Chapter 1

The night before the wedding, at the bachelorette party, Owen's sister suggested a game called "Who's the Best Liar."

Everyone had to say one true thing, but only one person had to lie.

My best friend said, "I'm four months pregnant."

His mother said, "The baby will carry the Gilbert name."

His sister said, "The nursery in the wedding house is already finished."

And my fiancé took my hand and said, "You're still the bride tomorrow."

Everyone burst out laughing at once.

So the one who lied was him.

Right there in front of everyone, my best friend pulled out a marriage certificate and admitted that she and Owen Gilbert had become husband and wife six months ago.

Owen's friends laid their cards on the table one after another.

Someone had covered for their prenatal checkups, someone had helped set up the wedding house, and even my own bridesmaid had already altered the wedding dress to fit Eve's measurements.

Owen wiped away my tears, as gentle as ever.

"Your dad just had brain surgery. He can't handle a shock like this."

"Let Eve have the wedding first, and you stay by my side. Once the baby is born, I'll make it up to you."

That was when my father's attending doctor texted me.

【Miss Henson, the surgery was a success. You can take your father home whenever you're ready.】

This time, I didn't cry, and I didn't want to hear Owen explain anything.

Owen thought I'd finally come to my senses, and let go of my hand, satisfied.

The freedom Owen wanted, I would give him.

From this moment on, whoever he married had nothing to do with me.

......

After the party ended, the room stayed quiet for less than half a minute.

Owen still had my hand in his, coaxing me in a low voice as if nothing had happened.

"Olive Henson, don't take a joke like that seriously."

"Eve's pregnant. The baby has to have a father. You just won't have the title of wife for now. Nothing else has to change."

Yvonne Gilbert laughed right away.

"Come on, sis, you get to stay by my brother's side. That already makes you luckier than most people."

"Eve's willing to let you live in the wedding house, willing to let you look after my brother. Don't be so ungrateful."

I looked at her and said nothing.

Back in high school, she'd been at the bottom of her class.

I sat with her through her homework every day, sorted through her mistakes, went months without a decent night's sleep.

The day she got her college acceptance letter, she cried in my arms for a long time.

She said I was the only sister-in-law she'd ever claim, for the rest of her life.

Now she peeled a segment of orange, too lazy to even lift her head.

Whoever gave her something to gain, that was who she claimed.

Eve came over to me, one hand supporting her belly.

She was wearing a loose long dress today, four months along, the bump already obvious.

"Ollie, don't be upset."

She tried to take my hand.

I turned aside and avoided it.

Her hand hung there in the air, and she immediately looked at Owen, wounded.

Owen's expression shifted, but he didn't blame her.

"Eve isn't well. Don't embarrass her."

I almost laughed.

I was the one being forced to give up the wedding.

I was the one who'd spent seven years with him.

Yet in their mouths, I was the extra one.

Owen's friend, Xavier Dickerson, leaned back on the couch and lit a cigarette.

"Olive, your dad just had brain surgery. The recovery's going to cost a lot more, isn't it?"

"I hear it's already run into the hundreds of thousands."

He said it and blew out a mouthful of smoke.

"Besides Owen, who else could carry that for you?"

"You don't actually think you matter that much, do you?"

I looked up at him.

"I raised the surgery money by selling the old house."

"Owen didn't put in a single cent."

Xavier gave a short laugh.

"Owen ran to how many hospitals for your dad, pulled how many strings, and you wipe it all out with one 'he didn't pay'?"

Yvonne chimed in too.

"My brother was willing to help you because you were his fiancée."

"Without my brother, who knows if your dad would even be alive right now."

Owen's mother, Mrs. Abbott, sat off to the side, teacup in hand, and said coldly,

"A person ought to have a conscience."

"What your Henson family owes the Gilberts now can't be cleared up with a few words."

I lowered my eyes.

The doctor's message was still there on my phone.

My father was fine.

Their last card had already gone dead.

But I didn't want to blow things open just yet.

Owen would definitely go make a scene at the hospital.

I had to get my father out first.

I lifted my head and put on a tired face.

"I understand."

Owen thought I'd given in, and gripped my hand tighter.

"You have to be at the wedding tomorrow."

"It's Eve's first wedding. There's a lot she doesn't know. You'll be there as a bridesmaid, keep her company, and take the toasts for her."

He lowered his voice, a warning in it.

"Don't let your dad catch any of the gossip going around."

I looked at him.

"Fine."

He was satisfied at last.

Xavier and Yvonne traded a glance and started laughing again.

Eve put her hand back on her belly and began going over tomorrow's schedule.

No one noticed that I'd already opened my phone and uploaded the recording from the room to the cloud.

I'd also contacted a lawyer.

I told him to find out everything about my father's hospital paperwork and the ownership status of that wedding house.

First thing in the morning, I would take my father and leave.

As for the freedom Owen wanted.

I would hand it back to him myself.