Chapter 1

On our wedding day, Sebastian Sinclair agreed to show up only for the wedding-night after-party.

"All those tedious, complicated parts of a wedding are a waste of time. Skipping straight to the wedding night is the optimal solution."

I figured he had work to deal with, so I nodded and gave in.

Then, bored with nothing to do, I clicked on the most popular livestream in the city.

In the video, Sebastian had his arm around his first love, Ivy Hayes, warming up the crowd with pre-wedding games.

When I rushed to the livestream location, my best friend, Violet Rowan, stopped me.

"Don't get worked up, Julia. Sebastian still has to finish the ring exchange with me."

Sienna Scott, the scholarship student he sponsored, stepped forward too, smiling shyly:

"Sebastian was worried I'd get drunk, so he secretly swapped the wine for water during the reception toasts."

My face went white. I stood frozen where I was.

Just then, a trending post popped up on my phone:

[A successful man can't have just one woman behind him, and I have four darlings.]

Sienna's comment had been pinned to the top: [Except for a certain petty wife, we're all your loyal right-hand women!]

My best friend's comment came right after: [No need to put her on a pedestal. This isn't the olden days. Treating everyone equally is the only way this relationship lasts.]

Ivy promptly liked my best friend's comment.

Sebastian reassured them: [I see everything you all give. From now on, you'll only be treated better than her.]

Staring at the post, I felt the blood drain from my body.

The groom at all four weddings was Sebastian.

Since I wasn't the only woman behind him, I would bow out of this marriage myself.

...

As I turned to leave, Sebastian grabbed my arm.

"It isn't your turn in the ceremony yet. Where are you going so early?"

"I can't afford to wait for this wedding ceremony of yours."

As I pulled off my veil, my eyes reddened despite myself.

But Sebastian's tone was calm.

"It's just a wedding. Don't make such an ugly scene."

A scene?

My nose stung, and tears fell without warning.

A year ago, after Ivy came back from abroad,

Sebastian kept checking in on her and fussing over her. When I noticed and coldly confronted him, I was making a scene.

Six months ago, he gave my best friend a limited-edition pearl necklace,

yet that same day, at our engagement party, he gave me a pair of matching earrings that had come free with it. When I teared up in anger, I was making a scene.

Three months ago, I caught him taking Sienna to a trendy couples' restaurant that was all over social media,

and I couldn't stop myself from rushing over and slapping her.

To him, that was making a scene too.

This was the man who once loved nothing more than watching me act clingy and jealous.

Now, when he met my eyes, there was nothing left but impatience.

I swallowed the questions in my heart. It was like swallowing nails, and my throat tasted of rust.

"At the company, they're assistants I can't easily replace."

"The ceremony may have been done by the five of us, but you're the only one I signed a marriage license with."

Sebastian stepped forward and pulled me into his arms.

"Julia, in the end, you're different from the others."

The smell of alcohol on him, mixed with women's perfume, seeped into my nose. It made me so sick I wanted to throw up.

Seven years ago, when we were dating, he had held me just like this.

"Julia, someday I'll give you a wedding like no other."

But now, the man who promised me a one-of-a-kind wedding

had split our wedding into four.

He had made me swallow every grievance and humiliation.

"Different from the others?"

I looked up, staring in disbelief at the man I had loved for more than ten years.

Unable to hold back any longer, I grabbed everything within reach and hurled it at Sebastian.

Even when I was completely spent, he never once dodged.

"Feel better now?"

He looked exasperated, as if his patience at this moment were a favor he was granting me.

But I slapped him across the face and said hoarsely:

"I told you. The wedding is off."