My fiance, Henry Gordon, was two hours late to our vows on our wedding day.

Just as he was catching his breath and about to say ‘I do’, he received a call from his secretary, Yvonne Luther.

After hanging up, he looked at me apologetically.

“Honey, my useless team can’t handle the personnel appointment of the financial team on their own. They’re insisting that I head back! I’ll make it up to you with another wedding later on.”

I told him that I understood though I felt disappointed, because he was at a critical stage in his career.

However, the moment he left without hesitation, I tossed the ring on my finger into the venue’s flower bed and announced to everyone that the wedding was cancelled.

I had to see for myself who would ask Henry, a mere minority shareholder, to make such a significant decision without consulting me, the chairperson.

He did not know that just a few hours earlier, I had taken back the ‘gift’ I gave him and reclaimed my position as the company’s chairperson.

On the day of our wedding, my so-called ‘loyal’ fiance, Henry Gordon, secretly held another wedding with another woman. I was his rightful fiancee and had been dating him for years. It was the biggest humiliation I had ever endured.

Since he wanted to play dirty, I would make sure the happy couple paid the price they deserved.

On my way back to the company, I passed by an extravagant wedding banquet venue and spotted Henry’s car.

When I got out of my car, I saw Henry bridal carrying his secretary, Yvonne Luther, and walking proudly through the crowd.

They were surrounded by flowers and blessings. Henry was grinning, and Yvonne had a shy, bashful look on her face as she nestled into his arms.

I could not believe my eyes. I pushed through the crowd.

Looking at the expensive wedding gown Yvonne was wearing, then at my cheap, rented wedding dress, my heart felt like it was being clenched by an invisible hand.

I remembered telling Henry that I wanted a wedding gown of my own when we were discussing our wedding. I just wanted something to cherish, so that when I grew old, I could look at it and remember the happiness of our wedding day.

However, Henry had said wedding gowns were too expensive and that he could not afford one. He even said that after all his years of hard work for the company, his health had suffered multiple breakdowns, so any spare money we had needed to be used for his treatment.

Considering how he always worked hard and put in effort for the company despite his modest abilities, I did not bring up buying a wedding gown anymore.

Still, I wanted a wedding full of flowers and blessings.

However, every time I brought it up, Henry would irritably tug at his tie and tell me that weddings were just for show. He would say that they were merely a formality for others to see and that it was better for us to live our lives simply together.

After much persuasion, I reluctantly accepted a wedding without flowers or blessings, chose a simple church with a small patch of grass in front, and invited only a handful of relatives and friends to witness it.

Now, seeing the scene before me, my heart felt like it had been stabbed with a knife.

It turned out Henry did want a grand wedding—just not with me. He wanted his secretary instead.

Silent tears shimmered from the corners of my eyes.

‘My dear husband, since you’re so desperate to have a grand wedding to celebrate your love, I’ll grant you your wish.

‘But I wonder… will granting you this wish make you happy?’

I took out my phone and dialed a number I had not called in a very long time.

…

After taking off my wedding dress and changing into my haute couture clothes, I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Then, I walked straight into the wedding hall.

The priest stood solemnly in the center, reciting the sacred wedding vows.

My husband, who had supposedly gone to the company for the personnel appointment, was now standing there, hand in hand with Yvonne, waiting to say the ‘I do’ I had never heard.

As the priest happily asked Henry if he would take Yvonne to be his wife, for richer or poorer, I clapped my hands and walked down the red carpet from the opposite end of the hall toward them.

The happy smile on Henry’s face froze when he saw it was me.

Beside him, Yvonne urged him on, “Say it! Say you do!”

Seeing him frozen, Yvonne turned angrily toward him.

Her eyes widened when they met mine.

I let out a soft, mocking chuckle.

“Go on, say it. Say you do.”

Both Henry and Yvonne faltered under my gaze, unable to breathe, until Yvonne’s mother stormed up and yanked my hair, yelling, “You wretched witch! How dare you still show up at this wedding!

“Have you no shame? Security has thrown you out three times already, yet you still came back to steal the groom?!”

As soon as she said that, the guests’ looks of confusion turned into expressions of anger.

“So, she’s the mistress! How shameless! The happy couple is getting married, and she came to ruin it!”

“Don’t you know a wedding is the most important day of a woman’s life? I curse you to have your wedding day ruined by a mistress, too!”

“We watched Henry grow up. He is the most responsible man we know! He and Yvonne were childhood sweethearts, and there is no way anyone could come between them. She must be delusional!”

