Just before my wedding, the scholarship student my dad was sponsoring caught the eye of a notorious playboy from a wealthy family. My fiancé, unable to bear the thought of his darling falling into a living hell, intervened. That very night, they swore their eternal love in a hotel room. The whole town was waiting for me and the Hayes family to become a laughingstock. But there I was, pinned against the wall by the Hayes' youngest, his fingers tilting my chin up. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Ethan stole my wife-to-be. It’s only fair I take yours, right?" I nodded. "Sounds fair." … First thing that morning, I was hit with the headline: "Young Master Young of Young Enterprises Spends the Night with Aspiring Actress at the Four Seasons Hotel…" It was enough to make me sick. So, when Caleb made his proposal, my mouth reacted faster than my brain. "I do." He clearly wasn't expecting me to agree to something so outrageous. Caleb stood there gaping for a good minute, before stammering, "You…you, you said that." "Three days from now, I'll come and marry you. No take-backs." He said it like he was afraid I'd change my mind. The six-foot-tall guy turned and ran, almost tripping over a tree root in his haste. I chuckled at the sight, realizing he wasn't as bad as the internet made him out to be. Not long after Caleb left, Ethan showed up. My face instantly fell. "Mr. Golden Boy was having a great time last night. Shouldn’t you be with your darling, instead of bothering me?" Ethan couldn’t stand being given the cold shoulder. His face darkened as he tossed a bag at me. "Riley, I came to tell you that what happened with Sarah won't affect our wedding. I'll be there in three days to take you to the altar." "I got this for you from Cloud Bakery. Your favorite strawberry shortcake." The squashed cake inside the bag stung my eyes. After ten years, he still couldn’t remember my favorite treat. I looked up at him, a bitter smile on my face. "Ethan, I'm genuinely curious. Our wedding is still on? Does your precious Sarah approve?" He ignored the question in my eyes and continued. "Don’t worry. Sarah's okay with it. I bought her a house out in the suburbs. She'll live there and won't bother us." His shamelessness left me speechless. Ten years of friendship had only earned me a massive joke. It was time to end this. "Go home, Ethan. I'll tell my parents tomorrow that the wedding is off." Ethan frowned, grabbing my hand. "Riley, stop it. I told you, Sarah won't affect our engagement." He was treating me like a fool. I pulled my hand away, stepping back and glaring at him. "Ethan, who gave you the audacity to want to have it all?" "I, Riley Thompson, will only marry someone who has eyes only for me. You don’t deserve me." Seeing my rejection, Ethan got angry. "Riley, I gave you an explanation about Sarah. What more do you want?" He dared to ask me what I wanted? I almost laughed hysterically. He was the one who went to steal another man's bride before their wedding, the one who spent the night with her. He was the one who made me and the Hayes family the laughingstock of the internet. And he had the nerve to ask me what I wanted! I looked at him with disdain and repeated, "I, Riley Thompson, will never marry you. Get over it." My repeated rejection angered Ethan. "Riley, everyone in our circle knows that you've been chasing after me since you were a little girl, always saying you wanted to marry me. Well, let me tell you, everyone thinks you're used goods. I doubt anyone will dare marry you if I don't." With that, he sped off. I was shaking with rage, a deep sadness washing over me. I knew that the Ethan I had known and who had protected me since childhood was gone. The only one he cared about now was Sarah. The moment he trampled on my heart for Sarah, we should have ended things. But I was bitter. Over a decade of friendship couldn’t compare to their brief year together. Turns out I was wrong. 2 Caleb didn't give me time to regret it. The next day, he arrived at my door with dozens of wedding dresses and half the shares in his company. My parents disapproved of Caleb, urging me to reconsider. But my mind was made up. Gotta stand up for yourself. The world keeps turning whether you're there or not. While Caleb was a notorious womanizer, I had heard that he secretly protected the women he was involved with. My mother knew my personality and stopped arguing, telling the family to start making arrangements. Ethan arrived as I was coming downstairs in a bright red phoenix-embroidered gown to show my parents. Seeing me, he seemed to misunderstand. I saw a flash of surprise in his eyes. Then he raised his chin, sporting an "I knew it" expression. Sarah, who had just stepped into the doorway, couldn’t hide the jealousy in her eyes. "Riley, that dress is gorgeous. Are you going to wear it to marry Ethan?" I frowned and denied it. "No." Ethan scoffed. "Don’t pretend, Riley. You were talking about calling off the wedding yesterday, and now you're trying on dresses. Could you be any less composed?" Sarah pretended to be magnanimous, trying to smooth things over. "Yeah, Riley, Ethan and I both know you were just saying that in the heat of the moment. You didn't mean it." "Ethan, didn't you get Riley a gift to apologize? Go on, give it to her!" Sarah urged, tugging at him. She wore a white dress, and as she moved, a flash of color caught my eye. I recognized it instantly. It was Ethan's most treasured pin, one he'd shown me as a child. He said it was the only thing his mother had left him, and he'd said countless times that he would give it to his future wife. I'd been in love with him and had hinted at it many times. He always brushed it off and wouldn't give it to me. Now it was on Sarah's chest. Sarah seemed to notice my gaze and deliberately turned her body, her eyes filled with pride. Reminded by Sarah, Ethan reluctantly tossed a wooden box at me. Inside was a pin with peeling paint. He gave it to me like I’d won the lottery. "Here. It’s for you." Looking at this junk he must have picked up from a trash can, I was furious. He was so generous with Sarah, so stingy with me. I resisted