Chapter 1

On the wedding day, the bride and the groomsman both showed up an hour late.

What I got wasn't an apology or an explanation. It was my bride walking up onto the stage with her arm hooked through the groomsman's, telling me as if nothing at all had happened,

"We can start the wedding now."

My groomsman, who also happened to be Olivia's junior schoolmate, looked at me with mockery in his eyes while his mouth said,

"Sorry about that. Good thing it was only an hour, doesn't hold up your wedding with Miss Norris here, and definitely won't hold up the two of you on your wedding night."

He came down hard on those last words.

I was quiet for a moment, then suddenly I laughed, ripped the boutonniere off my chest, and threw it on the floor.

The bride, the groomsman, my parents, my in-laws, every one of them changed color.

I said calmly, "Dad, Mom, I want a new bride."

1

The whole hall went silent.

After a moment my father said in a low voice, "You serious?"

I nodded. "Yes."

His face turned ugly at once.

My mother went further and scolded me. "What are you making a scene for? Do you even know what day this is? Olivia was only an hour late and you lose your temper and want a new bride? Marriage is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Is it a game to you?"

"Exactly, just an hour, it holds nothing up."

"Pick the boutonniere up and put it back on. Olivia didn't want to be late either, but things happen."

"Today is your big day. Don't act on impulse."

"..."

Relatives and friends were all talking me down.

I understood them.

Swapping out the bride over a one-hour delay, no one had ever heard of such a thing.

The bride, Olivia Norris, stood frozen where she was, stunned by my sudden talk of a new bride.

Her junior schoolmate, my groomsman for the day, Wayne Vance, stood off to the side with no expression on his face.

When she snapped out of it, Olivia screamed at me. "Theodore Simmons, have you lost your mind?"

I said flatly, "I haven't."

Her body shook with rage. "You haven't lost it and you want a new bride, all because I was one hour late to the wedding?"

"That's right. Because you were one hour late."

"You—"

She thrust a finger at me, furious.

The next moment she was crying, wronged, cursing me through her tears.

"Theodore Simmons, you're not human. We were together five years. I loved you for five years, and I never thought that on our wedding day you would treat me like this."

"You made me lose face in front of relatives and friends. You made my parents lose face. You made the whole Norris family lose face."

"I hate you!"

Down below, Olivia's parents and the relatives and friends on her side all looked grim, staring at me like I was their enemy.

I held my temper down and said, "Since you hate me, then today's wedding ends here. From now on you go your way and I go mine."

"We never see each other again."

Olivia stared at me in shock, then let out a wail and cried as she cursed me.

"Theodore Simmons, you bastard—"

"Miss Norris!"

Wayne squeezed her hand to comfort her, then turned to me, his whole face full of indignation on her behalf.

"Theodore Simmons, you make yourself clear today. What did Miss Norris ever do to you, for you to humiliate her like this?"

I humiliated her?

I clenched my fist, dragged in a hard breath, and beckoned Wayne over.

"Come here. I'll tell you."

Wayne walked up in front of me, and I drove my fist straight into his face.

Bang! One punch and Wayne went down on the floor.