Chapter 2

The dressing room door opened again.

Julian walked in, wearing his groomsman suit, his eyes red and puffy.

"Vanessa, Ethan, why are you two arguing?"

He stepped forward, pretending to play the peacemaker.

But as he did, his foot landed squarely on my dress shoes, which I had set aside.

With a loud crack, Julian let out a theatrical gasp and tumbled right into Vanessa’s arms.

Vanessa caught him effortlessly.

"Julian, are you okay?"

Julian leaned into her embrace, looking at me with a pathetic, victimized pout.

"I’m so sorry, Ethan. I didn't mean to ruin your shoes."

"If it's that bad, you can wear mine for the ceremony. It doesn't matter if I don't get to be the groomsman."

What a manipulative, toxic piece of work.

Knowing my old self, I would have swallowed my pride and endured it just to keep the peace.

My screen lit up again.

Future me:

[He did it on purpose!]

[Back then, I walked onto that stage wearing a pair of ruined shoes and became the laughingstock of the city's elite.]

[And Vanessa had the nerve to look down on me for embarrassing her.]

Staring at Julian clinging to Vanessa, a wave of fury surged straight to my head.

I stepped forward, raised my hand, and—

Slap!

A sharp, resounding slap echoed through the room, landing squarely on Julian’s face.

His head whipped to the side, and five bright red finger marks immediately swelled on his pale cheek.

The dressing room fell into a deathly silence.

Vanessa froze.

Julian clutched his face, staring at me in absolute disbelief.

"Ethan Vance! Are you insane?!" Vanessa screamed, throwing herself in front of Julian and glaring at me. "Julian said it was an accident! What gives you the right to hit him?"

I looked at the disgusting pair coldly.

"I felt like hitting him. Do I need to pick a special day for that?"

"Since you care about him so much, Vanessa, why don't you marry him instead?"

Vanessa’s face contorted with rage. She pointed a finger at me.

"Ethan, don't push your luck!"

"If it weren't for your father’s corporate resources, do you really think I would have ever agreed to marry you?"

Finally. The truth came out.

There was no "love at first sight." No "I can't live without you."

It was all for my family's conglomerate.

Behind her, Julian let out a smug, triumphant sneer.

I picked up my phone.

A string of exclamation marks popped up from my future self:

[YES!!! THAT FELT SO GOOD!!!]

[Back then, I swallowed my pride for the sake of the 'bigger picture.']

[After the wedding, they teamed up to siphon all of the Vance family's assets, which drove our dad to his grave.]

[They locked me in a basement and drained my bone marrow to save Julian's leukemia-ridden younger brother!]

[That photo was taken right before they killed me.]

Reading those chilling words, my breathing grew shallow and rapid.

I couldn't imagine the living hell that awaited me if I stepped out of this dressing room as her husband today.

"The wedding is off."

I ripped the boutonniere off my lapel and hurled it straight into Vanessa’s face.

"Get the hell out of my sight. Both of you."

I grabbed the hem of my suit and turned to leave.

Vanessa let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"You think you can just walk away now, Ethan? Too late."

"The guests out there are the most powerful elite in the country. Just try walking out that door!"

"Are you really going to throw away the Vance family's reputation?"

She knew exactly how much I cared about my family's honor.

My feet froze.

The phone in my hand started vibrating frantically.

My future self sent three messages in a row.

[You can't just walk out! If you run now, the Vance family will still be ruined! The officiant is about to go on stage.]

[If you don't go out there, Vanessa will swap the wedding video on the giant screen with fabricated evidence of our dad's tax evasion and bribery!]

My brain went numb. The blood rushed to my head.

No wonder she didn't care about angering me today.

She had already set up a trap to destroy us.

Seeing me stop, Vanessa assumed I was terrified.

She walked over, looked down at me, and adjusted her veil.

"Put the shoes on, Ethan. Go out there and wait for your cue."

"As long as you behave today, the spot as the son-in-law of the Hayes family is still yours."

Julian chimed in from the side, "Yeah, Ethan. Think of the bigger picture."

I stared at their incredibly hypocritical faces.

Slowly, my grip tightened around my phone.

One last message came from my future self:

[Fight back, Ethan.]

[I'm sending you the bypass password to the control room. The login username is Vanessa's phone number.]

[Today, we drag them straight to hell.]

Staring at the complex passcode on my screen, a slow smirk spread across my face.

I turned around to face Vanessa.

"Fine. I'll go."