Chapter 1

At the door to fetch the bride, my fiancée's ex-boyfriend blocked the way, his whole face a dare.

"Want to take the bride away? First get on the ground and bark like a dog ninety-nine times. It'll show that after the wedding you'll obey her like a dog, absolutely."

The absurdity of it hit me. Who ever heard of an ex barricading the door at a wedding?

Then the man spread his legs apart.

"Then crawl through between my legs, like a dog. Otherwise your heart isn't sincere."

The crowd erupted at once, everyone urging me to hurry up and drop down and crawl through.

I clenched my fists and gave my fiancée one last chance.

"Amelia Fox, either you come out yourself, or I find another bride."

Her impatient voice came from behind the door.

"Cecil once promised he'd do all this when he married me. You can't even measure up to him, which just proves you don't love me at all."

I laughed, furious. A love this twisted, I wouldn't dare want.

I turned on my heel and walked off, and sent my ex a message.

"Grand Hyatt, five o'clock. Missing a bride. You in?"

An ex, after all. I had one of those too.

……

The moment I reached the door of the wedding suite, a strange man suddenly stepped across and blocked the way.

I was still puzzled.

When Mavis Sullivan, Amelia's best friend, tipped her nose up and made the introduction.

"This is Amelia's ex, Cecil Gilbert. Just back from studying at Harvard."

"He heard you two were getting married, so he came all this way to vet things for her."

A ball of rage flared up in me at once.

Letting the ex attend the wedding was one thing. Now they'd sent him to block the door too, plainly to embarrass me, to grind my face into the ground.

I was about to lose it.

When Cecil looked at me, provoking.

"What, is Mr. Henson unhappy?"

"A real man, so small-minded he can't even stand his girl's ex? No vision at all."

I clenched my fists hard, wanting to turn on him right there.

But then I thought of my mother, still waiting to attend my wedding, and I forced the anger down.

"However much you want for a red envelope, I'll pay."

Fetching the bride was just about tossing out a little cash for fun.

As long as I could take Amelia away without a hitch and get the wedding done, I could swallow this much for now.

Cecil let out a sneer, as if he'd heard some tremendous joke.

He glanced at me with contempt, then put on a look of deep, tender feeling.

"A wedding is about a sincere heart, not about money."

"If you want to marry Amelia, you have to prove you love her enough."

A flicker of curiosity rose in me.

"Prove it how?"

"Back when Amelia and I were together, I promised that after we married, I'd be loyal to her like a dog, absolutely."

"If you can do that, then this door, I'll let you through today."

Physical nausea shot straight up my throat, and I couldn't hold back the jab.

"You could be a decent man, but you'd rather kneel and be a dog. And you're proud of it?"

Cecil's face darkened all at once, his eyes brimming with venom.

"Who are you playing noble for? Amelia's young and beautiful, and she runs a company."

"The men who'd want to be her dog, you could line them up all the way to France!"

His voice climbed several notches.

"Bark ninety-nine times right now, and it proves that after the wedding you'll be obedient like a dog, that you'll obey Amelia absolutely!"

The scene broke into uproar in an instant, Mavis egging me on from the side without stopping.

"Lawrence Henson, hurry up. Aren't you always saying how much you love Amelia? How is it you won't even do this little thing?"

Every one of my brothers had rage on his face, fists clenched, plainly ready to throw down.

My teeth ground until they clicked, yet I still threw out an arm and held them all back.

But it wasn't over. Cecil suddenly spread his legs again, his eyes full of mockery.

"Right. Barking like a dog isn't enough. Crawl through between my legs, that's what counts as sincere."

"Otherwise, forget about taking Amelia anywhere today."

The laughter burst open in a wave, a dense wall of jeering pressing in on me until I couldn't breathe.

I fixed my eyes on the door of the wedding suite.

I knew this. Without Amelia's tacit consent, no ex would ever dare trample me like this at my own wedding.

But my mother went in for heart surgery tomorrow, and her greatest wish was to see me married.

That was why I'd rushed to hold the wedding today, to lift her spirits and raise the odds the surgery would succeed.

One last chance for Amelia. I shouted toward the suite.

"Amelia Fox, either you come out now and leave with me, or I go find another bride, plain and simple."

The whole place went quiet in a heartbeat, and a flash of secret glee shot across Cecil's eyes.

Amelia's impatient accusation came through the door.

"Lawrence Henson, what's that supposed to mean? You dare threaten me?"

"Cecil was willing to do all this for me back then. You can't even measure up to him, which means you don't love me at all."

"If you don't do it today, the wedding's off, just like that!"

I laughed from sheer fury, and the last thread of feeling in my heart vanished for good.

A love this twisted, this groveling, was beyond my reach, and I never wanted it.

"Fine. You won't be my bride, then I'll find someone else."

Without a second's hesitation I turned and walked, pulling out my phone and sending my ex a message.

"Grand Hyatt, five o'clock. The wedding's missing a bride. You in?"