"What are you doing?"

She only smiled, cold and slow, and then she let herself fall backward off the stage.

She hit the floor hard, the skin on her forehead splitting open.

Robert was off the platform in an instant, lifting her up, his eyes brimming with concern. "Maya, are you all right?"

Maya cradled her forehead, her face the picture of injury. "I was only trying to help you, trying to get her to stay. And she called me shameless and shoved me right off."

One by one, his groomsmen turned to look at me like I was their enemy. "Maya was trying to save you some dignity, and you push her? You don't know good from bad. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I never would've guessed how calculating you are. Maya's the innocent one here. Robert, you owe her an explanation today."

The guests below craned their necks for a better look at the show.

"What's going on? Looks like the bride shoved that woman right off the stage."

"From that height? She was trying to kill her. No grudge is worth that."

"Right? The bride looks so sweet, you'd never think she had it in her."

I shook my head, came down off the stage, and pointed at Maya. "It wasn't me. I didn't do anything. She fell on her own."

Maya's eyes reddened, wounded. "Alma, I know you blame me. Say whatever you want. As long as you stop fighting this today, I'll take it. Say whatever you want about me."

"See how big-hearted Maya is? She's not one of those petty, jealous women who only knows how to tear another woman down."

"Exactly. Pushes someone and won't even own it. Truly, petty women and small-minded people are the hardest to deal with."

Robert's palm cracked across my face. He glared at me, his voice vicious. "I never knew you could be this cruel. You actually dared to push Maya. Get down on your knees and apologize to her right now, or I will never forgive you."

I held my cheek and looked at him, at a man who didn't trust me for a second, and I knew then that choosing not to marry him was the best decision I'd ever made.

A man like this wasn't worth marrying.

"I did nothing wrong. Why should I kneel and apologize?"

"If you want the truth, check the security footage. I will not apologize for something I never did."

The moment I mentioned the security footage, a flicker of guilt crossed Maya's eyes. She clutched her head and made to leave. "Forget it. Today's just my bad luck. Let's not throw everyone into a panic over this. I fell on my own. I'll chalk it up to bad luck."

Watching her limp away, Robert pulled her into his arms, his voice aching. "Maya, don't go. I believe you. I'll make this right for you."

"That's right. She owes Maya an explanation."

The groomsmen worked themselves into righteous fury. "Alma needs to be taught a lesson."

Only then did a trace of triumph surface on Maya's face.

Robert turned to me, cold. "Alma. Kneel. Bow your head."

"Not a chance."

I refused flat out, and the answer was a slap, louder than the first.

His eyes were as cold as a stranger's. "Don't make me say it again. Kneel."

"Alma, when you do wrong, you pay for it. No one around me hurts Maya and walks away without paying."

Then someone kicked the back of my knee. I pitched forward and crashed down onto the floor, the pain shooting through my kneecaps so sharp the color drained from my face.

I struggled to get up, and his groomsmen held me down.

"Let go of me. I did nothing wrong. I will never apologize."

Smack!

Robert struck me twice more. "You won't bow your head nicely? Then we'll help you."

"What do you think you're—"

I never finished. They forced my head down toward the floor, again and again, slamming it hard against the ground.

I didn't stop until the ninety-ninth bow.

My forehead was a mess of blood, and my head swam, thick and dull.

"Can I go now?"

But the moment I started to rise, Maya let out another shriek. "The ring's gone. Alma was the only one who touched me."

I was shoved back down, my hand crushed under someone's shoe. "Where did you hide the ring?"

"Alma, hand it over nicely and we can still talk about the wedding."

I gave a cold laugh and looked at Robert with open contempt. "After everything you've done to me, how low would I have to be to still want to marry you?"

"I didn't take the ring. If it's missing, you'd better ask Maya what she actually did."

"Alma still wants to pin it on Maya, even now?"

"Looks like that lesson didn't sink in. Still hasn't learned, still has it out for Maya."

Robert seized my chin and sneered. "Don't think I can't see what you're doing. Pretending to be furious, telling me to go marry Maya, while you quietly pocket the ring. Still saying one thing and meaning another."

"Be good. Things are already a disaster today, and you look like hell, hardly fit to go through with a wedding. Let Maya stand in for you and finish the ceremony. The ring won't fit on you anyway."

I really couldn't make sense of what went on inside Robert's head.

He wanted a stand-in for the wedding. But "stand-in" was just an excuse. He was afraid Maya wouldn't agree to a real marriage, so he used the word to make his own dream come true.

And Maya? She kept saying she didn't want this, yet every word out of her mouth, every move she made, was meant to wreck the wedding.

Just like she'd said: even what she didn't want, she'd never let anyone else have.

Looking at them now, the two of them really were a perfect match.

"Hold your wedding with whoever you like. I don't care. But I genuinely didn't take the ring. Believe it or not."

My eyes didn't waver, and for a moment he hesitated.

Maya spoke up again. "Maybe the ring's on her right now. Alma, if you say you didn't take it, why not let us search you and prove you're innocent?"

So this was what she'd been after all along.

Making me bow wasn't humiliation enough. Now she wanted a search. Watching the certainty in her eyes, a chill crawled up my spine.

I clamped both hands over my wedding dress and stared hard at Robert. "I didn't take the ring. I swear it."

He only looked at me, his eyes cold. "Then prove it. Let her search you."

Maya tore my hands away and looked down at me, pleased with herself. "Let me do it. We're all women here, it's easier this way."

"No."

I fought and shoved her off, and she went down on the floor. "Looks like Alma's too guilty to let me search her."

Robert scoffed. "First she pushes Maya off the stage, now she wants to make another scene. If you're going to be this shameless, don't blame me."

He pointed at the groomsmen. "Hold her down. Let Maya search her properly."

They moved at once, pinning my limbs so hard that nothing I did made any difference.

Maya bent over me, mocking. "You brought this on yourself, so don't blame me. Once everyone's seen your body, let's find out whether he still wants you."

Then she gave a vicious yank, ripping the neckline of my dress, nearly baring the padding underneath.

The groomsmen leered at my chest, and the sickness in me rose until I just wanted to die.

The guests craned their necks toward me too. "This bride's got quite a figure on her. Nice soft skin, too. The groom's generous, giving that up."

"What's there to give up? Haven't you figured it out yet? That woman over there, Maya, she's the one the groom's really got his heart set on. This bride's a stand-in at best."

Their whispers kept circling me, and I wanted to die from the shame of it.

And at the worst possible moment, my mind went to him. If he were here, he would never let anyone treat me like this.

But after the way I'd hurt him yesterday, I didn't know if he'd come. And right now, the only person who could save me was Robert.

I swallowed every shred of pride and looked up at him, eyes burning, begging. "Robert, don't do this to me. Tell them to let go. Please."

Something flickered in his eyes, a reluctance he couldn't quite hide. Maya caught it.

The malice in her gaze sharpened. "You're not seriously calling this off, are you? You stop now and you're telling everyone here that I lied. Is that how you treat your friends?"

Robert's jaw hardened. He looked down at me, cold. "Keep searching."

Maya's hand was already at my half-torn neckline. I shut my eyes in despair.

That was when a familiar voice tore through the reception hall. "Get your hands off her. That's my bride."