I'm invited to a wedding thrown by the wealthy Gardners on Labor's Day.

But the groom, Daniel Pearce, treats me like an imaginary love rival just because I've complimented the bride, Isabelle Gardner, on her looks.

He publicly mocks me for wearing fake brands just to satisfy my vanity and calls me a beggar who's here for free food. On top of that, he also strongly hints that I intend to steal Isabelle from him because I prefer younger women.

To make things worse, Daniel even ignores my warnings and commands the groomsmen to corner me in the washroom, where he breaks one of my ribs by force.

"Who the hell do you think you are for seducing my wife? Boys, stuff everything you can find in the trash can into his mouth! Let's see if he still can go on yapping with this rotten mouth of his!"

The pain and agony is far too much for me to handle. I almost pass out several times in-between the torments.

But what Daniel doesn't know is that I'm the Gardners' financial backer when it comes to their business!

Thomas Gardner came to greet me personally at the entrance, making small talk as he kept one eye on the stream of arriving guests. That day was his daughter's wedding day, and he was clearly stretched thin. I told him not to fuss over me and made my way to the reception table on my own.

I pulled out my gift and was about to hand it to the groom, Daniel Pearce, when he glanced at me and muttered under his breath, "What kind of knockoff is that? And he has the nerve to show up wearing it."

His voice was low, but it reached me clearly.

I assumed at first that the stress of the day had put him in a foul mood. But when he took my gift and gave it a testing squeeze, he looked up, smirking. "Who dragged this charity case in here?

"Fake belt, low-effort gift. And he still has the cheek to show up for a free meal?

"Our reception costs two thousand dollars a head. This isn't the kind of place people like you belong."

The groomsmen nearby stifled their laughter. "Probably some nobody with no real connection to either family."

"Look at him. He's probably hoping to ride the coattails of the wedding and find some rich woman to leech off."

I almost found it funny. The entire hotel had been booked out by the Gardner family. You couldn't get through the door without an invitation, and I had walked in with Thomas himself.

When I said nothing, Daniel stepped closer, then recoiled with an exaggerated look of disgust. "That's what that smell is. You reek of cheap synthetic cologne. Like plastic."

With that, he threw my gift onto the floor. "Get that thing out of my sight. I don't need your pocket change."

I stayed quiet. That gift inside was worth a million dollars.

If it weren't for the years the Gardner family had served me faithfully, I wouldn't have come at all. And Daniel was only here because he had married into money. What exactly gave him the nerve?

I took a slow breath and was about to say something when I spotted Thomas' daughter crossing the room toward us. I had seen her a handful of times before but had never caught her name, so I had always just called out to her casually.

Out of habit, I called out, "Hey, beauty!"

My plan was to have her set the record straight. But before she could hear me, another guest pulled her aside.

Daniel stared at me in disbelief. "Excuse me? Did you just call out to my wife? Calling her 'beauty' right out of the gate—are you so addicted to your gigolo gig that you can't turn it off?

"I saw you at her place once, laughing it up with her like you were old friends. I knew exactly what you were after. And now you have the audacity to follow her to our wedding?"

His voice carried, and the guests nearby began murmuring among themselves. By that point, I was fairly certain that Daniel wasn't tired or stressed. He had decided I was a rival and had been treating me with deliberate contempt from the moment I arrived.

I calmly picked the gift up off the floor and looked at him. "I hope you'll still be speaking to me that way in a little while, Mr. Pearce."

After all, Thomas had asked me to say a few words when the ceremony began.

But rather than looking worried, Daniel seemed pleased with himself. "What, you think getting into the banquet hall makes you someone special?

"Stay away from my wife. And once today is over, my father-in-law is introducing the Gardner family's silent backer to the Pearce family. After that, you won't be in any position to make enemies of us. I suggest you remember that."

That last line drew a quiet laugh out of me, somewhere inside. I had been willing to give Thomas the courtesy and consider a partnership with the Pearce family. Now I wasn't sure it was worth the trouble.

I gave him a measured nod and left it at that. After leaving the reception table, I walked straight to the head table. Whatever happened after that day, I thought, Daniel and I were unlikely to cross paths in any meaningful way.

But just as I sat down and turned my attention to some work, his voice came from behind me again.

"Why are you sitting there? Who gave you permission to sit at the head table?"

I had no patience for Daniel, so I didn't even look up. "The Gardner family arranged this seating. Do you have a problem with that?"

"The Gardner family arranged it?" Daniel's face flushed red. He grabbed my arm and dropped his voice to a furious hiss.

"I've seen the guest list. Your name isn't on it. Who the hell are you?"

"Have you been obsessing over Isabelle this whole time? Is that why you're here, to make a move on her at her own wedding?

"You think pulling some stunt is going to get her attention? Keep dreaming."

His voice was shaking. He was furious.

I had no interest in making a scene on their wedding day, so I kept my tone even. "I'm nobody to Isabelle. I'm not interested in her either. You've got the wrong idea."

But he still had my arm and wouldn't let go. "Get up and get out. Now. Do you hear me?"

I glanced around. Thomas and his daughter were nowhere in sight. "If you want me gone, I'll go. But whatever comes of it, that's on you."

I pulled my arm free and walked out.

What I didn't expect was for him to follow me. He trailed me all the way into the men's restroom, a few of the groomsmen filing in behind him. The moment I stepped out of a stall, one of them clicked the lock on the door.

One of the groomsmen grinned. "All clear, Danny. We checked. Nobody else is here."

My stomach dropped. "Move, or the Gardners will hear about this, and none of you will come out of it well."

Daniel laughed and drove his foot into my stomach without warning. The force slammed me back into the sink, and the pain knocked the breath out of me.

