Chapter 2

He froze for a second.

Then he laughed — low and dismissive, like I'd told him a bad joke.

"Change grooms? Where are you gonna find one? You think life is a TV drama?"

"Everyone in New York knows you're mine."

He shrugged.

"But sure — if you actually manage to find a man who dares marry you, I'll allow it."

He pulled the car door open, then tossed a lazy line over his shoulder:

"Don't act out, baby. Be good. Wait for me. Whatever wild stuff you're thinking, I know how to handle it. Yeah?"

The groomsmen behind him traded uneasy looks.

Chase jogged two steps after him. "Boss — you're really leaving?"

"Cover for me. I'm not gone forever."

Sean shut the car door. There was a rush in his voice now.

"That girl's impossible. I'm not making it worse for myself."

The engine turned over. The car peeled off.

I stood there.

The wind caught the hem of my dress.

The photographer lowered his camera. Didn't know where to look.

Nobody spoke.

I looked down at my left hand. Empty ring finger.

Slowly, the corner of my mouth curved up.

Fine, Sean.

Go.

Go get your paper.

But this million-dollar wedding of the century —

I'll gladly take it.

I lifted the skirt of my dress and walked up the steps.

The cathedral doors opened.

Guests were already seated. Officiant at the altar. Organist playing the wedding march.

Everything was perfect. Except there was no groom.

Chase caught up in the aisle, forcing on a smile.

"Ivy — the Boss had something urgent. He'll be back in no time. Just sit for a minute."

Jordan appeared at my other elbow, playing along.

"Yeah, yeah. Don Locke always knows what he's doing. It's your big day. He'll be here."

"For real. The Boss has never dropped the ball on anything big."

I glanced at the clock above the altar. Ten-forty.

"Fine," I said quietly. "I'll wait."

Chase exhaled like he'd just dodged a bullet. Snapped his fingers at a waiter to bring me water.

I sat down in the front pew.

I let them think I was waiting for Sean.

But who I was really waiting for — that's none of their business.

...

This wedding had been three months in the making.

Every important name on Sean's side was in the pews. Every capo. Every allied Family. Every associate who mattered.

My eyes moved slowly, taking in every detail.

The wall of white roses by the tall windows. The crystal beads dripping from the arched ceiling.

Even the guest cards on the seats — the font had been custom-designed just for tonight.

That's Sean Locke for you. When he does a thing, he does it all the way.

Chased me that way. Planned this wedding that way.

He turned it into the wedding of the century. The kind every woman dreams of.

And he cheated on me the same way.

No room to walk it back. No explanation offered.

In his head, loving me and destroying me had never once been in conflict.

And my only option was to accept it.

...

Back in the bridal suite, Harper — my best friend, flown in all the way from Sydney to be my maid of honor — held up my train, seething.

"Is Sean Locke out of his mind? On your wedding day, he runs off to sign paperwork with another woman? Did somebody drop him on his head?"

She dropped down beside me and yanked at her own bridesmaid dress.

"I thought he was just running his mouth. Fine, he wants a mistress — but did he really have to pick *today*?"

"When you two were planning this thing, he flew across the state just to find the right florist. When you tried on your dress, his eyes went red before yours did."

"I was so jealous of you back then, I picked a fight with my own boyfriend just because he couldn't compare."

She paused. Her voice dropped.

"Who would've guessed — one turn of the head, and he does *this*?"

I didn't answer. I was staring at my phone.

Sadie had just posted a new story.

The photo was of a hotel floor — men's dress shirt and a woman's lingerie tossed on the carpet.

Caption: "Someone said he'd only stay ten minutes… and now he can't bear to leave~"

She'd tagged the location on purpose. It wasn't City Hall.

A mutual friend had already commented: "Sadie, girl, are you trying to piss somebody off?"

Sadie's reply: "Whoever's waiting at a wedding in her dress, I guess. 😉"

I screenshotted it without a change in expression.

"Ivy — please. Stop waiting for him." Harper snatched the phone from my hand. "*Look* at these people!"

"You dropped out of London and flew home for that man. Do you remember how furious your parents were?"

"Back then, Sean Locke was nothing. A nobody with no name, no crew, no protection. And you had the guts to bet ten years against your family for him. And now you've lost everything."

"If you hadn't burned every favor your father's name carried, quietly pulling strings behind the scenes, opening doors with the Families that would never have opened for him — you think he'd be sitting on a Don's chair today?"

"And he turns around and gets cozy with some capo's daughter!"

"I don't know how he hid it this long. He faked it right up to the night before the wedding — that's when he decides to let you catch him at another woman's hotel!"

"Ivy — stop waiting for him. It's time you lived for yourself."

"Harper." I finally spoke. "Thank you for being here today."

"After the wedding, I'll go home. I'll face my parents. I'll admit I lost."

A bet's a bet. Time to pay up.

Today was the day I paid.