Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English
Synopsis
On my fiancée's birthday, she told me she was heading back to her small hometown to visit family.
Wanting to surprise her, I secretly drove after her.
But the second I stepped out of my car, I saw her childhood best friend decked out in a full tuxedo, sneering at me.
"Look who decided to crawl back from the city! What's a corporate slave doing here? Don't blame me for your lost wages when nobody invited you!"
"Then again, it makes sense. You spent all those years simping after her, only for my goddess to become my wife. Guess you just had to get one last look."
"Watch your drool, man. Don't let it drip on my bride's dress!"
I stared at him in utter bewilderment. When had I ever been a simp?
As far as I knew, Chloe and I had been madly in love ever since college, and we were even talking about having a baby.
Seeing my blank expression, he stepped aside, revealing a massive wedding banner right behind him.
When I saw the bride’s gentle, familiar face, my entire world stopped spinning.
The woman smiling so sweetly in that wedding photo was Chloe—my wife, who had slept in my arms just last night.
I stared at the wedding poster in front of me, completely numb.
The woman who had kissed me goodbye this morning was now another man’s bride.
In my shock, my eyes frantically scanned the crowd, searching for any sign of her.
Today was her birthday, but she told me an urgent family matter had called her back to her hometown.
I had followed her car all the way out here to surprise her, never imagining I’d walk into this kind of gut punch.
Catching the sheer disbelief on my face, Austin burst into arrogant laughter.
"What are you looking for? Did you really come all this way to stare at my wife? We’re about to walk down the aisle. Have you got no shame at all?"
The surrounding guests chimed in, pointing and whispering at me like I was some pathetic freak.
My brows knitted together tightly. Without hesitation, I pulled out my phone and dialed Chloe's number.
I needed to know what the hell was going on.
She picked up on the third ring, her sweet voice floating through the speaker.
"Hey, babe. Don't you have a morning meeting? Why are you calling me right now?"
Hearing her casual, affectionate tone made my throat burn.
"Where are you right now?" I asked quietly.
"I told you, babe, an emergency came up with the family back home. I’m just visiting."
"Don't worry, I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning. My aunt is calling me over to help in the garden, so I gotta run. Love you!"
Chloe hung up. My chest heaved, my pulse racing wildly.
Just visiting family?
I remembered our own small wedding two years ago. Chloe had insisted on keeping it tiny with no big party, claiming she had cut ties with her toxic hometown relatives.
She told me both her parents had died when she was young, and none of her relatives were willing to take her in.
She grew up relying on government aid and student loans.
Every time she talked about her childhood, her eyes would well up with tears.
In our two years of marriage, she had never once returned to her hometown.
Looking back now, I couldn't tell which of her words had been real and which were all a lie.
Right then, loud flattery from the crowd snapped me out of my trance.
A bunch of local guys were crowding around Austin, kissing his ass.
"Man, you and Chloe go way back! Her parents passed away early, and you were always the one looking out for her."
"I heard she’s a senior director at a Fortune 500 company now, rolling in cash! You hit the jackpot, Austin. Don't forget your boys once you're living large!"
Their words tasted like bitter ash in my mouth.
When Chloe first graduated, she was just an entry-level clerk at a tiny startup.
Because she was quiet and pretty, her sleazy department manager tried to take advantage of her.
Unable to watch her suffer, I pulled strings with my high-powered connections to get her a prime spot at a Fortune 500 firm.
Because my people were watching over her, no one ever dared to cross her again.
On top of that, she was ambitious and capable, so she climbed the corporate ladder fast.
In just three years, she made department director.
Right at that moment, my phone buzzed.
A notification from Chloe.
Before I could even swipe to unlock it, Austin snatched the phone straight out of my hand.
"What the fuck! You shameless creep, why the hell is my wife your lock screen?!"At his shout, the guests instantly crowded around to gawk.
That lock screen was a photo I took of Chloe on her birthday last year while she was making a wish.
She didn't even know I had taken it.
The crowd looked at me with open disgust.
"What a sick freak! Stalking another man’s wife? He's basically a peeping tom!"
"He looks all dressed up, but he's disgusting on the inside. Who knows what other gross pictures he’s hiding on that phone?"
"Austin, you should search his phone! This has to be illegal. Sue him the minute the wedding's over!"
My frown deepened.
Their accusations were spiraling into total absurdity, and a few guys stepped up to corner me, as if terrified I might run.
"It’s just a side profile," I said coldly. "How can you be so sure it’s your wife?"
It was ridiculous.
I didn't want to waste my breath arguing with these backwater idiots, but my response only fired Austin up more.
Holding my phone high in the air, he pulled his own phone from his pocket.
"You’re delusional, man! You think I wouldn't recognize my own damn wife?"
With a smirk, he flashed his lock screen for everyone to see.
The picture showed Austin and Chloe, their faces pressed intimately together.
She was beaming with genuine, radiant joy—a smile that stabbed straight through my eyes and pierced my heart.
I had always thought Chloe hated taking photos.
My camera roll barely had any pictures of us together.
Let alone anything intimate like that.
Even that birthday snapshot was taken secretly while she had her eyes closed.
I stood frozen. In an instant, I realized I had never truly known the woman I married.
Seeing my silence, Austin didn't stop. He wanted to crush me completely.
He unlocked his phone and opened a hidden folder full of photos of Chloe.
There were even several explicit, intimate photos in bed.
When I saw that the woman in those pictures was indeed Chloe, the breath was knocked out of my lungs.
