Chapter 1

The night before the wedding, Damien Grant told me to take off my wedding dress.

"Bee's pregnant. She wants to wear the dress and get a family photo for the baby."

"Let her have tomorrow's wedding first. Once she's had the baby, I'll make it up to you with another one."

I looked past him at the woman in slippers.

She was wiping the water off her hands with my veil.

"The invitations already went out. Relatives from both families are coming."

Damien frowned.

"That's exactly why I need you to cooperate."

"Tomorrow, just tell everyone you're the bridesmaid. Bee scares easily. Don't let people gossip about her."

Six years together, a full year planning the wedding.

And in the end, he wanted me to carry the train for the woman pregnant with his child.

He set a bank card on the vanity.

"Five million. You've always been sensible. Don't let me down this time either."

I didn't cry or make a scene. I took the card.

"Fine. Tomorrow I'll be the bridesmaid."

Damien was finally satisfied. He turned and started trying my veil on her.

I took my phone out to the balcony and dialed a number.

"Last time, you said your wife was overseas recovering?"

The man on the other end paused.

"Why?"

"She's back. She's getting married tomorrow."

"I'll send you the venue address. Make sure you come."

……

The line went quiet for a few seconds.

"Vivian Sinclair, are you sure?"

I held my phone up to the glass.

Inside, Damien was kneeling at Bianca Lawson's feet, changing her into the wedding shoes.

I had tried a dozen stores before I found that pair. The heels were too thin, and back then he couldn't even be bothered to look at them. He said a wedding wasn't a beauty pageant, anything wearable would do.

Now he was cradling another woman's foot and asking her quietly if they pinched.

I took a photo and sent it.

"Your wedding?" the man asked.

"It was supposed to be."

"Don't tip her off. I'm flying back now."

After I hung up, I backed up the chat history before I turned and went inside.

Bianca was already standing in front of the full-length mirror.

"Damien, it's a little tight here. Will it squeeze the baby?"

Damien immediately called the seamstress over.

"Let the waist out. Alter it tonight."

The seamstress looked at me and didn't dare touch her scissors.

I had paid her rush fees three times. She knew what this dress meant to me.

Bianca watched me in the mirror.

"Vivian, you're not going to be upset about it, are you? It's not like I have to wear this one. It's just that the baby can't wait, and once my belly gets big it won't look nice."

"Cut it," I said.

The scissors went in, and a small piece of white embroidered cloth showed inside the waistband.

On it were names my mom had stitched by hand.

Damien Grant, Vivian Sinclair.

After chemo, my mom's eyes were bad. It took her several tries to thread the needle for every stitch. She was afraid she wouldn't last until the wedding, so she sewed her blessing into the dress ahead of time. She said that way, it would be like she was there with me when I got married.

Bianca reached out and tugged at it.

"There are names in here. It feels creepy wearing it."

She picked up the scissors.

I clamped my hand around hers.

"Take this out and give it to me."

Damien stood up, took the scissors away first, then pulled Bianca behind him.

"Talk if you want, but keep your hands to yourself. She can't handle a scare right now."

I looked at him.

"My mom embroidered that."

He paused for a moment.

Bianca's eyes were already red.

"I didn't know... Maybe we should just forget it. The baby and I don't belong here anyway."

She reached for the zipper on the dress, and Damien quickly held her hand still.

"Who says you don't belong?"

When he looked at me again, his patience was gone.

"It's just a piece of cloth. Your mom never made this much fuss when she was alive."

I let go.

The seamstress kept her head down as she unpicked the embroidered cloth in one piece and placed it in my palm.

I folded it up carefully and put it in my pocket.

"Damien, the five million on that card. I want you to transfer it into my account yourself."

He frowned. "What's the difference?"

"It's your card. You can freeze it anytime."

He looked at me for a moment, then let out a scoff.

"So you've gotten smart."

My phone chimed with a deposit notification.

I checked the amount and started recording.

"The five million is compensation for you swapping out the bride at the last minute. After the wedding, I have no obligation to go on and marry you. Right?"

"Right."

He answered fast, like he'd finally gotten rid of a nuisance.

But Bianca gently tugged at his sleeve.

"Damien, there's one more part tomorrow that Vivian needs to help with."

She pulled out a freshly printed program.

Bride's entrance.

Father gives away the bride.

The man who was supposed to walk me down the aisle had been circled in red pen.

Bianca gave a careful little smile.

"My dad passed away a long time ago. Could I borrow Mr. Sinclair?"

My hand froze on the program.

But Damien had already nodded.

"Your dad's always doted on you. He'll do this small favor."

"Tomorrow he's coming to give his daughter away."

"It's just a ceremony. A few steps down the aisle. It's not like he's actually taking on a new daughter."