The Wedding Was His, the License Wasn't

CH. 01

Chapter 1

1,223 words

The night before my wedding, someone sent me a VIP resort hotel room key card.

The room number was the same one where Xavier had proposed to me.

I thought it was a romantic surprise he'd prepared for me before the wedding.

But when I pushed open the door, I saw him naked, tangled with a woman on the bed.

After Xavier finished, he casually pushed the woman out of his arms.

He lit a cigarette and smiled carelessly through the smoke:

"I didn't want to keep hiding it from you anyway. I wanted you to find out early so I wouldn't have to explain after the wedding."

He flicked the ash and added:

"Don't worry, you're still my only wife. You've been with me for ten years—you won't find anyone else to take you now!"

"Tomorrow everything goes as planned. The wedding ceremony is yours, but the marriage certificate goes to her."

He thought I'd at least ask why, but I just quietly removed the engagement ring from my finger, set it down, and left.

The next day, Xavier waited for me at the church in his groom's suit.

I didn't run. I walked right up to him on the arm of his sworn enemy, waving the marriage certificate in my hand:

"The wedding ceremony is yours, but the marriage certificate—I gave it to him."