“Why shouldn’t I get married? I’m getting married today no matter what!”

If I didn’t marry her, it would be a bargain for that bastard Lambert.

Everyone thought that I forced Karina to marry me, but the truth was quite the opposite. Karina rented out the entire cruise ship to beg me to be her boyfriend.

In the most bustling area of Dortmund, the Bund, she set off 999 fireworks.

Karina expressed her love for me eighteen times to make me marry her.

Despite her extreme fear of heights, she jumped off the world’s highest bungee jumping platform for the last time.

All because of what I said, “If you dare to jump off there, I’ll marry you.”

All the past beauty had now become a laughingstock in the eyes of others.

***

I randomly found a car, opened the passenger door and got in.

“You won’t even let the groom ride in the front seat on your wedding day. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

I turned my head and saw Jeanne Thouret, my childhood friend who had grown up with me.

“Are you here to laugh at me?”

When I wanted to marry Karina back then, Jeanne strongly opposed it.

We argued several times over it, almost to the point of never speaking again.

“I’m not that bored.”

After a moment of silence, Jeanne spoke again.

“If you say you don’t want to marry her now, I’ll take you away immediately!”

“To the wedding venue.”

“She’s treated you like this and you still want to marry her?”

“Just drive, please.”

Jeanne slammed the steering wheel, but still started the car and drove me to the wedding venue.

Halfway there, a small car suddenly appeared out of nowhere and crashed straight into us.

Fortunately, Jeanne was an excellent driver and managed to swerve out of the way, only grazing the side of the car.

A man in athletic wear got out of the car and ran over to our window.

“How did you drive? You wrecked my car! None of you are leaving today until you pay for the repairs!”

“Stay in the car. I’ll handle this.”

He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

Just then, Karina called.

“Where are you? We’ve been waiting for ages.”

“I’ve been in a car accident.”

I heard a man’s voice next to me.

“You got into a car accident on your big day. That’s bad luck. Maybe God doesn’t want you two to get married.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Michael, hurry up and call a taxi. Don’t miss the auspicious time.”

My chest felt tight.

 “I was in a car accident and your first concern isn’t whether I’m hurt, but that we’ll miss the auspicious time?”

“My husband is lucky and will be fine. Hurry up and take a taxi over here. Everyone is waiting for you.”

Karina hung up the phone. As soon as I got out of the car, someone grabbed my wrist.

“You can’t leave! No one in this car can leave today!”

The man who had intentionally hit me with his car was the one grabbing me. Looking at him up closely, I finally remembered who he was.

Although I didn’t know his name, I had seen him once at the company. He was Lambert’s brother.

Jeanne stepped in front of me.

“This is my car. If you have any issues, talk to me.”

“That’s not possible. No one in this car can leave. Who knows if you two planned this and intentionally hit me!”

“Sir, there are surveillance cameras on this road. You were the one who drove into me!”

“I don’t care. None of you are leaving.”

I laughed coldly. “You were sent by Lambert to hold me back, weren’t you?”

The man was stunned, clearly not expecting me to recognize him.

“Who is Lambert? I don’t even know him.”

Just then, my phone rang again. It was a video call from Lambert.

When I answered, I saw him wearing my custom-made suit and fixing his hair with my makeup artist behind him.

“Michael, does it look good?”

“Don’t misunderstand. Ms. Orfanel said you might not make it in time and she was worried about missing the auspicious time, so she asked me to stand in for you and complete the ceremony.”

“You don’t need to rush over. I’ll live-stream the entire wedding for you.”

“I’ll talk to you later. The wedding is about to begin.”

I silently got back into the car, watching the wedding that was supposed to be mine proceed smoothly.

Every detail of the wedding venue, down to each flower used for decoration, had been carefully selected by me.

Yet now, it was someone else standing there.

As the wedding reached the climax, the host announced loudly, “The groom may now kiss the bride!”

Lambert hesitated for only a moment before leaning in to kiss Karina.

The camera zoomed in on their kiss and their lips were still slightly parted when they parted.

I felt a wave of nausea and opened the car door, unable to stop myself from vomiting.

Jeanne quickly patted my back.

“Why did you suddenly vomit? I’ll take you to the hospital.”

I quickly waved her off and took the water she handed me to rinse my mouth.

The suit I was wearing felt even more uncomfortable and I just wanted to take it off.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a bag on the backseat. I picked it up and saw that it contained a new set of men’s clothes that Jeanne had bought.

I messed up the big pompadour I had styled in the morning and changed into the clothes from Jeanne’s bag.

Surprisingly, it fit perfectly. Only then did I notice that this outfit seemed to be a matching set with the one Jeanne was wearing.

At that moment, my phone rang.

“Michael, how’s the wedding going? I’m about to go with Ms. Orfanel to toast the guests.”

“Your in-laws don’t seem to care much about you. They didn’t even notice the groom was replaced.”

“I won’t live stream the toasting part. It’s too battery draining. I’ll hang up.”

Jeanne returned to the car.

“That guy is acting like a lunatic. I’m not going to argue with him. Let my assistant handle it.”

When she saw my drastic change, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

“What’s going on?”

“Can I borrow your clothes? I’ll buy you a new set afterward.”

Jeanne was speechless. “No, it’s fine. This suit was meant to be a gift for you anyway.”

“Are you not planning to get married?”

“Karina and Lambert have already gone through the wedding ceremony.”

“Jeanne, you said you didn’t want me to marry someone else. Are we going to register our marriage now?”

Jeanne was utterly dumbfounded.

“You mean the two of us getting married?”

I nodded. “If you don’t want to, then forget it.”

Jeanne immediately perked up and said, “I’ll take you there!”

“Why wouldn’t I want to? I’ve been waiting for this!”

Jeanne stepped on the gas pedal and drove straight to the City Hall. Then the two of us ended up getting married in a whirlwind.

“Let’s go to the hotel.”

Jeanne blushed bright red.

“Is this happening so fast? We haven’t even held hands yet.”

“What are you thinking about? I want you to take me to the hotel where my wedding was supposed to be. The banquet should still be going on. Let’s go give Karina and Lambert some wedding gifts.”

“Alright!”

When we arrived at the hotel, I picked up a red envelope and stuffed 38 dollars inside it.

Then I found an inconspicuous corner and sat down with Jeanne.

After waiting for a long time, Karina and Lambert finally came to our table to toast.

At first, they didn’t recognize me, but Karina finally noticed me when it was my turn to be toasted.

“Michael, when did you get here? Whose clothes are you wearing?”

“The groom has been replaced and I’m still wearing that outfit, isn’t that ironic?”

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s not because you had an accident on the way and couldn’t make it. I just asked Lambert to help me finish the ceremony.”

“Otherwise, not only would we have missed the auspicious time, but it wouldn’t be nice to have so many friends and family waiting for you.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

Isodore and Helena came over.

“Hey, Michael. What are you wearing? On such a joyous occasion, how can you wear a couple’s outfit with someone else? Is that appropriate?”

“Michael, isn’t that what I am saying? Just because Karina didn’t let you ride in the first car, you deliberately didn’t come to the wedding. And now you’re wearing a couple’s outfit with someone else, just to embarrass Karina!”

“You’re so inconsiderate. If it weren’t for Lambert saving the day, our entire family would have been humiliated. You must never do this again. If it happens once more, even if Karina spoils you, I will never forgive you!”

“You didn’t tell your mom about the car accident, did you? By the way, the car that hit me was driven by Lambert’s brother. He intentionally collided with us and has been detained by the police. He will definitely face criminal charges.”

Lambert looked panicked and Karina immediately defended him.

“What’s Lambert’s brother? You’re making it sound like Lambert deliberately asked his brother to hit you.”

“Isn’t that what happened?”

“That’s impossible! I know Lambert better than anyone. He’s so kind and considerate, with no ulterior motives. How could he possibly ask his brother to hit your car!”

Lambert’s tears welled up in his eyes. “Ms. Orfanel, thank you for believing me. Otherwise, I’d be as good as dead.”

“Don’t worry. Some people just like to bite the hand that feeds them!”

“Karina, are you calling me a dog?”

“I just want you to understand that Lambert did you a huge favor today! You should be grateful to him, not slander him!”

“Apologize to him immediately. I was planning to arrange another wedding for you, but if you don’t apologize, the wedding is off!”

I snorted derisively. “If you won’t arrange it, someone else will. Right, my wife?”

Jeanne kissed my cheek. “Yeah, of course.”

Karina thought she had heard wrong. “What did you just call her?”

“My wife. She’s my wife, legally.”

“Thank you for not marrying me. I’m now the son-in-law of the Thouret Family.”