My fiancé ditched me at the altar. His secretary forced me to exchange wedding vows with a rooster just to humiliate me.
"Elise Summers, you didn't actually think Mr. Delgado would marry a nobody like you, did you? A woman with no background and nothing to offer?"
After calling off the wedding, he turned around and proposed to his secretary right in front of me.
"Hester hurt her hand slapping you. Apologize to her. Now."
"Unless you'd rather not walk out of Riverton in one piece."
The moment the words left his mouth, a group of men appeared behind him, leering, their eyes crawling over me without shame.
My fiancé thought I'd cower. Thought I'd beg.
Instead, I made one phone call.
The mayor personally escorted me under armed protection. Scott's own father hand-delivered shares of the company as a formal apology.
And my fiancé, once he learned who I really was, nearly choked on his regret.
……
The day of the wedding, I stood center stage in my white gown, the most pitiful spectacle in the room.
The auspicious hour had come and gone. My fiancé, Scott Delgado, was nowhere to be seen.
His chief secretary, Hester Pruitt, deliberately bumped into me as she passed, her voice dripping acid.
"Elise, you didn't actually think Mr. Delgado would marry a woman like you, did you? No background. No connections. Nothing useful to offer."
I narrowed my eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Hester just smiled and said nothing. I pulled out my phone and called Scott.
"Scott, you missed the ceremony time. Everyone's waiting for you."
His voice came back clipped and irritated.
"What's the rush? I found a stray dog on the road. Can't make it back yet. Let Hester handle everything at the venue."
Before I could get another word in, the line went dead.
Hester's smirk widened the moment she heard. She didn't even bother hiding the mockery in her eyes.
"Well, since Mr. Delgado has entrusted me with running this wedding, let's carry on, shall we?"
Carry on? Without the groom?
My identity was sensitive. I couldn't afford to reveal too much. If it weren't for my parents telling me I'd been betrothed to Scott since childhood and asking me to honor the arrangement, I probably never would have agreed to marry anyone at all.
If Scott thought so little of this wedding, then there was no wedding to have.
I turned to leave. Hester grabbed my arm.
Following the line of her cold smile, I saw a staff member walking toward me.
Cradling a rooster.
My brow furrowed. I wrenched my arm free of Hester's grip.
"What exactly are you trying to pull?"
Hester beamed, all sweetness and venom.
"Mr. Delgado can't make it back in time, so why don't you just go through the ceremony with this instead?"
I stared at her in disbelief.
"You want me to exchange vows with a rooster? Have you lost your mind?"
A collective gasp rippled through the guests.
"Oh my God, Mr. Delgado adores Secretary Pruitt. She actually dared insult her? Does she have a death wish?"
"The last person who crossed Secretary Pruitt lost everything. Fiancée or not, she's done for."
"What a clueless hick. A rooster means good luck. Doesn't she know that? Secretary Pruitt was being generous."
Hester lifted her chin, triumph radiating from every pore, and shot the staff member a look.
The woman shoved the rooster into my arms. Before I could react, she knotted the red cord tied to the rooster's leg around my wrist, pulling it tight into a dead knot.
I let go on instinct. The rooster dangled from my wrist, shrieking and thrashing midair, feathers flying.
The ballroom erupted in laughter.
Fury blazed through me. I fixed Hester with a glare that could cut glass.
"Take this off. Now."
Hester acted as though she hadn't heard a word. She leaned into the microphone and announced, bright and clear, that the ceremony would begin.
"Come on, Miss Summers. Be a good sport. Don't hold up dinner for everyone."
"We'll skip the officiant's speech. The ring probably won't fit anyway. Let's jump straight to the wedding toast and the kiss."
The crowd below the stage roared with jeering laughter.
