“I’ll sit with Eric in the second car,” Lily Harper said.

I thought I had misheard.

Staring at Eric Collins in shock, I asked, “So the groom today is… this dog?”

Eric nodded impatiently.

I cried out in anguish, “What about you? Aren’t you the one I’m supposed to marry?”

Eric replied, “Lily read my fortune with Tarot cards. If I go through with the ceremony, it’ll bring me misfortune. So the dog will take my place.”

“I’ve raised this dog since I was a child—he’s like family. What’s wrong with letting him be my stand-in?”

“Sophia, you’re usually so understanding. Can’t you just make a little sacrifice for me?”

I nearly fainted from anger. “Eric! So it’s because I’m understanding that you think you can bully me like this?”

“What kind of bride marries a dog? Is there such a thing anywhere in the world?”

“You know how much I’ve been looking forward to this wedding. You know how much I love you.”

“How can you bear to make me the laughingstock of everyone?”

The more I spoke, the more it broke me, until I covered my face and sobbed.

Lily piped up cautiously, “Sophia, a wedding is just a formality. Why make Eric risk misfortune just for something that doesn’t really matter?”

“Would you rather he suffer harm, just to satisfy your vanity?”

Hearing this, Eric’s eyes grew even colder as he looked at me. “Sophia Bennett, do you even love me?”

I lifted my tear-streaked face and stared at him. “Do you love me? If you did, would you humiliate me like this?”

At that moment, Eric’s phone rang.

On the other end was Margaret Collins, his mother.

“Why aren’t you back yet? The guests are getting restless,” she barked.

Eric answered, “Sophia refuses to come.”

Margaret exploded, “Put her on the phone!”

I took the call, but before I could say anything, she was already shouting:

“Sophia, where did you pick up this nonsense? The limousine is here and you’re throwing a tantrum? Trying to raise your price, are you?”

“Let me tell you, the Collins family may be wealthy, but we’re not fools. If you don’t want to marry, there are plenty of women lining up to take your place.”

I quickly tried to explain, “No, it’s not that! Eric and Lily brought a dog and want me to go through the ceremony with it.”

Margaret was a very traditional woman, so I thought she’d stop Eric. But to my disbelief, she said lightly, “I already knew.”

“Lily’s reading showed that Eric would face misfortune if he held the wedding. Better safe than sorry—let the dog do it.”

“You’re marrying my son, so you should put his well-being first. Stop making trouble out of nothing.”

Then she hung up.

I stood there, stunned.

Eric sneered. “Still not getting in the car?”

I looked at the dog inside and shook my head.

“Forget it then,” Eric said coldly.

He took Lily’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Lily asked softly, her voice brimming with joy, “Eric, are you not holding the ceremony anymore?”

Eric replied indifferently, “Of course it will be held. If Sophia wants to throw a fit, she can take a cab to the venue herself.”

“But it looks like she doesn’t want to get married anymore,” Lily said.

Eric glanced at me through the window and mocked, “Not marry? She wouldn’t dare. Give her some time—she’ll swallow her pride and come crawling over.”

With that, the wedding convoy drove away.

Tears fell silently from my eyes.

Everyone assumed I couldn’t bear to lose this wedding.

Eric thought so too.

It was only because Eric Collins was the heir to the wealthy Collins family that people thought I was reaching above my station.

I was just an orphan, taken in by Robert Collins, his grandfather.

To outsiders, it seemed like I had climbed too high, that I should grovel before the Collins family and cling to this chance to “rise above.”

But no one knew the truth—Robert had personally and respectfully invited me to live with the Collins family. The word “adoption” was just for appearances.

And back then, it was Eric who had pursued me relentlessly.

He accompanied me whenever I went shopping, replied instantly to every message, remembered every little thing I liked.

I was moved by his sincerity, and that was why I agreed to marry him.

I never imagined that after he proposed successfully, he would turn so cold.

Perhaps… he never loved me at all.

At that moment, the photographers and stylists approached cautiously.

“Miss Bennett, we…”

I gave a bitter smile. “You can all go. I’ll transfer the final payment to your accounts. My wedding is canceled.”

They nodded silently, gave me a sympathetic look, and left.

With a sigh, I turned to head home and change out of my gown.

But just as I reached the doorway, a sudden roar startled me.

I turned and saw a motorcycle charging toward me.

I jumped back in fright.

The bike screeched to a halt, and two thugs leapt off.

They smirked, “Hey beauty, wearing a wedding dress—who are you trying to seduce?”

Shocked and furious, I snapped, “Leave right now, or I’ll call the police.”

They exchanged a glance and sneered, “Go ahead. We’re regulars at the station anyway.”

One of them lunged at me while the other pulled out his phone, leisurely recording.