“You need a good beating! Henry gave every paycheck to Yvonne. He is the perfect husband! Yvonne is even the company’s boss now! How dare you try to destroy their love, you shameless tramp!”

Childhood sweethearts? Giving Yvonne every paycheck?

I clapped in amusement, nodding along.

Henry and I had been dating since we were at university, where he had pursued me relentlessly from the moment he first saw me. His pursuit had been grand and the talk of the entire campus.

However, on what was supposed to be our wedding day, I had become the ‘homewrecker’ everyone was cursing out.

Remembering his heartfelt confession under the moonlight back then, I could only smile bitterly.

If Henry had truly loved Yvonne, why did he pursue me so publicly and passionately?

I glanced at my designer outfit, and the answer was obvious.

Henry coveted my status as the daughter of the city’s wealthiest man and the wealth my family had that he could never earn in his entire lifetime.

Breaking free from Yvonne’s mother’s grip, I raised my voice so everyone in the hall could hear, “Are you also saying I’m the mistress, Henry?”

He turned his head away, not daring to meet my eyes.

Just as he was about to say something, Yvonne suddenly screamed, stepping between us.

“Are you crazy?!”

Then, from somewhere the guests could not see, she frantically tugged at Henry’s arm, giving him urgent, pleading looks.

Henry’s expression quickly shifted from guilty to scheming.

“Ahh!”

Yvonne screamed and deliberately fell to the ground in front of me, making it look like I had pushed her from the guests’ perspective.

The guests were in an uproar.

“So, you would rather destroy them than let them be happy, you homewrecker?!”

Many people rushed forward, grabbing at my clothes and trying to drag me out of the hall.

Henry helped Yvonne up and arrogantly declared, “Queenie Howard, I told you a long time ago to stop interfering in my relationship. I only love Yvonne!

“Today is our wedding day, and I won’t allow anyone to ruin it!

“I know you like me, but love can’t be forced! Are you going to leave with your dignity, or should I have someone throw you out? Choose for yourself!”

I stared at him coldly. His self-righteous attitude was ridiculous.

“Henry, I’m just going to ask you this. Where did you get the money for this wedding?

“Do you think no one will find out about what you’ve done if I leave?”

Henry fell silent, while Yvonne looked at me with pity and said, “I know you’ve liked Henry for a long time, but he doesn’t like you. If you love him, you should let him be with the one he loves.

“We’re both women. We shouldn’t make things hard for each other, should we?”

At that moment, Yvonne’s mother suddenly covered her mouth as if realizing something.

“I remember now. You’re that secretary who seduced Henry at the company! What a shameless woman!

“Don’t make me ask Henry to fire you!”

I could not help but laugh at how ridiculous that was.

“You’ve got some nerve, Henry, calling me your secretary.”

I turned around and looked at Yvonne’s mother.

“How can you still not know what your son-in-law and daughter do for a living when they’re already getting married?”

Before I even finished speaking, the entire room burst out laughing.

“You still dare to question your boss?”

“Henry is the CEO of a publicly-listed company with countless assets!”

“Didn’t you know? This wedding hall is reserved for CEOs worth hundreds of millions of dollars. People like you can’t just walk in here!”

Hundreds of millions of dollars? Countless assets?

Hearing those words was like listening to the biggest joke in the world.

Henry’s current success was the product of all the resources I had given him.

I had ignored my parents’ objections and thrown myself into a relationship with him.

Henry did not have the vision or experience to stand firm in the business world, so I secretly assisted him in completing tasks he could not handle himself.

Without my help and guidance, how could he have transformed from a poor, inexperienced student to where he was now?

Seeing me standing there calmly, without a trace of fear or hesitation, the guests began to speak up in Henry’s defense.

“Henry, you’re just too kind! You need to make sure your staff know their place!”

“How dare a mere secretary cause trouble at your wedding! She needs to be fired! Otherwise, she’ll never learn her place!”

Surrounded by their voices, Henry took on the posture of someone in power, raising his voice to reprimand me, “I’ve been far too lenient with you, and you’ve forgotten your place.

“From today onward, you’re no longer my secretary. Since you’re not completely useless, you can work as a janitor instead.

“But if you still won’t learn your place, I’ll have no choice but to fire you.”

As soon as he spoke, the hall erupted with laughter.

I sneered.

“Who exactly are you to fire me?”

Before Henry could answer, someone else shouted at me, “Are you so jealous that you’ve lost your mind?

“You’re just a secretary. Without Henry, what would you even be?”

A fat, big-eared man behind me laughed out loud.

“I know what you could do. You could sell yourself!

