Chapter 1

After I proposed to my girlfriend, Samantha, for the nineteenth time, she finally agreed to marry me.

But on our wedding day, a man named Lucas Wright showed up at the venue. He was Samantha’s legal husband.

He tried to force me down onto my knees.

"I’m here to marry you on behalf of my wife," he sneered.

"Since you're so shameless that you crawled into her bed as a home-wrecker, I figured I’d give you the humiliation you deserve."

I stared in sheer disbelief at the official marriage certificate in Lucas’s hands.

Samantha had been married for years!

The entire banquet hall erupted into gasps. My adoptive parents, mortified by the scandal, slapped me across the face twice in front of everyone, screaming that I was a disgrace.

Samantha gently cupped my burning, swollen cheek. She offered no real explanation, only cold, casual placation:

"The Wright family saved my company. I can't divorce him.

"But besides a legal title, I can give you everything. I’ll even bear your child in the future. Just stop throwing a tantrum, okay?

"Julian, I truly want a home with you."

I looked at her, feeling utterly sickened.

Samantha, there will be no child, and there will never be a home.

I didn't utter a word. I shoved Samantha away, just wanting to escape into the dressing room to clear my head.

Before I could take three steps, someone stuck out a leg and tripped me.

I crashed violently to the floor. My knees slammed into the hard marble, sending a sharp, sickening pain shooting through my body.

I looked back. Lucas casually pulled his foot away, grinning with smug triumph.

"Leaving already?

"Your own parents just slapped you across the face and disowned you. Are you only now realizing how dirty your little secrets are? Running away to hide?"

I kept my head down, too humiliated to speak.

Lucas walked over to a catering cart, picked up a cup of scalding tea, and flicked his wrist. He dumped the entire cup right over my head.

"There. Now you're officially my wife’s little side piece."

I flinched as the heat burned my skin, soaking me to the bone.

My hair was a ruined mess. I felt like a drowned dog.

Samantha frowned and shot Lucas a cold glare, but she didn’t stop him, nor did she reprimand him.

She simply hurried over to help me up, but I recoiled from her touch.

Bracing myself against the floor, I forced myself to stand. Drenched in tea and shivering in my ruined tuxedo, I stumbled away.

Behind me, the venomous whispers of the guests cut deeper than any blade:

"Isn't that the boy the Millers adopted? Like father, like son—street trash will always be trash. He grew up just to be a homewrecking whore."

"Throwing a lavish wedding while sleeping with a married woman? Are side pieces really this arrogant these days?"

"He had it coming! If I were the lawful husband, I would've slashed his pretty little face. A grown man throwing away his dignity just to be a kept toy!"

...

Inside the dressing room, I stared blankly at my reflection in the mirror.

Drenched in tea, my face bruised and swollen, looking as pale as a corpse.

Just three hours ago, I was sitting in this exact chair, practically glowing with excitement over my future with Samantha.

And now?

I was branded a home-wrecker, publicly humiliated, and beaten by the parents who raised me.

The door creaked open.

Samantha stepped inside. Seeing the pain and despair drowning my eyes, a flicker of guilt crossed her face.

She reached out and pulled me into her arms.

"Julian, it’s fine. You still have me.

"I promise I’ll wire you three hundred thousand dollars every month. I’ll buy you your own private penthouse. As long as you stay out of Lucas’s sight from now on, I swear he won’t bother you."

I remained limp in her embrace, completely numb.

"Let's break up.

"I'm moving back into the Miller house. I don't ever want to see you again."

Samantha looked down at me, her brow furrowing tightly.

"Julian, do you really have to be this heartless?"

I ignored her question and tried to push out of her arms.

Samantha let go first. She pulled out her phone and shoved the screen in front of my face.

"You can't go back to the Millers.

"Your parents just issued a public statement severing all ties with you."

I froze.

Yet Samantha was still gazing at me with that mock tender look.

She wrapped her arms around my trembling body and gently wiped away the tears streaming down my face.

She whispered softly into my ear:

"Julian, you only have me now.

"Nobody else will ever want you."