I ran, screaming for help, but there was no one around.

In high heels, I couldn’t move fast. Before long, they cornered me against a wall.

I struggled to push one of them away, but he was far stronger. His hands clawed at my gown, ready to tear it apart.

Then, at that critical moment, a tall figure’s cold voice rang out: “Stop.”

The two thugs froze.

Before they could react, the man moved with lightning speed and knocked them both down.

Only then did I recognize him—it was Daniel Walker.

I hurried to him, my eyes misting. “Thank you… thank God you came in time.”

Daniel shook his head. “I wasn’t in time. I was here all along.”

That one sentence made tears spill from my eyes.

Daniel and I had known each other since childhood; our families were old friends.

When I chose to marry Eric, he had gotten drunk and called me, saying he would never bother me again—but that he would always wait.

I thought he wouldn’t show up today. I never imagined he had been watching over me all along.

After the thugs fled, Daniel was about to leave.

I called out to him: “I’m supposed to get married today, but I’m missing a groom. Interested?”

His body trembled.

When he turned back, he wore a forced casual smile. “And what kind of groom would I be? Temporary? Part-time?”

I laughed. “Lifelong. Full-time.”

His eyes lit with unrestrained joy. “Yes. Yes!”

As if afraid I’d change my mind, he pulled me into his car and told the driver, “Get us to the County Clerk’s Office as fast as you can!”

I looked at him in surprise. “Do you even have your documents with you?”

Daniel nodded seriously. “I’m always ready to marry you.”

At the County Clerk’s Office, Daniel Walker finally let out a sigh of relief only after we had completed the registration and received our marriage certificate.

The entire way there, he had been worried I might change my mind.

As we stepped outside, I looked at the burgundy-covered certificate in my hands, a wave of emotion washing over me.

“My father liked you a lot,” I whispered. “He mentioned you to me several times. If only he could see this.”

Daniel’s voice was low. “No word from Mr. Bennett yet?”

I nodded faintly. “It’s been three years since he went missing.”

Three years ago, my mother, Julia Bennett, died in a car accident overseas.

My father, Richard Bennett, went abroad to investigate, but then mysteriously disappeared. We never heard from him again.

Out of concern that, as a young woman, I might be mistreated or misled, Robert Collins had invited me to live with the Collins family while waiting for news of my father.

I never expected that wait to stretch into three years. And in that time, I had nearly become a Collins daughter-in-law.

Just then, a bespectacled young man hurried past and accidentally bumped into Daniel, spilling coffee all over his suit.

The young man was flustered, stammering apologies.

Daniel, in high spirits after our marriage, smiled. “It’s fine.”

He turned to me. “Wait here a moment, I’ll clean this up in the restroom.”

I nodded.

But no sooner had Daniel rushed off than a group of men closed in around me.

Startled, I tried to step aside, but they lunged, seizing my arm.

I opened my mouth to call out, but one of them quickly covered it with his hand.

I recognized one of them immediately—it was Eric Collins’ bodyguard.

He made a quick call. “Mr. Collins, we’ve found Miss Bennett. We’re bringing her to the wedding venue now.”

Eric’s cold voice came through the phone: “Hurry.”

The next second, I was shoved into a car.

Half an hour later, I was dragged into the hotel banquet hall where Eric was waiting.

His face was icy. “Sophia Bennett, were you really planning not to show up?”

“All because of a dog—you’d throw away our wedding?”

“I’m not just disappointed in you, I’m heartbroken.”

At that moment, Margaret Collins came out and snapped at him, “The guests are waiting. Start the ceremony immediately. Bring her in.”

As she passed me, she shot me a sharp glare. “Sophia, you’re far too unruly. On your wedding day of all days, you kept everyone waiting over an hour. After this ceremony, I’ll see to it you learn some proper discipline.”

Eric waved his hand, and two bodyguards forced me toward the hall.

I struggled. “Eric, I have nothing to do with you anymore. I’ve already married someone else!”

He looked at me as if I were insane. “Sophia, do you think lying like this is amusing?”

“Making a scene at our wedding will get you nothing but my disgust.”

“My advice? Know your place, and stop squandering the love I’ve given you.”

They dragged me to the entrance of the hall.

There, I froze.

A massive poster hung by the doors.

On it was my photo—next to Eric’s black dog.

Beneath it, bold letters read: Sophia Bennett & Blackie — Joyfully Wed.

Blackie. That was the name of Eric’s dog.

The hotel had turned it into a spectacle. Guests gathered around, taking pictures, laughing as they posted them online.

Lily Harper bounded over, grinning. “Sophia, I designed that poster myself. Do you like it?”

I clenched my teeth in rage.

But Eric didn’t so much as glance my way—he only urged the bodyguards on, dragging me into the hall.