Chapter 1

The night before our wedding, my fiancée aggressively made out with her toxic first love at her bachelorette party.

As if that wasn't thrilling enough, they filmed the whole thing and posted it on Ins.

Our friends and family exploded.

By the time I found out the next morning, the comments were already well past ninety-nine.

Ashley acted sheepish. "I had too much to drink last night... But since it's already out there, why don't we just roll with it? Let Julian take your place and marry me."

"We already got our marriage certificate anyway. Missing one ceremony won't kill you."

The hotel staff standing nearby were completely dumbfounded, expecting me to fly into a violent rage.

Instead, I smiled, nodded, and agreed to her request.

Ashley looked thrilled, praising me for finally learning to behave and not throwing another childish tantrum over Julian.

She seemed to have forgotten one little detail: the marriage certificate she got with me back then was entirely fake.

The moment I agreed, Ashley demanded I take off my tuxedo.

The hotel staff promptly swapped out the wedding posters of me and Ashley for posters of her and Julian.

"Ethan, Julian’s parents have been breathing down his neck to get married," she explained. "Once we fool them, I promise I'll throw you an even grander wedding later, okay?"

I nodded, my gaze brushing over the fresh hickeys on her neck.

Ignoring the pitying and bewildered looks from the crowd, I took off my tux and calmly walked over to sit at the bride’s family table.

I had poured months of sweat and tears into planning this wedding.

From the luxury venue to the five-star catering, everything was top-tier. I just never imagined I was preparing someone else’s dream wedding all along.

I swallowed a glass of bitter whiskey with a wry smile and looked up at the stage.

Wearing a pure white wedding gown with tears glistening in her eyes, Ashley shared a passionate kiss with Julian amidst the cheering crowd.

Strangely, the drink didn't taste bitter anymore.

Maybe I had just gone completely numb.

All these years, I knew Ashley kept a torch burning for Julian.

Back then, I fought, argued, and made scenes, but it was useless.

Every single time, Ashley would swear she'd cut all ties with Julian, only to crawl right back to him behind my back.

Gradually, without realizing it, my heart turned to stone.

I kept telling myself that once we tied the knot, she would settle down.

Too bad she gave away the very wedding I had begged for years to have.

Draining the last drop of my drink, I slipped out before the reception toasts even started.

Soon enough, Ashley called.

"Ethan, why did you leave before the toasts? Julian wanted to share a drink with you to say thanks."

Thanks? More like rub it in my face.

She knew damn well Julian and I hated each other.

She just cared more about Julian, which was why she let him walk all over me again and again.

"I had things to do, so I left early."

"What could you possibly have to do? Are you throwing a fit over the wedding?"

I chuckled softly and replied offhandedly, "Yeah, I am."

Ashley’s voice instantly turned icy. "What is wrong with you? A grown man whining and being jealous all day long."

"Why can't you be generous like Julian? He knew I was your wife, yet he still risked becoming a laughingstock just to stand at the altar with me."

Here we went again.

He was the laughingstock? Clearly, I was the one wearing the clown shoes.

Before I could speak, Julian’s smug voice chimed in through the speaker.

"Ashley, it was the least I could do. I really should be thanking you—when you heard my parents were pushing me to get married, you didn't hesitate for a second to step up."

"Oh, and thanks to Ethan, too, for busting his back putting our wedding together~"

My grip tightened around the phone. I had already tasted Ashley's blatant favoritism countless times.

At our law firm, she made me address her strictly by her title—CEO Ashley.

Yet she let Julian call her "babe" right in front of all our colleagues.

Three months ago, all it took was one word from Julian for her to yank a case away from me—a massive case I had painstakingly spent months gathering rock-solid evidence for.

Julian was utterly incompetent. Even with an ironclad case, he managed to bungle it in court. And what did Ashley do? She dumped the burning mess right back into my lap.

"Ethan, you know Julian is new here. We can't let one bad case ruin his career."

"Besides, you were the one who handled it initially. Now that it’s going south, you should take full responsibility."

"Come on, didn't you always want a wedding? I’ll make it up to you with a ceremony afterwards, okay?"

I never realized that this entire wedding was planned for Julian from the very start.