Chapter 4

My mom panicked, ignoring the injury to her hand, and reached out to hold me back. "Jemima, what are you doing? Today is your wedding day!"

She choked up for a moment, then turned to Derek. "Derek, let me apologize on my behalf. I was in the wrong just now."

"For the sake of all these years, please don't make things so hard for Jemima. Just let the two of you finish the wedding today, all right?"

Derek didn't even glance at my mother. He just stared at me coldly. "Take it off!"

The groomsmen around him started whispering among themselves again.

"You've got to hand it to Derek! He's put his future mother-in-law in her place before he's even brought his bride home, so she won't have to take any grief from them once she's in the family!"

"Right, we need to give them a taste of it today, or they won't know who's in charge, and they'll be giving Tracey trouble down the road!"

"Serves her right! If the bride hadn't insisted on courting disaster, her mother wouldn't have had to swallow her pride and go begging!"

My mom was about to say something, but I tugged at her. "Mom, don't beg him. I'm not marrying him."

My mother said anxiously, in a low voice, "By custom, if the lead car has no bouquet, you'll have a hard time once you reach the groom's family. I don't want you to suffer that."

"There's still a little time before the auspicious hour. I'll go buy flowers now and tie a new bouquet for the lead car. I'll definitely make it back in time."

But the next second, Derek raised his hand to block my mother's path. "Since Tracey has returned the bouquet, this is the only one we'll use."

"I won't accept any other flowers."

Just then, Tracey suddenly sneezed. "It's so cold."

Derek's brow twitched, and he immediately turned to look at me. "Do you need me to help you take it off?"

He shot the groomsmen a look.

A few of them caught his meaning and came over to pin me down.

I struggled again and again but couldn't break free. "Let go!"

Derek was brutal about it, and in a few rough motions he tore the wedding dress off me and handed it to Tracey. "Go put it on."

I was left exposed right there, until my mom rushed over and draped her coat over me. "You people are utterly shameless!"

"Jemima's right! You're not worth marrying!"

Tracey wasn't the least bit embarrassed. She pulled open the car door and went inside to change, and a moment later she lifted the curtain and came out. "It fits perfectly!"

The men holding me let go, and one muttered under his breath, "Heh, Derek had it made to your measurements, so of course it fits perfectly."

What?

So that was it. No wonder it always felt a size too small when I wore it.

Derek threw the bridesmaid dress at my feet. "Put it on. The auspicious hour is almost here. The moment it comes, I'm driving off. Whether you follow or not is up to you."

Tracey looked at me smugly and slowly mouthed the word: Trash.

My mother's eyes reddened. She turned and pulled me up. "We're not changing."

Derek gave a cold snort. "Quit acting so prim."

"You'll be chasing after my wedding car soon enough."

We ignored him and turned back into the room.

Seeing how heartbroken my mom looked, I gave her the gist of what was going on with Hubert.

She froze for a moment, then wept with joy. "It's him..."

"That's wonderful! He's chased after you for so many years—I've seen it all..."

"Back then, he actually came to you with money too. He was just a step too late..."

I was stunned. So that was how it had been.

Soon the auspicious hour arrived, and firecrackers went off in a deafening tangle.

When Derek didn't see me come out, he bellowed into the room, blazing with fury. "Jemima Fox, are you really set on making a scene today?"

"Fine! I'll give you what you want!"

He turned to everyone and said, "I hereby announce that my engagement to Jemima Fox is off!"

"When she finally figures out what she did wrong, we'll hold this wedding again!"

Just then, the roar of engines came from far off, and a line of Rolls-Royces rolled slowly up, stretching farther than the eye could see.

The hood of the lead car was piled with a huge bouquet of red roses, grandly arranged, more than twice the size of the one Tracey had taken.

Derek immediately frowned. "Who are they?!"

Only once the motorcade came to a full stop did Hubert step out of the car.

The moment Derek saw him, he panicked completely. "What are you doing here?!"

The next second, my mom led me out.

Hubert shoved Derek aside, took my hand, and smiled. "I've come for my bride. Is there a problem?"