Looking at her flushed face, half-lidded eyes, and the red marks scattered across her pale neck, a sickening nausea washed over me.
The date on the most recent photo was last Sunday.
I remembered it crystal clear. Last weekend, Chloe told me her company sent her on an urgent business trip out of state.
I had found it odd at the time since her department never required travel, but she brushed it off, saying she was covering for a sick coworker.
She had been lying to my face the whole damn time.
Austin paraded the screen around like a trophy, and his buddies chuckled crudely, making vulgar comments about her body.
As a man, I knew exactly what filth was running through their heads.
My hands clenched into tight fists. I couldn't take another second of it.
"Shut the fuck up!"
I shoved two of the guys away violently. Their smiles vanished instantly, and their fists came up.
Austin slammed my phone hard onto the concrete.
"You piece of shit! You came here to crash my wedding, didn't you?"
"Before the ceremony starts, I’m gonna beat the living hell out of you for lusting after my wife!"
"Yeah, beat this pervert half to death! He had it coming!"I was heavily outnumbered.
At Austin's command, several of his groomsmen lunged at me all at once.
I threw a punch, but I was quickly overpowered and pinned down.
During the scuffle, a dark brown velvet box slipped out of my coat pocket.
With a dull thud, it hit the pavement, drawing everyone’s eyes.
My heart dropped. Just as I reached out to grab it, Austin kicked my hand aside and scooped it up.
"What’s this trash? Don't tell me you brought a wedding present?"
"Don't touch it! Give it back!"
I lunged forward, but a heavy fist slammed square into my jaw.
The taste of copper filled my mouth instantly.
Above me, Austin’s mocking laugh rang out.
"Man, I thought it was something special! It's just a cheap piece of junk jade!"
My vision blurred, the strength draining from my limbs.
One of his lackeys snorted in derision.
"Hey Austin, maybe this loser really thought he could buy the bride with that flea market crap!"
Cheap junk?
That jade bangle was an heirloom passed down through generations in my family.
Years ago, my grandmother had it appraised by top auctioneers—it was valued at well over ten million dollars.
It was reserved strictly for the family's official daughter-in-law.
The only reason I hadn't given it to Chloe during our two years of marriage was because it had been kept in a specialized vault overseas for preservation, and I had only flown it in recently.
The stone was extraordinarily rare, so translucent and flawless that anyone with real taste could see its value in an instant.
Only true connoisseurs understood its worth.
Certainly not a pack of ignorant hillbillies.
My face went dead cold, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
"That bangle is priceless. If you scratch even a sliver of it, the consequences will ruin you."
I held out my hand, demanding it back.
The yard fell dead silent for a single beat.
Then, the entire crowd erupted into howling laughter. Austin clutched his stomach, laughing until tears came out.
"Priceless? I’ve got drawers full of this cheap plastic shit back home! It's worth twenty bucks at best, and you're trying to bluff me?"
"Watch me smash it! Let’s see your fucking consequences!"
"No!"
Before I could move, Austin opened his fingers.
The bangle went into free fall.
With a crisp, sickening crack, the jade shattered in two against the stone pavers. My heart shattered right along with it.
My vision flared blood red. Something inside me snapped. Tearing free from the groomsmen holding me down, I threw myself at Austin like a wild animal.
In that moment, only one thought possessed my mind:
I was going to kill him.
No one expected me to fight back with such ferocity. Caught completely off guard, Austin was knocked flat onto his back.
I mounted him, raining ruthless fists down onto his face.
Within seconds, the groomsmen rushed in, ripping me off him.
Austin spat a mouthful of blood, his face twisted in murderous rage.
"You're fucking dead!"
The groomsmen holding my arms twisted them back hard, chiming in with threats.
"This bastard has a death wish! You think you can touch Austin? We’re gonna carry you out of here in a body bag!"
"Let me tell you something, punk: Austin’s grandfather has deep ties in the police department! Even if we beat you to death right here, we walk away clean!"
I couldn't hear a word they were saying.
That bangle was my family’s legacy.
It had passed through generations, carrying centuries of honor and history for our lineage.
And now, it was gone.
Destroyed.
I wouldn't even have the face to face my ancestors in the afterlife.
Austin stepped up, grabbed a handful of my hair, and yanked my head back with vicious force.
A blinding pain shot through my scalp. I gritted my teeth, but my gaze remained deadly, without a shred of fear.
A dark thought crossed my mind:
Even if he beat me to death right here, I’d take him to hell with me.
"You care about this piece of shit so much, huh?"
Austin’s mocking words made my chest tighten violently.
Before I could speak, he took a step back and brought his boot down hard on the shattered jade.
Not satisfied, he ground his heel into the fragments, crushing them into dust.
I heard the terrible sound of the jade splintering under his shoe. A sharp, suffocating pain tore through my chest.
"Where are those consequences you promised? Come on, tough guy, show me!"
He whistled mockingly, slapping my cheek with hard, stinging blows.
I didn't have the strength left to fight.
The groomsmen egged him on, laughing and yelling that they should tie me to a tree so I could watch my 'goddess' marry another man.
Just as someone brought over a thick coil of rope, the loud blare of a horn cut through the noise.
A long convoy of luxury black sedans pulled up to the driveway.
Before anyone could react, a dozen burly men in tailored black suits stepped out, cold-eyed and imposing, instantly encircling Austin and his crew.
Chapters (3)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Watch & Promotions
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