Chapter 4

Many guests in the crowd could already smell the toxicity.

"The maid of honor is acting like such a snake."

"The bride is late, so the bridesmaid takes her place? Who does that?"

"I study psychology. Look at their body language. There is definitely something going on between the groom and the best friend."

...

The whispers were endless.

Someone kept forwarding me the TikTok live streams of their wedding.

But I didn't care anymore.

My wedding with Marcus proceeded smoothly.

Marcus had always been a cold, detached bachelor. His parents had even begun to worry he might be secretly gay, nearly going grey with stress.

My sudden appearance made the elderly couple so happy they couldn't sleep a wink the night before.

Marcus's parents held my hands warmly, overflowing with affection.

"Chloe, you are so beautiful. The moment I saw you, I knew you were meant to be my daughter-in-law. We are so lucky."

At the wedding, the two elders couldn't stop smiling.

They proudly introduced me to the guests:

"Yes, this is my daughter-in-law. Beautiful, isn't she?"

"My son must have used up all his lifetime luck to marry such a wonderful wife..."

I couldn't help but look down and smile.

Marcus and I had met a few times before, but not often.

Because Serena and I were best friends, she had shown me photos of Marcus several times, bragging about her hot uncle.

"Chloe, my uncle is five years older than me, and he is insanely hot. He easily beats any guy out there."

"If you ever get tired of your boyfriend, why don't you try my uncle?"

It was because of those words.

After discovering that Serena and my fiancé had been "test-driving" each other repeatedly, I made a move on her billionaire bachelor uncle.

Once the ceremony ended, Marcus and I went to City Hall to sign our marriage license. Our actual reception party was still a few days away.

"Where do you want to go? I'll take you anywhere," Marcus said.

I thought about it. "Disneyland."

It was a place I had wanted to go for the past two years.

Every time I brought it up to Ethan, he would scowl and make excuses to push it off.

He told me we would go after the wedding.

He promised he would make me his beautiful Disney princess then.

But when he said those words, he was always glued to his phone, playing video games with my best friend: "Oh, you silly girl, let me carry you in the next round."

Now I finally understood.

There is no need to wait for someone who keeps making you wait.

The world is huge, and there will always be someone happy to accompany you.

Marcus took me to Disneyland.

He treated me like a true princess, taking photos of me with endless patience and gentleness.

Suddenly, a familiar giggling drifted over from nearby.

"Ethan, won't your wife be mad if she finds out you brought me here? And this ring... I'm the one who picked it out for her. Are you sure it's okay for me to wear it?"

"What's there to worry about? You practically stood in for her at the wedding. In name, you’re basically my wife anyway."

Ethan had his arm wrapped casually around her shoulders, and they looked like they were about to kiss.

Serena laughed happily, pushed him away, and pointed to a stand selling candied strawberries, demanding some.

Ethan quickly bought them and handed them over.

"Feed me." Her voice was pure baby-talk.

Ethan used to hate it when girls acted cute or whiny. Whenever I did it, he would scowl and call me high-maintenance.

But now, he just smiled indulgently and leaned in to feed her.

"No, feed me with your mouth."

And Ethan complied without hesitation.

It wasn't that he hated cute behavior. He just hated it when it came from me.

Seeing me dazed, Marcus walked over. "Want some?"

He had bought a skewer of candied strawberries at some point—my favorite flavor.

I nodded. "Feed me."

Marcus glanced at the couple across from us, gave a knowing smile, took a bite of a strawberry, and leaned down to kiss me.

In the end, the skewer fell to the ground.

Marcus pinned me against a tree, kissing me with deep, intoxicating passion.

But just as we were completely lost in the moment.

An enraged voice roared nearby.

"Stop it! Chloe, what the hell are you doing?!"