My best friend, Patrick Morris, always pops my fiancee's cherry before my wedding in order to ensure that I have an amazing wedding night with her.

Every time, he will record them going at it before sending it to me.

"I've taught your fiancee 1000 positions in bed. You're really lucky to be with her on your wedding night!"

After Patrick has snatched 99 fiancees from me, I suffer from a mental breakdown. Then, I sell my apartment and leave the city.

Finally, I get to meet my true love, Ariel Booker. But on my wedding day, Patrick shows up in front of me, disguised as a makeup artist.

"Caleb, you can get married once I'm done grooming your fiancee for you!"

After that, he drugs me before climbing into Ariel's bed.

Thank goodness I'm able to wake up on time and rush into the bedroom with a group of people flocking behind me. Later on, I have Patrick locked up behind bars.

But Ariel decides to run over my legs with her car, effectively crushing them. When I'm stuck in bed as a cripple, she throws my mom, who's severely ill, into a meat grinder.

"I'm free to give my virginity to whoever I want. Why the hell are you meddling with my business? Since you're the reason behind Patrick's imprisonment and suicide, you and your mom should pay the price with your lives!"

When I open my eyes, I've returned to the day of my wedding.

At the moment, Patrick is dressed as a makeup artist while stamping my face with a meat-grading stamp.

In the mirror, the words "Used Stud" were plastered across my face in bold letters.

The crowd around me jeered.

"Look at that, a used stud. Fits him perfectly."

"I heard he's a 30-year-old virgin. Total freak."

"Seriously, the nerve of this guy to even throw a wedding. Talk about shamelessness."

Just then, the door swung open, and my fiancee, Ariel Booker, walked in in her wedding dress.

My friend, Patrick Morris, sauntered over with a smirk. "Ms. Booker, your dress is a bit messed up."

With that, he reached out under the guise of fixing her tube top and slid his hand inside for a quick grope.

In my last life, seeing this had made my blood boil. I had rushed over and punched him in the face.

But Ariel had immediately grabbed a bottle of red wine from the table, smashed it over my head, and screamed at me, "Caleb Newman! Mr. Morris came all this way to do your makeup for free! He was just trying to break the ice. How could you be so petty and just hit him? Apologize to Mr. Morris on your knees right now, or the wedding is off!"

Back then, I remembered how she had stayed by my hospital bed for three days and nights when my stomach bled.

I remembered how she had done everything in her power to help treat Mom, who was in a vegetative state from a stroke.

Not wanting to ruin our wedding day, I had apologized to Patrick on the spot and begged Ariel to go through with the ceremony.

But this time around, I saw everything with perfect clarity.

When Patrick's hand slipped into her dress, she didn't flinch. Instead, she flushed as she looked at him.

Noticing my lack of reaction, Ariel suddenly looked guilty and pushed Patrick away. "Apologize to Caleb right now! Wipe that stamp off his face and redo his makeup!"

I grabbed a makeup wipe, cleaned the words off my face, and said quietly, "Don't bother. The wedding is off."

Ariel stared at me in disbelief.

I stripped off the custom suit she had ordered for me and headed for the door.

That seemed to snap her out of it. She grabbed my wrist, looking aggrieved. "Caleb! Stop throwing a fit! We've been planning this for so long! All our friends and family are out there. How can you call off the wedding over a harmless joke?"

I shook her hand off, ignoring the stares of the crowd, and looked at her with a mocking smile. "Ariel, you know exactly why we shouldn't get married. I'm not stopping you. Go be with the one you actually love. Isn't that what you want?"

I thought she would panic.

Instead, her expression didn't even waver. She just looked hurt. "Caleb, what are you talking about? Everyone knows you're the only one I love!"

She pointed at Patrick. "Is it because of him? I swear I didn't know he was going to pull a stunt like that. Besides, I made him apologize, didn't I? If you're still mad, I'll fire him. Will that make you happy?"

Patrick immediately teared up in a panic. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Should I get down on my knees? Will that make it right?"

I just watched them, offering no reaction whatsoever.

Ariel's parents, Arthur Booker and Isabel West, walked over. Their voices were laced with disapproval.

"Ariel is already swallowing her pride for you. What more do you want?"