the urge to hit him and handed the box back. "No, thanks. Mr. Hayes, you can keep this for your dear sister." Ethan's face turned dark. Angered and embarrassed, he grabbed the box and threw it in the trash. "Have it your way." At this, Sarah squeezed out a few tears and started rummaging through the trash. "Waaah, Riley, Ethan and I carefully picked this out for you! How can you reject our good intentions?" Ethan pulled her up, and they embraced, oblivious to everyone else. I rolled my eyes, finally realizing Sarah was here to mark her territory, and to see if I’d agree. "I'm saying again, I'm not marrying your Ethan. We're done." They clearly didn't take me seriously. Sarah, feeling smug, shoved the box into my hand. "Riley, don't be mad at Ethan. He was just trying to help me. He still loves you the most. Please don't be angry with him, okay?" I stood on the stairs, my hand aching from her grip, and shook her off. "Get away from me. Don’t touch me." I didn’t use much force, but she fell backwards, rolling down the stairs and landing on the floor, tears quickly welling up in her eyes. "Waaah, I'm sorry, Riley. I just wanted you to accept Ethan's gift. I didn’t mean anything by it!" Ethan glared at me. "Riley, you're impossible! Sarah spent the day with me buying you gifts to make you happy, respecting you. And this is how you treat her?" "Who would marry a venomous woman like you?" He scooped up Sarah and left. Sarah looked back, a smug smile on her face. It reminded me of the first time I met her. 3 Sarah was the scholarship student my dad sponsored. I first met her when Ethan was visiting. She was crying and begging my dad to pay for her to go to college. She was a skinny, pale girl, curled up and looking pitiful. Ethan, who was always kind-hearted, offered to help. Sarah later went to Hollywood and became a starlet, with Ethan acting as her protector. I was always jealous. He always explained, "I just feel sorry for Sarah. It's hard for a girl like her in the industry without money or connections. We have to help her." At first, I thought he was just sympathetic. Then he heard Sarah was going to marry Hayes, he dropped everything and ran to steal her away from the alter. The couple rushed straight to a hotel, acting like they hadn't eaten in days. That's when I realized that the weed on the hill had become Ethan's most beautiful flower. The day before the wedding was Valentine's Day, a day I used to look forward to. I always dreamed that Ethan would confess his love to me. Every year, I would drag him from one end of Main Street to the other. This year was the first time I came alone. As I walked down the street, crowds of people looked towards the town square. Curious, I overheard two people gossiping. "Wow, how romantic! The Young Enterprises heir moved all the roses in the market to the town square just to make his darling happy. Every color!" "Right? If I were that girl, I'd die of happiness." "And that's not all. Didn’t you see the posts online? He's risking his relationships to be with her. If I could find a man like that, I'd die happy." I rolled my eyes. His company was almost bankrupt, and he still had time for this. Just as I was about to leave, I heard a familiar voice. "Riley." I turned to see Ethan and Sarah standing in the town square, surrounded by roses. She held a bouquet of blue roses and came towards me, their fragrance filling the air. "Riley, are you out celebrating the holiday?" Ethan was still angry from the day before and glared at me. Sarah handed me the flowers. "Riley, don't get me wrong. It's my birthday today, and Ethan's keeping me company. I hope you're not angry. Consider these flowers an apology." "No, thanks." Learning from the previous day, I stepped back, fearing she'd try to frame me again. Besides, I had no desire to steal anything, people or objects. Hearing this, Ethan's face darkened. "Sarah, Miss Thompson doesn’t want our stuff. Let's go shopping. You can have anything you want today." With that, he pulled Sarah into the crowd. As soon as they left, a masked man shoved a bouquet of sunflowers, my favorite, into my arms. He looked familiar as he ran away. I looked down at the card attached to the flowers. “Turn towards the sun, you will be born again”. Even Ethan didn't know that my favorite flower was sunflowers. A warmth flowed through me as I took them home. The next day, the maids dragged me out of bed and handed me over to the makeup artists. It finally hit me that I was getting married today. Not to Ethan, my childhood sweetheart, but to Caleb, a playboy I barely knew. I was nervous. Taking a deep breath, I decided to go through with it. No matter what happened in the future, I would be strong. As I finished getting ready, the wedding cars pulled up. But it wasn't Caleb. It was Ethan. Looking at the black cars and Ethan’s disdainful face, I was incredulous. I thought I had made it clear, and I had returned his family's dowry. What was he doing now? Seeing me in my wedding gown, Ethan impatiently urged me. "Riley, you're finally out. I've been waiting forever. Get in the car." I lost my temper at his rude attitude. "Ethan, are you crazy? Didn't I tell you our engagement was off? I'm marrying someone else today." "My fiancé will be here soon. Get your car out of here." Ethan looked around and scoffed. "Alright, Riley, the cameras are rolling. Don’t overact, or I'll really leave. Don’t come crawling back to me, begging me to marry you. You'll lose face." "Fine, since it's our wedding day, I'll cut you some slack." I looked to where he was pointing and saw a man with a camera filming us. Before I could say anything, the sound of horns blared from a distance. Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Is there another wedding today?" His eyes widened. "Riley, does your dad have an illegitimate daughter?" I rolled my eyes. Before I could speak, Caleb hurried forward. Seeing Ethan and his wedding cars, Caleb raised his eyebrows. "What's up? Mr. Hayes has a fetish for stealing other people's brides?"
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "392217", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel