I married Eleanor Vance on the very same day her true love was getting married next door.

Just as we were about to exchange rings, the man himself stormed into our ceremony.

Red-eyed and shaking, he announced that the only woman he'd ever loved was Eleanor and that he couldn't go through with marrying the fiancee waiting for him, the one battling a terminal illness.

Eleanor didn't even look at me. She pulled her hand from mine and ran after him.

I was left standing there, humiliated, while my mother was so angry she ended up in the hospital.

Later, the abandoned bride and I caught each other's eyes for a moment.

I asked quietly, "Do you want to switch grooms?"

Three years passed before Eleanor came back. She was crying, saying she regretted everything.

But I scooped up both kids from the backseat, one in each arm.

I stepped aside and said, "Excuse me. I'm in a hurry to pick up my wife from work."

The Ones I Carried Home

With Cyrus in one arm and Chloe in the other, I turned to close the car door and stopped cold.

Standing a few feet away was someone I never expected to run into again.

Eleanor. My ex-fiancee. The woman who ditched me at our own wedding three years ago and ran off with her true love.

Balancing both kids against my chest, I kept my voice polite. "Excuse me. I'm in a hurry."

Eleanor's expression darkened instantly.

Instead of stepping aside, she blocked my path, her voice sharp and accusing. "Who are these kids?"

I shut the door with a quick kick, not planning to engage.

But Chloe looped her arms around my neck and asked, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Daddy, why is this lady so mean?"

Eleanor's face tightened even more.

"Why is she calling you Daddy?" She sounded almost frantic. "I was only gone for three years. How could you already have children? Did you have kids with someone else the second I left?"

I kept my tone even. "What did you expect? That I'd stay loyal to you forever?"

Eleanor and I had grown up together.

Our families had arranged the engagement when we were kids.

And I'd always known she had feelings for someone else.

I'd tried to call off the engagement more than once, but she refused every time, swearing she loved me and wanted to marry me.

I chose to believe her—until the wedding day.

Her true love dropped to his knees in front of her, sobbing as if he'd break apart. She panicked, right there at the altar.

Then, she ditched the ceremony, still wearing her gown, and ran off with him.

The fallout was humiliating. My parents shared the shame. My mother even fell ill from the stress and ended up in the hospital.

People who'd always resented me suddenly had ammunition, whispering behind my back that I'd been a backup plan, a pathetic fool.

I'd hated Eleanor for a long time after that.

And I never thought I'd face her again three years later.

She clearly hadn't expected me, usually the polite, mild one, to cut her down so bluntly. For a moment, she just stared.

I shifted the twins and tried to walk past her, but she grabbed my arm. "Ethan, can we talk?"

I was about to refuse her when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

"That's Mommy calling!" Cyrus fished it out and put it on speaker.

My wife's cool, steady voice filled the air. "Ethan, why aren't you here yet?"

Wedding Day Betrayal

Before I came, I had told my wife Gemma Hayes that I'd be picking her up with the kids.

Luckily, her call arrived just in time to save me from an awkward situation.

That night, before bedtime, I read stories to our twins.

Chloe, her wide, innocent eyes fixed on me, asked, "Daddy, does that strange lady like you?"

Before I could answer, Cyrus jumped in from the side. "Of course she does! Daddy's so handsome!"

I felt my cheeks heat up and quickly told them not to tell their mother about today. We'd had three years of a happy marriage. I didn't want to stir up misunderstandings.

After tucking the twins in, I returned to the master bedroom.

Gemma was already lying on the bed with her back to me.

I turned off the main light, and as soon as I slipped beside her, she rolled over and pinned me gently. "Ethan, I didn't know you were such a hit. Women actually hit on you in public?"

"How do you know that?" I asked, stunned.

She hummed softly and pinched my cheek. "Our kids told me everything before even stepping inside."

"Those traitors…" I muttered.

Gemma's eyes widened. "And you feel sorry for her?"

I sighed. "It's Eleanor."

Since she already knew, I had no reason to hide it.

Jealousy flared in Gemma. "She heartlessly abandoned you back then. Bet she's regretting it now."

She pinched my face harder. "Ethan, if I ever find out you're tangled up with her again, you're dead."

In the soft glow of the lamp, Gemma looked strikingly beautiful.

I felt a rush of desire, wrapped my arms around her waist, and pressed her against me. "My heart is only yours. How could I ever get tangled up with another woman?"

I spent the rest of the night proving that with every touch and every kiss.

With her warm, soft body in my arms, the idea of caring about a woman who had abandoned me seemed ridiculous.

But unfortunately, that woman refused to stay away.

Eleanor kept reaching out, trying to meet, and I ignored her every time.

Finally, she had our class president organize a reunion as an excuse to get me to come.