“With that figure, you’d fetch quite a high price!”

Hearing this provocation, I could no longer hide the murderous edge in my gaze. I turned to Henry.

“Are you sure you’re not going to explain anything? Are you just going to stand there and watch people humiliate me like this?”

Henry faltered under my stare, but Yvonne immediately forced out some tears.

“I know Henry is amazing and everyone likes him, but this is my once-in-a-lifetime wedding day. How could you?!”

The more she cried, the more dramatic the scene became. My whole body trembled with anger, and I grabbed a nearby glass of wine and splashed it on her.

The red wine flowed down her pure white wedding dress as she screamed, clutching her chest as though she were about to faint.

Henry exploded with rage and shoved me hard.

He used his full strength, and I fell back onto the table. Scalding hot food burned my skin red, shattered plates and glasses tore my dress, and the shards sliced my palms until they were bleeding.

Henry held Yvonne in his arms and glared at me furiously.

“Apologize to Yvonne now!”

I stood up, disheveled and humiliated.

“Henry, I entrusted you with funds to plan our wedding, yet now you're using my money to marry Yvonne, and you think I’m the one who should apologize?”

My words made the guests start gossiping among themselves again.

“She said she was supposed to marry Henry today. Could that be true? She doesn’t look like she’s lying.”

“This is all an act. What do you know? She even said she gave Henry the money for this wedding. Who would believe that? She’s just some lowly secretary. She’s clearly delusional!”

At that moment, the girl closest to me gasped when she saw the bracelet on my wrist.

“Oh my God! Isn’t that the jade bracelet that was auctioned off two years ago? It was worth a hundred million! It shocked the entire jewelry industry at the time!”

Hearing this, Yvonne screamed and rushed over.

“That’s just a fake! She’s been obsessed with vanity for ages and must’ve bought some cheap imitation.”

Because of Yvonne’s words, people immediately gave me looks of disgust.

“No wonder she tried so hard to be with Henry. She’s just a gold digger.”

Henry joined in.

“You’re a gold digger with delusions. How desperate could you be, thinking you could marry me? You say I was going to marry you. Where’s the proof?

“Did I ever buy you a wedding dress, book a church, or get you a ring? Did I ever publicly say you were my bride?

“A wedding is sacred. I wouldn’t lie before a priest.”

Then, Henry pulled out the wedding ring he had prepared and slid it onto Yvonne’s finger.

Yvonne leaned shyly against him, smiling brightly.

“See? This is our wedding!”

Facing the guests’ doubts, I had nothing—no evidence at all.

Back then, I loved Henry so much that I never forced him to do anything he did not want to do.

Who would have thought my consideration would turn into the knife stabbing me in the back and in the heart?

Before I could react, Henry snatched the bracelet from my wrist.

“You’re just a secretary working under me. Do you think I don’t know how much you make?

“Worth a hundred million? This thing’s worth a couple of bucks at best. Stop embarrassing yourself!”

I stared at him coldly.

“Henry, you know exactly what this bracelet means. If you don’t return it to me, you know what will happen!”

Before I could finish, Henry put the bracelet firmly on Yvonne’s wrist, acting as if his actions were perfectly justified.

“Consider it compensation for ruining my wedding!”

I laughed out loud.

“Didn’t you just say this bracelet was worth nothing? It seems like my cheap little trinket doesn’t match your high status.”

Yvonne covered the bracelet protectively.

“Even if it’s not worth much, it’s still your heartfelt gift.”

She stared greedily at it, but before she could enjoy it, her best friend suddenly yanked it off, ignoring Yvonne’s scream, and flung it to the ground.

The cracking of the jade echoed as my heart trembled.

That bracelet was the only thing my mother had left me. It was my most precious possession.

I stared blankly at the shattered pieces on the floor as anger surged through me like wildfire. I grabbed a cup of water and strode toward Yvonne and her friend.

“She’s crazy!” Yvonne shrieked.

The so-called ‘righteous’ guests immediately surrounded me.

Several people pinned me to the ground, and I could not break free no matter how hard I struggled.

“You’re jealous enough to go berserk, huh? Someone call the police on this lunatic!”

In the chaos, I felt a sharp kick to my back. The burning pain spread instantly.

Through the gaps in the crowd, I saw Henry watching me coldly while holding Yvonne in his arms.

“You’d better let me go, or you’ll regret it!”

I snarled through gritted teeth, but the hands on me only tightened.

“You’re a homewrecker! We’re just carrying out justice.”

The crowd roared, tugging and tearing at my clothes.

Just then, the doors were kicked wide open.