"I'm a Pearce, and Thomas Gardner's son-in-law. You think anyone's going to say a single word about me putting trash in its place?"

The groomsmen surged forward, grabbing me by the arms and hauling me toward the toilet. "Danny's orders. Drink up. Maybe next time you'll think twice before calling out to someone's wife."

I gritted my teeth against the pain still burning through my stomach. "Don't you dare."

Daniel's answer was a punch straight to my face. My ears rang from the pain. He leaned in close, his voice dropping to something cold and quiet.

"Or what? You're nothing. You don't get to push back against me.

"Hold him down. Let him find out what it tastes like."

Before I could react, hands were pressing my head down toward the bowl. The stench hit me immediately, and my stomach turned. I gagged, my whole body recoiling against it.

I wrenched myself free and collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air. The others stepped back.

"Disgusting," someone muttered.

Daniel stood over me, looking down with undisguised contempt. "Learned your lesson? Still feel like chasing after my wife?"

He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back. "Here's what's going to happen. Get on your knees and lick my shoes. Do that, and maybe I'll let you walk out of here."

"Lick your shoes?" I looked up at him.

"Thomas Gardner would love to know that he has a son-in-law like you. What do you think he'd make of this?"

Something flickered across Daniel's face, and he pressed his jaw tight. "Still running your mouth. Let's see how long that lasts."

He turned to one of the groomsmen. "Johnny. Since he's got such a filthy mouth, give him something to fill it with."

Johnny glanced down at the waste bin near my feet and kicked it. "You're in luck, Danny. The bin's practically full, more than enough for him. It's more than enough for him."

Before I could react, Johnny had already grabbed a pair of tongs from the utility shelf and pinched up a wad of soiled tissue, moving to shove it into my mouth. He dangled it in front of my face. The smell was sharp enough to make my eyes water.

My heart hammered, and my throat tightened. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

I fought to shake them off, but my hands were pinned, and I couldn't move.

Daniel was doubled over laughing. "I love watching trash like you squirm."

He snatched the tongs from Johnny and drove them toward my mouth. I clamped my jaw shut on instinct, but the tip caught the corner of my mouth and tore it open. The taste of blood spread across my tongue.

That seemed to delight him even more. "Pry his mouth open. Anyone who helps me out tonight gets a car. One each."

The groomsmen needed no further convincing. They crowded around me, wrenching at my jaw. "You had the nerve to cross Danny? You've got a death wish."

In desperation, I bit down hard on one of their fingers. He screamed.

Daniel's expression shifted. He yanked my hair back and snarled, "So you want to bite? Fine."

He drove his foot into my back, and I hit the floor face down. The pain in my ribs was blinding, and I couldn't get air into my lungs. Before I could recover, he stepped down onto my wrist and looked at me with pure disdain.

"Trash is what you are. Head-to-toe fakes, and you thought you could pass yourself off as someone in my league?"

It was only then that I noticed it—we were wearing the same watch, a diamond-and-emerald piece identical in every detail.

Except mine was the real one. I had flown to Durmany personally to bid for it at an auction. There was only one like it in the world.

His was a replica.

I laughed despite myself. "You can't even tell a real diamond from a fake, and you call yourself old money?"

That comment landed hard. Daniel kicked the waste bin across the floor and bellowed, "You want to die? You're still mouthing off to me right now?"

He drew his foot back and kicked me again. The pain was bad enough that cold sweat broke out across my skin, and I nearly blacked out.

He clapped his hands together and called to the others. "Get his head in the toilet. Sober him up."

I lost consciousness more than once. Every time I started to come around, they pushed me back under, as if they were making a point of not letting me catch my breath. I lost track of how long it went on.

Eventually, they got bored and stepped back.

One of the groomsmen said quietly, "Danny, we should go. The reception's starting soon. Go get yourself sorted."

I lay on the floor, soaked through, and thought it was finally over.

But it wasn't. Daniel crouched before me, unhurried, his voice full of something mean and satisfied. "You know what, I've just had a thought. I want you to watch. Just like this, soaking wet and reeking, I want you sitting in that room while I marry Isabelle."

I lifted my head and stared at him. "Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely," he said. "I want her to see you like this—filthy and pathetic. I want the sight of you to turn her stomach every time she thinks of you.

"And I want you to watch with your own eyes who actually deserves to be the Gardners' son-in-law."

He stood and looked down at me with contempt. "Find a bin and put him in it. I don't want him making a mess of the venue."

The groomsmen stuffed me into a large plastic tub and carried me out. Through its walls, I could hear the noise of the reception growing louder as we got closer.

Thomas' voice boomed from the stage. "What a joyful day for the Gardner family. Thank you all for being here. Now, I'd like to invite our longtime supporter, Mr. Jarvis, to come up and say a few words."

He called out a few times, but no one answered.

Then one of the groomsmen stumbled, the tub toppled, and I rolled out onto the marble floor. The dirty water inside spilled across the tiles, and the smell spread instantly through the room.

Guests recoiled and covered their noses. Someone gasped, "What is that smell?"

Thomas stood frozen on the stage, his face going pale and then dark. "What is going on? Who brought this in here?"

Daniel rushed forward and pointed at me. "Dad, you don't understand. This guy snuck into the wedding. He's been trying to get to Isabelle all day."

Thomas stepped down from the stage, his expression thunderous. "Who in their right mind walks into the Gardners' event and pulls something like this? Let me see."

The guests parted as he walked through. He crossed the room, and his gaze landed on me. The fury on his face stopped dead. He stood very still, like something had knocked the wind out of him entirely.

"Mr. Jarvis," he said. "Who… Who did this to you?"