Constance swept forward and looped her arm through Les's, clinging close.
"Les, don't waste your breath on her. Let's go make our toasts."
"It's filthy back here, and it reeks. What if it gets a stain on my gown?"
She shot me a sneering, sing-song look and made a show of pinching her nose.
The bridesmaids around her caught on instantly.
"No kidding. I heard Cora Henson stopped being a decent woman ages ago. She was cheating on the groom the whole time they were together."
"Really? No wonder he'd rather marry someone else than her."
"A woman like that doesn't respect herself one bit. Who'd ever want to bring her home?"
"Only a man who gets off on being cheated on, ha Haha! "
Of course Les heard every word. He frowned, then turned and steered Constance away by the waist.
"Stop right there."
My voice came out cold.
"Les, you want to marry someone else, that's nothing to me. But are you so broke you can't even afford a proper wedding?"
I raised my hand and pointed at the gown on Constance.
"That's a custom piece. I made it with my own hands, to wear at my own wedding. She has no right to it."
"If you want this ceremony to go off without a hitch, I suggest you have her take it off right now."
Les's face darkened on the spot.
"Cora Henson, don't push your luck!"
"This is my wedding day with Constance. I don't want a scene with you, so I'm warning you, that's enough."
I gave a cold laugh. There's no such word as "enough" in my dictionary.
I only knew one thing: when someone wrongs me, I take it back.
"I already said it. Give me my gown back."
"Les, you of all people should know that dress is my own design. The patent and copyright are already registered."
"If Constance doesn't take it off today, that's infringement. I'll sue, defend my rights, and collect damages."
"It's just a cheap rag of a gown."
Les looked genuinely furious now. All at once he yanked out an unlimited black card and flung it in my face.
"This should be more than enough to buy you out. Now get lost!"
I went still for a moment, staring at the black card lying on the floor.
Ten years together, and that card was the thing Les had dreamed of, the prize he'd guarded like a treasure.
He'd never once let me so much as touch it.
Let alone spend a dime of it.
Yet now, for Constance, he could throw it in my face.
Money in hand is money you'd be a fool to refuse.
I bent down, picked it up, and let out a cold laugh. "Then thank you for your generosity, Mr. Sanchez. Goodbye."
With that, I turned to leave.
Behind me came Constance's vicious snarl.
"Cora Henson, you made me strip out of my gown at my own wedding. I'll remember this, and I'll settle the score with you later."
I scoffed and didn't bother answering.
"Then let me wish you both the best."
"Barren, infertile, and blessed with a houseful of children."
With that, I tossed aside the bouquet beside me, ignored the uproar exploding behind me, and walked out on my own.
Outside the hotel, I pulled out my phone and opened my contacts.
My finger hovered a long time over the name "Denys Stephens".
Three years ago, he'd forced his way close to me like some lovesick obsessive.
After that, he and I had a falling-out.
But these past six months, he'd told me his net worth had jumped by a billion, and he wanted to get back together.
Thinking back to those days, he'd been dirt poor.
To scrape together the money for my mother's medical bills, I'd had no choice but to harden my heart and break up with him.
"Denys, a broke nobody like you and I have no future."
He'd been crushed. He knelt in the pouring rain at the foot of my building, begging me over and over.
"Cora, I can make money, I swear. I'll work five jobs a day if I have to!"
