~

Speculations spread like wildfire. No one knows who the groom is, and whispers fill every corner of the city.

Soon enough, the wedding day arrives.

Laura sits in the waiting room, dressed in a splendid white gown that shimmers with every movement.

A delicate bouquet rests in her hands, her smile poised though her heart pounds nervously.

She whispers reassurance to herself that she is doing the right thing, this is the path she must take.

But as time drags on with no word about the groom’s arrival, her anxiety grows unbearable. She stands, ready to check for herself, when the door opens.

“Ma’am,” Clara enters, her expression carefully controlled.

“The guests have arrived.” Sharon and Nicholas trail in behind her.

“The groom hasn’t shown up,” Sharon sneers, her voice sharp with mockery.

“I hope you realize the people outside are waiting.”

“Congratulations, sister,” Nicholas says quietly, though his tone lacks warmth. Laura ignores them both.

“Clara, please walk my guests out,” Laura orders coldly. Clara nods, ushering them out, though Sharon throws one last scornful glance her way.

“Where is Avan?” Laura suddenly asks when they’re alone.

Clara freezes, startled. She had locked Avan in his room after getting him drunk—anything to keep him from storming in to stop the ceremony. But how can she explain that?

“I’ll try to call him,” Clara says instead, fumbling.

“Don’t,” Laura interrupts softly.

“I just wanted to make sure he doesn’t cause trouble.”

Before Clara can answer, an assistant enters to announce that the groom has arrived.

Laura’s chest tightens. The ceremony begins. She walks down the aisle alone, each step heavy yet determined.

At the altar, Chris waits in a sleek grey suit, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

When he takes her trembling hand, she exhales shakily and forces herself to smile back.

As they turn to face the crowd, Laura feels a piercing stare.

She follows it and her stomach drops—it’s Chris’s mother.

The pastor begins.

"Do you, Laura Thompson, take Chris Hugh to be your lawfully wedded husband...”

“Yes, I do!” Laura blurts out, cutting him off. Gasps ripple through the room. She flushes, apologizing quickly, and lets the pastor continue.

Chris notices the tremor in her hands and gently squeezes them. She glances at him gratefully, steadied by the small gesture.

They exchange rings and the vows are spoken. Finally, the pastor pronounces them husband and wife.

Applause breaks out. Guests rise to congratulate them and cameras flashes in their eyes.

Clara hurries forward, whispering urgently in Laura’s ear as she hugs her.

“Avan has been rushed to the hospital.”

Laura’s eyes widen. The joy of the moment evaporates instantly. She turns to Chris, breathless.

“I have to go.”

Without waiting, she hands her bouquet to an attendant, lifts her gown, and rushes out with Clara at her side still in her wedding dress toward the hospital.

The news of Laura's sudden marriage to the company’s new partner, CEO of TK Company, came as a shock to a lot of people, especially those who knew about her long-time relationship with Avan.

The likes of Sharon couldn't stand the news until they saw things for themselves.

Not only did she have a wedding with a man they didn't know, but she also didn’t invite her stepmother to the wedding.

Those at TK Company were also shocked, as phone calls poured in from lots of reporters and congratulatory messages flew around.

A number of ladies who admired their boss and wished they could make something happen with him were heartbroken after hearing the news.

To make things worse, pictures of Laura rushing into the hospital in her wedding dress and leaving late at night with Avan began to circulate on the Internet, and people started to make different assumptions and jump to conclusions.

Some believed she cheated on Avan and went behind him to get married, causing him to end up in the hospital, while some concluded that the marriage was just for the purpose of business, calling her a bad woman for playing with two men because of money and popularity.

While all these went on, Laura herself was cooped up in her room sleeping, oblivious to the uproar her actions had caused in the outside world.

She had turned off her phone after the tiresome day yesterday and didn’t get any information about the ongoing assumptions about her.

She woke up a few minutes to ten in the morning and first went to wash off the makeup on her face, then freshened up and changed into other clothes before turning on her phone to see tons of messages.

“Beep!”

A lots of messages popped in, and for the next few minutes she continued to receive different phone calls, especially from Avan and Clara.

She saw a number of messages from a few friends asking her if she had really been cheating on Avan from the beginning and was truly with Chris instead.

Surprised to see such messages, she went on the Internet to see different news and speculations about her relationship with the two men.

She called Clara immediately, and Clara briefed her about the whole situation.

“TK Company is already taking care of the issues online, but I think you need to handle the gossip in the company yourself,” Clara told her, and Laura sighed, frustrated to be faced with another issue after solving one.

“I think you should call your husband. His secretary has been trying to reach you,” Clara told her, and Laura immediately ended the call.

She must have lost her reason yesterday after hearing that Avan was in the hospital and didn’t think of what outcome could come from rushing over there when she had just gotten married to another man.

“Hello,” Laura said after dialing Chris's number, and she was met with an awkward silence on the other line.

“I am so sorry, I really…” she was apologizing, but Chris cut her off as if he already knew that would be her first words.

“Let’s meet. I will pick the time and place,” he said, then hung up again, which made Laura pissed at his hostile attitude. But she was in no place to blame him though.

She was the one who left him at the altar and rushed to take care of her ex on her wedding day.

“He seems really pissed,” Laura murmured, thinking of the best way to explain this to him. Her phone lit up with Avan's number the next second, and she answered it.

“Did you really get married to Chris behind me? Have you really been having an affair with him behind me?” he shouted at her immediately.

Laura cut the call, not ready to listen to or deal with his nonsense. She already had a lot on her plate.

She dressed up hurriedly and headed to the company to handle the situation before it got out of hand, and received a message from Chris as she drove out telling her the place she should go to meet him in the evening.