On my wedding day, Ralph Delgado walked up to me with his untouchable sweetheart on his arm, and she was pregnant.
He said, "Nina Blaine isn't well, and the baby can't grow up without a name."
"Step aside for her for now. Once the baby's born, I'll make it up to you."
Every guest in the hall told me to be reasonable.
Then Martha Delgado threw her teacup down at my feet.
"Lena Henson, a bankrupt little heiress like you should count it a miracle to marry into the Delgado family at all."
"Ralph is willing to make you Mrs. Delgado. You should be on your knees thanking him."
I looked down at the tea splashed across my wedding gown, and I laughed.
Then, in front of every last one of them, I tore up my wedding vows.
"Ralph, have you forgotten?"
"I paid for this wedding. I booked the venue. I invited the guests."
"You want a different bride?"
"Fine."
"Then I'll take a different groom too."
1.
"Lena, just step aside for Nina."
Ralph stood at the end of the aisle, still wearing the suit I'd picked out for him myself.
Another woman held his arm.
She wore a white dress, her belly already showing, her eyes red as if she'd just been caught in the rain.
The hall went so quiet you couldn't even hear a wineglass clink.
I gripped my bouquet and looked at him across a good fifty feet of red carpet.
"Say that again."
Ralph frowned.
"Lena, don't make a scene."
"Nina's pregnant. She can't handle stress."
"Let her come in as the bride today. Once the baby's safely born, I'll settle things with you."
I let out a laugh.
"Settle things?"
"Ralph, I'm standing here in my wedding gown, and you're telling me to hand my wedding over to your mistress."
"That's how you settle things with me?"
Nina immediately shrank back behind him.
"Miss Henson, please don't blame Ralph."
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have come back."
"I was only afraid people would say my baby had no name, no father. I really wasn't trying to take anything from you."
As she spoke, the tears spilled over.
Ralph's face darkened on the spot.
"Lena, look at the state she's in, and you're still pushing her like this?"
"That's my child she's carrying."
"You always said you loved me. Isn't love about letting go for the other person?"
People around us started to murmur.
"Didn't the Henson family go bankrupt ages ago? What's she doing, still playing the grand heiress?"
"Young Mr. Delgado's willing to marry her and she's still not satisfied."
"There's a baby now. You can't leave a mother and child with no standing, can you?"
I looked down at the bouquet in my hands.
White roses.
Ralph had said white suited me. Clean. Obedient. Never fighting for anything.
And back then I'd actually believed him.
"Ralph."
I threw the bouquet on the floor.
Petals scattered everywhere.
"You think today I've got no choice but to swallow it, don't you?"
Impatience flickered in his eyes.
"Lena, this is no time to be throwing a tantrum."
Martha Delgado came up onto the stage, leaning on a servant's arm.
She wore a dark red qipao, a cane in her hand, disgust written plainly across her face.
"Lena Henson, don't push your luck when we've been generous."
"The Delgado family took you in only because your father once had some ties to us."
"But you'd better be clear about this. You are not the Henson heiress anymore."
"Your father's debts still aren't paid off, and the Delgados are the ones covering the bills at your mother's care facility."
With every word she spoke, Ralph stood a little straighter.
Nina had stopped crying too.
She hid behind Ralph, watching me with a look that was pity and triumph all at once.
I raised my hand and pulled off my veil.
Ralph's expression changed.
"What are you doing?"
"Changing grooms."
He looked like he'd heard a joke.
"Lena, don't be childish."
"Everyone here today is somebody in Bayport. You've backed yourself into a corner, and the only one who ends up humiliated will be you."
I ignored him and turned to look at the farthest corner of the room.
A man sat there.
Black suit, silver cufflinks, half a glass of red wine in his hand.
From the start of the wedding until now, he hadn't said a word.
Ralph followed my gaze, and the color drained from his face.
"Uncle?"
I gathered my skirt and walked down the aisle, step by step.
Every eye in the room moved with me.
I stopped in front of Dean Delgado and held out my hand.
"Mr. Delgado, are you short a bride?"
Dean lifted his eyes to me.
They were startlingly cold, but when he saw the tremble in my open palm, he suddenly smiled.
"I am."
He set down his glass and took my hand.
"But, Miss Henson, I don't do stand-ins."
I stared at him.
"Then what do you want to be?"
Dean rose to his feet and reached over to straighten the strap that had slipped off my shoulder.
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly across the whole room.
"Your one and only husband."
