Upgraded: From Backup to Bride
Everyone knew Harper Jones was hopelessly devoted to Silas Underwood.
Five years ago, she gave up her dreams to care for him after he lost the use of his legs. She believed that sincerity, if deep enough, would be returned in kind.
But on the eve of their wedding, Silas went and registered his marriage with someone else—his first love, the one he never really let go.
Only then did she understand: in his heart, she was nothing more than a blade of grass—trampled, unnoticed.
Five years of humility. Five years of willing humiliation. She had finally learned her lesson.
She picked up the phone and called her family. "I'll go through with the arranged marriage," she said.
What she didn't expect was that the day she got married would also be his wedding day.
When Silas stepped out of his car, he saw Harper, dressed in white, radiant, about to become someone else's bride. In that moment, the man who had always believed she would never leave him finally broke.
"Harper… Nothing happened between me and Sophie. I was wrong. Please, forgive me…"
He knelt in front of Harper, begging and sobbing, like a man with nothing left to hold onto.
Harper looked down at him, the way one might look at a stray dog on the street. There was no ripple in her heart. No sympathy. No anger. Just stillness.
"Love that comes too late is worthless," she said. "Now go step up and be a real father to her kid."