When the class president called, I had just dropped Cyrus and Chloe off at preschool.

It had been a while since I saw any old classmates, and the venue happened to be our hotel. I decided to go.

Since we were all friends, I didn't bother dressing up. I only wore a T-shirt and shorts.

But the moment I stepped into the room, my heart sank. Eleanor was there with her true love, Lucas Flynn.

Oh, right. They were my college classmates as well.

If I had known they'd be there, I would have at least tried to look presentable.

I casually grabbed a chair and sat down. Before I could even settle in, Lucas sneered. "Well, look who it is. Ethan, why are you dressed like that? Isn't your family loaded?"

A series of snide remarks. I ignored him.

He'd always been like that. I never understood what Eleanor saw in him.

Eleanor and I had grown up in the same schools.

In college, she chose literature; I went into business. I assumed we'd finish school and get married.

Then Lucas appeared. He was in her literature class.

Handsome, charming, always ready with a poem, he made girls swoon. In a female-heavy program, he was a rare catch.

But he never committed, never dated, always kept girls guessing. He took what he wanted, played with hearts, and never gave an answer.

Some even said he'd gotten a girl pregnant. True or not, who knew?

I thought Eleanor would keep her distance from a jerk like him. But no, she had quietly loved him for years, crowning him her one and only.

On our wedding day, Lucas crashed the ceremony, crying about finally understanding his heart. He claimed he loved Eleanor, not his terminally ill fiancee.

We were in the middle of exchanging rings. I grabbed Eleanor's hand tightly and whispered, "Don't leave me. With all our families and friends here, let's deal with this after the ceremony. Just for appearances."

But Eleanor had always been spoiled. She didn't care. She tossed aside the rings. "I'm sorry. I can't marry you. I love Lucas."

She yanked her hand from mine and linked arms with him, still wearing her pristine white gown, and walked right out of our wedding.

I would never forget that back view. Not out of longing; it was out of shame.

I was one of Sunnydale's wealthiest young heirs, but I had been abandoned by my childhood sweetheart on my own wedding day.

How could anyone forget such humiliation?

The Taste of Contempt

Seeing that I ignored them, Eleanor tapped Lucas on the arm. "Lucas, enough. Ethan's had a rough time. I heard his family kicked him out. He doesn't even have a job right now. That's why he looks a little shabby. You can't mock him for that."

I froze, unsure where she had heard such nonsense.

Then it hit me. Back at my wedding, Eleanor had caused such a scene that my mother's heart condition flared up, landing her in the hospital.

My father, furious, had kicked me out of the house, telling me to go reflect on my mistakes and stop being a burden.

He had even forced me out of the family business, insisting I learn to survive on my own. I had to prove myself before I could think of inheriting anything.

Yeah, I had been down and out.

"Ah, so that's how it was." Lucas sneered, his lips curling in smug satisfaction.

He grabbed a bottle of fine red wine from the table, uncorked it, and poured himself a glass. The rich aroma filled the room.

"I had a friend bring this all the way from Aetheria's vineyard. Excellent wine. Everyone should try it," he said, deliberately looking at me. "Ethan, you should taste it too. I guess it's been years since you've had anything this good, right?"

A certain someone just wouldn't get it. I ignored him, and he still shoved his face in my way, begging to be slapped.

I tilted my head and muttered a few words to the server. He nodded immediately and left the room with a respectful bow.

This hotel was mine. Well, technically, it had been a gift from my wife, Gemma.

Back then, my wedding had been a chaotic mess, mirrored by a similar spectacle in the hall next door. But that one had been orchestrated by Gemma.

Lucas had pursued her relentlessly, and they were set to marry. But Gemma had always suspected he was only after her money.

So, before the wedding, she told him she had a terminal illness and that her days were numbered. She said she would leave only a portion of her estate to her parents and donate the rest.

Lucas instantly regretted everything. At the last minute, he ran off to our wedding, performing some melodramatic act and whisking Eleanor away.

After they left, I ran into Gemma, still in her wedding dress, next door.

On a whim, I asked her, "Do you want to switch grooms?"

And just like that, Gemma and I had a whirlwind wedding.

Life after that was blissfully normal. She gave me twins soon after.

When she learned my father had thrown me out, she handed over this hotel for me to manage.

"This is a wedding gift," she said. "If you lose money on it, I'll kick you out myself."

Luckily, my studies in business management had paid off.

In just three years, I had not only kept the hotel profitable but also expanded with several branches. Gemma was pleased.

And now, someone had the audacity to swagger into my hotel and act like they owned the place. He was about to learn the cost of that arrogance.

The door clicked, and a server in white gloves approached, carefully holding a bottle of wine. "Boss, here's the '82 Lafite you requested."