make Nathan wail even louder, Felix secretly pinched his son. Sure enough, when Nalani saw them in tears, she couldn't bring herself to utter a single harsh word. She immediately led them elsewhere to nurse Nathan.

Noticing the dark look on my face, Felix's father, Finn Smith, hastily flashed me an ingratiating smile and tried to cover up for Nalani. "Hugo, Nalani has always been soft-hearted since she was little; she just can't bear to see a baby cry..."

Felix's mother, Mina Miller, also forced a smile and chimed in, "That's right! Once she's done nursing the baby, she'll come right back to finish the ceremony with you..."

Neither of them mentioned whose child it was. The wedding band in my hand was mere moments from snapping under my grip.

I was about to demand answers when my younger brother, Henry Chandler, beat me to it. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith, do we look like fools to you? Since Nalani's so eager to play mother to someone else's kid, she can forget about marrying into our family!"

He then turned to persuade me. "This woman doesn't deserve you, Hugo. Let's go!"

I tore the boutonniere from my lapel and handed it to Mina. "Tell Nalani they can have the wedding banquet. It's all theirs!

Whispers rippled through the crowd. "Hugo didn't care that she was the Smith family's adopted daughter. He insisted on marrying her, and this is what he gets in return…"

I couldn't help but zone out. Suspicion had already taken root when Nalani—who used to insist she'd marry no one but me—postponed our wedding time and time again.

My childhood friend had tried to comfort me with a smile. "Women get cold feet before marriage…"

That might be true for anyone else. Nalani and I, on the other hand, had known each other for more than a decade. Since she was little, she'd wanted to be my bride; she knew me inside out, and she'd even planned out how many children we'd have.

Our relationship was so steady. How could she possibly have had cold feet about getting married?

To give her a sense of security, I had married her legally before leaving the country. We'd agreed that as soon as I returned from my one-year business trip, we'd hold our wedding ceremony.

At the time, she was over the moon. The night before I departed, she even straddled my waist and teased, "When you get back, let's work hard every single night to make sure we get a baby boy on our first try!"

I had been delighted when I heard that. I sent her health supplements almost every other month and even begged her over the phone to visit me abroad.

Every time, she would brush me off with the same excuse. "I'm busy! I've made an appointment with a traditional medicine practitioner to condition my body. Give me a little more time…"

Thus, I waited until now—our wedding day.