Chapter 1

The day before the wedding, my best friend Eugenia Henson pulled out a lie detector in front of everyone.

"To make sure this marriage starts honest, I need to run a little test on tomorrow's bride and groom."

She pressed my hand onto the machine first.

"Sandra, have you been cheating on Otto Delgado?"

The question came at me sharp and without warning.

I'd barely finished shaking my head when the device under my hand let out a loud shriek, and a hard jolt of current shot straight through my palm.

The private room erupted.

I fought through the pain and got the words out fast. "It's rigged."

But no one believed me.

Even Otto pulled his hand away from mine.

"Don't touch me. You disgust me."

Eugenia looked at me, a smug little smile at the corner of her mouth.

Then she had Otto put his hand on the machine, and the question she asked left me stunned.

"Otto, the truth is, the one you really love is me, isn't it?"

Otto froze for a second. Then he actually gave a small nod, twice.

A full minute passed. The device stayed silent.

I stood there, my mind gone blank.

The crowd started clapping and egging them on.

"Kiss her! Kiss her!"

Eugenia leaned in happily and pressed her lips hard to the corner of his mouth.

Otto didn't pull back. He even slid a steadying hand to her waist.

The current had ripped through my flesh, and my fingers were still trembling from it, but the pain had cleared my head completely.

So it wasn't just the machine that was rigged.

This whole relationship had been rigged from the very start.

1.

Eugenia reached over and switched off the device, but her mouth kept going.

"Sandra, best friend or not, I am not going to help you play two men at once."

Her tone was heavy.

"Sleeping around might be fun, but it's still wrong."

The burn in my palm still stung, a reminder of everything that had just happened.

My boyfriend and my best friend had been crawling into bed behind my back.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth, and something bitter rose in me.

"And the two of you weren't doing it behind my back?"

Otto frowned and cut me off, hard.

"Watch your mouth. Eugenia and I are nothing like you."

He tossed a stack of photos onto the table.

In them, a man was holding an umbrella, carefully pulling open the passenger door for me.

Same location, snapped from every angle.

His finger landed on the little smile at the corner of my mouth in the photo, his voice all mockery.

"Just finished, were you? Look how happy you are."

Everyone in the room broke into laughter, and the way they looked at me turned suggestive.

"Come on, why not treat the boys first? We wouldn't mind getting in on it too."

"Right, if Otto alone can't satisfy you, surely all of us together could?"

Otto leaned back into the couch, calm, completely unbothered by the filth.

I bit down on the soft flesh inside my cheek, forcing back the sting climbing up my nose, and I didn't deny it.

"That's right."

His face changed, the smile at his lips wiped flat.

"Sandra Matthews, you really have no shame."

I really had just finished something.

The president of Mindware had asked to meet with me. He said he wanted to open a branch office overseas, and asked whether I'd be interested in going out to run it.

A promotion. Double the salary.

The terms were more than tempting.

Last night I'd held up the ring on my finger for him to see, smiling with my whole face.

"Sorry. I'm about to get married."

"A long-distance start to a marriage doesn't really work."

Today, reality had slapped me hard across the face.

On the table, Otto's phone buzzed.

He swiped it open. It was the wedding coordinator.

"Mr. Delgado, I've sent over the full run of tomorrow's ceremony. Could you look it over and confirm everything's right?"

Otto gave it a careless glance.

"It's fine."

Then his tone shifted, cold and thin.

"But there's one thing I need changed."

"Change the bride's name to Eugenia Henson."

He said it clearly, word by word, like he wanted me to hear every syllable.

The person on the line knew better than to ask, and only promised the change would be done before the ceremony started.

Eugenia sat with a smile on her lips, leaning her whole weight against Otto's shoulder.

I gripped my glass and tipped my head back, finishing the last of the wine.

When I stood and walked over in front of her, everyone held their breath, watching us.

I'd barely lifted my arm when Otto seized my wrist.

His grip was crushing, his knuckles grinding into my bone.

"Anything you've got, take it up with me. Don't touch her."

He shielded Eugenia with his body, like a knight guarding his princess.

Whatever warmth was left in me went out for good.

Right in front of him, I bent down and slipped the ring off my finger.

I slid it onto Eugenia's hand. No resistance at all. It fit her perfectly.

"I only wanted to wish you both a happy marriage."

The door of the room opened, and the draft from the hall swept over me, turning me cold all the way through.

I sank down slowly against the wall, pressed my lips together, and tapped open a chat.

【That offer to go out and run the branch, from yesterday. Does it still stand?】

The reply came quickly.

【Of course.】

【I've booked you a flight for eight tomorrow night. You go on ahead.】