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On my wedding day, my makeup artist and the bridesmaid's had been switched.
I picked up the heavy wedding gown and went to find Barnaby Pruitt,
only to see him bent over, holding the bridesmaid Carina Fox against him, all dominance and possession.
Carina's face was done in the bridal look the master stylist had designed just for me.
When she saw me, her voice went timid.
"Joy Perez, please don't blame Barnaby. I thought it looked fun, so I insisted we switch."
"I'll go wash it off right now. I was wrong, I'll never do it again…"
Barnaby pressed a hand to her shoulder and pulled all the blame onto himself.
"It isn't Carina's fault. I was the one who insisted on giving her a wedding."
"Joy, you already have all of me. Just don't make an issue of the ceremony. All right?"
I nodded and pulled off the wedding gown, holding it out to him.
"The bridal makeup's already done, so take the gown too. A ceremony's only perfect if it's complete."
Barnaby's eyes softened. "Joy, don't worry. After today, my body and my heart belong to you and only you. Clean and clear."
I said nothing, only reached over and took the bridesmaid's dress myself.
What Barnaby didn't know was that this morning, I'd gotten a phone call from the me of three years ago…
This nightmare of a wedding, I was done being part of it!
…
"Wait."
I turned to leave, but Carina called me back.
I looked at her. Her eyes wavered for a second, then hardened. "I'm sorry, Joy. This bridesmaid dress was custom-made for me. I don't want…"
She didn't finish. She just cast a helpless, pleading look at Barnaby.
Without a second thought Barnaby came over and snatched the bridesmaid dress out of my hands.
"I'll have someone find you another one. Don't take Carina's, hmm?"
I let go of the fingers gripping the hem of the dress.
My eyes reddened faintly, and there was something unwilling in me when I asked, "This counts as taking it from her?"
"Then Carina wearing my bridal makeup and marrying you, what do you call that?"
Guilt surfaced on Barnaby's face. His lips parted to speak, but Carina walked over and stepped in front of him, shielding him with her body.
"Joy, if you're angry, take it out on me. It's all my fault."
"If I hadn't loved Barnaby since we were children, hadn't taken that childhood engagement seriously, hadn't hurt so much I wanted to die, Barnaby would never have pitied me, would never have brought me along everywhere."
"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have lived. Why didn't I just die that day…"
Tears streamed down Carina's face, and she sank into utter despair.
Barnaby quickly pulled her into his arms, kissing her forehead over and over to soothe her. "It's not your fault, Carina. You did nothing wrong."
Carina cried without stopping, and then she simply fainted.
Barnaby glared at me viciously. "Joy, if anything happens to Carina, our wedding is off!"
My chest went tight. I'd meant to step up and expose Carina's fake fainting, but I couldn't move at all.
"What are you standing there for? Go get a doctor!"
"Forget it! Don't make things worse."
Barnaby scooped Carina up in his arms and slammed hard into me as he pushed past.
I followed them with my eyes, and I saw Carina resting against Barnaby's shoulder open her eyes and flash me a taunting smile.
My thoughts drifted back to last night on their own.
The wedding banquet arrangements were supposed to be something Barnaby and I reviewed together, yet Carina had tagged along.
She didn't just overturn the menu I'd settled on. She even demanded that the champagne roses meant to be the wedding's main color be changed to the pink she liked.
The manager handling the schedule looked at me, at a loss over whether to make the change.
Barnaby waved a hand. "Do what Carina wants."
By the time we finished checking everything, it was almost midnight.
Carina said only two words, "I'm scared," and Barnaby drove her home at once.
As for me, Barnaby didn't hesitate. "This is pretty close to our bridal suite. Joy, walk back on your own."
On the way, three drunks harassed me. Terrified, I dialed Barnaby's number.
The one who picked up was Carina. "Joy, Barnaby's changing his clothes."
"He promised his last single night to me."
"Oh, right, and to return the favor, I put together a farewell-to-single-life gift for you too. Three big strong guys. Have fun~"
After that, no matter how I tried, Barnaby's phone wouldn't connect.
Watching the drunks close in, I kicked, I bit, I clawed with my nails, and finally I broke out of the circle they'd made around me.
My right arm fractured because of it.
But I didn't want Barnaby to worry, and even more I didn't want to ruin the perfect wedding, so I gritted through it and never had it put in a cast.
The truth was, every second the pain drilled into my bones.
The instant Barnaby carried Carina out and slammed into me, the pain nearly threw me into a spasm.
Tears fell one after another, the body's own kind.
With my good left hand, I dialed Barnaby's grandfather. "Mr. Pruitt, the market expansion in the lawless frontier region, I'll take it."
