Chapter 3

Once the hotel fire was confirmed to be a false alarm, the engagement ceremony resumed.

The guests took their seats, and both sets of parents sat at the VIP table, waiting for the host to begin the ceremony.

"Now, please welcome the beautiful bride, Iris!"

The host’s voice boomed through the microphone. But when the grand doors opened, the entrance was empty.

Whispers broke out. People began murmuring that the bride had run away.

But just as the host was about to make a backup announcement, the doors opened again. I had changed into a fresh gown and walked gracefully down the aisle.

[FL, run! This is your last chance! If you marry Julian, he will beat you half to death tonight!]

[FL, slap Julian across the face and tell him the wedding is off!]

"Iris, do you take Julian Vance to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health?"

Looking at Julian's handsome, stoic face, I thought of everything I had suffered.

If everything in this world was trying to stop me from marrying him, then I was absolutely going to marry him.

"I do."

[Is the FL insane?! She’s practically begging to die!]

Just as Julian slid the flawless, sparkling diamond ring onto my finger, the heavy doors of the ballroom were slammed open. A man rushed down the red carpet, yelling, "No! Iris, you can't marry him!"

"Who is that?"

"Interrupting Julian Vance’s wedding? He must have a death wish."

The guests gasped, and the media cameras flashed frantically.

The intruder fell to his knees right in front of me. "Iris, I know you only chose Julian because I’m poor, but we’re the ones who truly love each other! Have you forgotten how happy we were? Have you forgotten the two babies we lost?!"

[OMG, the FL's first love is here!]

[The FL only lost her memory in a car accident. This guy is the actual Male Lead! He’s the love of her life! Iris, run away with your true love!]

The comments were getting more ridiculous by the second. I stepped toward the man. "You're saying I'm your ex-girlfriend?"

"Do you have any proof?"

"If we loved each other for years, we should have photos or videos. You have absolutely nothing, yet you stand here trying to ruin my reputation?"

The man looked left and right, his eyes finally landing on my parents. "That's because your rich parents forced us apart when they brought you back! They deleted all our memories and photos!"

The screen read: [Your parents did that for your own good.]

Before I could process the opposite meaning of that comment, my mother, Eleanor, grabbed a microphone. With a look of helpless pity, she sighed. "Iris suffered so much before she came back to us. What she did in her past doesn't matter. As her parents, we will guide her and teach her better from now on."

Her words were a thinly veiled attempt to validate the man's lies and ruin my character.

I turned to Julian. I expected him to look furious and call off the wedding, but his expression remained calm. "Without proof, I believe nothing."

Suddenly, the strange man screamed louder.

"I have proof!"

"I have a video of Iris sleeping with multiple men!"