"Caleb, you should know how well Ariel treats you. She performed your mother's surgery and arranged her aftercare. Don't bite the hand that feeds you."

A sharp ache pierced my chest.

Patrick was the one who had triggered Mom's stroke.

Back then, during my wedding to my ex-girlfriend, he had deliberately blasted their sex tapes for everyone to see before running off with her, leaving me to become the ultimate laughingstock.

The shock and rage had caused Mom to suffer a massive stroke that left her paralyzed.

To get her the best medical care, I had moved to Seabrook, where I crossed paths with Ariel, a neurosurgeon.

Over the course of Mom's treatment, we had slowly grown closer and fallen in love.

Arthur's words were a veiled threat. The Booker family controlled the best medical resources in the city. If I ruined the wedding today and humiliated them, Mom would be kicked out of their hospital immediately.

"Dad!"

Ariel cut him off before turning to me with a softened tone. "Caleb, please. For the sake of what I did for your mom, just stop making a scene today."

I clenched my fists. "Ariel, do you really not know that makeup artist? He just whispered in my ear that you were the one who told him to make me look like a clown to help him vent."

The moment the words left my mouth, the judgmental glares from the surrounding guests shifted into looks of pity.

Ariel's lips twitched, but she quickly forced a smile. "He's talking nonsense. He's just jealous that you're marrying up. I swear, if I actually have anything going on with him, or if I ever betray you, may I get hit by a car and die. We can get a divorce."

She raised her hand, taking the vow right in front of everyone.

I looked down and remained silent. Since this was what she wanted, I would give it to her.

…

Once I was in the banquet hall, I tapped my phone, broadcasting the dressing room's live security feed directly onto the massive LED screen.

On the screen, Ariel—who had claimed she was going to fix her makeup—was currently wrapped tightly in Patrick's arms. The skirt of her wedding dress was hitched up all the way to her waist.

"Patrick, I'm so sorry. I hate seeing you suffer like this," she murmured, her voice dripping with affection as she cupped his face. "Once the wedding is over, I promise I'll make it up to you."

Patrick's eyes were red, but his hand was already aggressively sliding inside her tube top. "Ariel, I can't wait anymore. I need you right now."

The next second, the two tangled together like octopuses, tearing at each other's lips as their clothes piled onto the floor.

The banquet hall fell dead silent.

Every single eye was glued to the big screen, watching the bride wrap herself around the makeup artist like a snake.

Arthur's glass crashed to the floor. While rushing toward the sound booth, he roared, "Turn it off! Turn the fucking thing off!"

But the footage kept playing.

Patrick flipped Ariel around, pressed her against the mirror, and drove into her from behind.

She threw her head back, letting out a sharp gasp of pure satisfaction.

Thanks to the hotel's surround-sound system, her voice echoed crisply into every single corner of the venue.

Isabel screamed and bolted toward the dressing room, with Arthur hot on her heels.

The moment the door was kicked open, Patrick was still buried deep inside Ariel's body.

An explosion of whispers erupted from the hallway.

"Oh my god! Isn't that guy the makeup artist from this morning?"

"Looks like Caleb was telling the truth after all…"

Isabel's face flushed bright red with sheer humiliation and rage. "Ariel Booker! Look at what you've done!"

Arthur rushed forward, violently pulling Patrick away. "It has to be you! You drugged my daughter, didn't you? Sweetheart, tell me that's what happened! We're calling the cops and throwing this piece of trash in prison!"

Terrified, Patrick's eyes welled with tears as he shrank back into Ariel's embrace.

"Enough!" Ariel barked, shielding Patrick fiercely.

She raised her head, her eyes locking onto mine through the crowd. There wasn't a single trace of panic or guilt in her gaze.

"Caleb, we need to talk."

Arthur and Isabel cleared everyone out of the room, leaving only the three of us inside.

Ariel looked at me, her eyes pooling with tears. "Caleb, the wedding is still on. We'll just tell everyone I was treating Patrick for a medical emergency. That way, our family's reputation will remain intact."

I caught Patrick flashing me a smug grin. Then, I looked back at the glaring smear of red on Ariel's wedding dress, and my eyes stung with tears.

