Chapter 1

Before the wedding, my fiancé Stanley Delgado invited every family of the New York elite circle out on a yacht for a bachelor party at sea.

Halfway through the voyage, he lost his footing and fell into the ocean.

The lifeguard on board was nowhere to be found, and not one person there went in after him.

I have a deep-water phobia, but I jumped without a second thought. Between the swells of the waves, I saw Stanley Delgado standing at the bow, laughing without a care.

"Sophie, this bet, I win."

Sophie Pruitt pouted.

"Fine, a bet's a bet. I'll agree not to go abroad for an arranged marriage, all right?"

The waves kept slapping my face, salty water closing over my mouth and nose, my strength draining until I slowly stopped struggling.

So my life was nothing more than a wager between them.

Ten minutes later, the lifeguard finally hauled me back onto the yacht.

Stanley Delgado wrapped a blanket tight around me and kissed the corner of my lips.

"Penelope, you conquered your fear to save me. I'm really touched."

Then I felt a warm stream running down the inside of my thigh, and my heart lurched.

"The baby! Get me to a hospital, now."

Stanley Delgado saw the blood on my hand and went white. He was about to tell the captain to turn the yacht back to shore.

But Sophie Pruitt cut in.

"It's just her period. You two always use protection, how could she possibly be pregnant?"

Stanley Delgado's face darkened.

"Penelope, be reasonable. Don't ruin the mood for everyone."

The yacht kept driving deeper out to sea. I pressed the button on the back of my necklace.

Once that person arrived, they wouldn't have time to regret it...

...

I grabbed Stanley Delgado's sleeve and took out of my bag the surprise I'd meant to give him on the wedding day.

"These are the test results from my hospital visit two weeks ago."

"Stanley Delgado, I wasn't lying to you."

The blanket was around me, but the cold, sea-damp night air seeped into my skin, and I couldn't stop shaking.

Now everything went silent.

Sophie Pruitt's heels clicked across the deck.

She snatched the report out of my hand and gave a little twist of her lips.

"This date on the report, isn't it the exact day Stanley knelt outside the old Delgado estate to marry you?"

"This faked report is obviously your way of forcing a marriage on old Mr. Delgado."

"Penelope, you really don't need to trick Stanley with this, do you?"

Stanley Delgado glanced at the report in Sophie Pruitt's hand and let out a soft sigh.

"Penelope, I didn't bet on you on purpose."

"It's just that nobody believed you actually loved me. They kept insisting you were only with me for money and power."

"Sophie only did it to help you prove your feelings for me to everyone."

As he spoke, he reached out to pull me in.

"All right, I know I was wrong. Go to the room and change, don't catch a chill."

I stepped back, and his hand froze in the air.

Just one step, and the tug on my lower belly sent a dense sting spreading through it, blood dripping down my thigh onto the deck.

I forced my head up through the pain.

"Turn the yacht around now. Once we reach the hospital, you'll know soon enough what's true."

Seeing the hesitation on Stanley Delgado's face, Sophie Pruitt spoke up.

"Penelope, I've apologized to you, isn't that enough?"

"It's not often everyone gets together. The party hasn't even started. Going back now would really ruin it, wouldn't it?"

A few of the other guys looked impatient.

"Come on, you're marrying the boss. Stanley only made this bet with Sophie because he wanted to prove your feelings to everyone."

"Stanley's the golden heir of the New York elite circle, and he's marrying you, an orphan with no one behind her. Anybody would doubt whether you really loved him."

"See, I told you she's not one of us. Can't even take a little joke. So petty."

"Sophie's better. She comes out with us and never makes such a fuss."

Stanley Delgado raised a hand to shut them up.

"Penelope, don't listen to their nonsense. Change out of those wet clothes first."

I stared into his eyes.

"You think I'm lying to you too?"

Stanley Delgado avoided my gaze and didn't answer.

Sophie Pruitt suddenly hurried over and climbed over the deck railing.

"Penelope Sullivan, don't put Stanley in a hard spot! I'll jump in the sea too, then we're even, all right?"

And she flung herself off, plunging into the water.

"Sophie!"

Stanley Delgado went in after her like a madman, caught her, and carried her back onto the yacht.

"Penelope Sullivan, you know perfectly well Sophie's health is fragile, and you still forced her to jump into freezing water in the middle of the night?"

I pressed both hands over my belly.

"Didn't you make me jump too?"

"You're strong."

"But I'm carrying your child."

Stanley Delgado's brow knotted, his lips pressing into a flat line.

"I used protection every single time. There's no way you're pregnant, unless... the child isn't mine."

The whole crowd turned their mocking eyes on me at once.

I looked at the blood dripping at my feet like scattered petals, and I swallowed the explanation back down my throat.

"The wedding's off. Let's break up."