"And what if I refuse?"

Fury instantly flashed across Ariel's face. "If you refuse, don't blame me for being heartless when I throw your mom out of the hospital!"

Looking at this woman who now felt like a complete stranger, I couldn't help but ask, "I have never done anything to hurt you. Why are you doing this to me?"

Ariel's voice turned ice-cold. "You haven't done anything to hurt me, but you ruined Patrick."

I froze.

She let out a sneer. "You pretended to be his best friend while systematically stealing 99 of his girlfriends. You even coached them on bedroom positions and filmed them. Don't you find yourself absolutely disgusting?"

She glared at me, her eyes filled with nothing but pure revulsion. "I'm a clean freak. I can't stomach what you did. But because I love you, I will still marry you. I just won't sleep with you."

My entire body went numb.

"Patrick will take care of my physical needs. He's a virgin. He's clean. I'm going to have his children too. Consider it paying off your debt to him. You can be the kids' second dad, which is honestly more than you deserve."

Patrick's eyes welled with tears as he chimed in, adding fuel to the fire, "Caleb, I don't blame you. But you shouldn't have blasted those videos at my wedding. The shock gave my dad a brain hemorrhage. He almost died on the operating table."

My mind reeled.

He was the one who stole my girlfriends. He was the one who gave Mom a stroke.

Seething with rage, I lunged forward, but Ariel shoved me back forcefully and shielded Patrick. "Enough! Even now, you're still trying to bully him?"

I shook uncontrollably, tears slamming onto the floor. "I didn't do it! I never did any of that! Ariel, he's the one who did all of it!"

She slapped me hard across the face. "You still won't admit it? Caleb, I never realized you could be so utterly shameless!"

She turned and shouted to the guards, "Take him to our hospital and lock him in the decontamination room! Sanitize him thoroughly! God knows what kind of disgusting diseases he's carrying!"

…

Once in the hospital, the guards threw me inside the decontamination room and locked the door from the outside.

The overhead nozzles blasted open, drenching me from head to toe in a pungent chemical solution.

I couldn't open my eyes or breathe. My lungs felt like they were on fire.

"Let me out!"

No one answered.

The chemical mist grew thicker and more suffocating. I collapsed onto the floor, and my consciousness started to slip away.

I didn't know how much time passed, but just as I was on the verge of suffocating, the door finally swung open.

Ariel froze, momentarily taken aback by the sight of me curled up on the floor. A flicker of panic crossed her eyes.

But that panic was quickly swallowed by disgust.

She stood over me, looking down at me with utter contempt. "Caleb, I knew you were sick, but I didn't know you were evil. You actually hired someone to run his father over just to get back at Patrick? Since that's the case, let's do an eye for an eye."

I snapped my head up, my mind spinning with confusion. "I didn't! I've been locked in here the entire time! I didn't do anything!"

Ignoring me entirely, she gave a slight nod to the guards. "Bring her in."

My eyes went wide as two men wheeled in my critically ill mother.

"Ariel! What the hell are you doing?"

I struggled to claw my way up, but the guards pinned me back down with brutal force.

"I told you. An eye for an eye."

She pointed toward the industrial meat grinder sitting at the far end of the hallway.

"No!"

I thrashed like a madman, trying to break free, but the two guards slammed me hard against the ground.

My face was pressed against the ice-cold tiles. I watched in absolute horror as they began pushing the hospital bed toward the machine.

"Ariel! I beg you! Please, I'm begging you! I'll get down on my knees! I'll do whatever you want! Kill me instead! Just kill me!"

She stood nearby, watching coldly. "Did you think about the consequences when you hired that hit on Patrick's dad?"

Patrick shrank into her arms, whimpering and wiping away fake tears. "Caleb, you're truly a monster. It wasn't enough that you put my dad in the hospital, but you actually hired a hit on him?"

Feeling for him, Ariel held him close and waved her hand.

They lifted Mom up toward the mouth of the grinder.

I closed my eyes in utter despair.

Right then, a commanding voice echoed down the hall. "Stop right there! No one touches my grandson!"

Before the words even faded, dozens of armed soldiers swarmed the corridor, locking the entire place down.