Chapter 1
On the eve of our wedding, my fiancé's first love asked him to put her name on the invitation.
Antonio Kaufman readily agreed, even moving my name to the corner for it.
And his mom actually approved of that absurd behavior.
At the wedding, Antonio's relatives and friends mistook his first love for the bride.
They thought I was just his poor relative who refused to offer a wedding gift. So, I got kicked out.
I left without clarifying my identity.
As the wedding was about to end, Antonio texted me.
"Grace, where are you? The hotel staff is asking us to pay 110,000 dollars for the wedding. Come back and pay up!"
Rolling my eyes, I blocked his number, determined to part ways with this jerk.
***
"You're the bride? But I didn't see your name on the invitation!" A woman stopped me.
Antonio and I were having a wedding today, but I wasn't even allowed to enter the banquet hall.
She insisted that my name wasn't on the invitation.
What a ridiculous joke.
I explained to her, "Stop kidding. My name is right next to Antonio's. I..."
I grabbed an invitation from the table and opened it.
Just as I was about to prove myself, I saw the name Monica Watson instead of mine.
This name was all too familiar to me.
I had heard her name countless times during my four years with Antonio.
Monica was Antonio's first love, and he had never gotten over her.
Antonio brought her up every time I made a mistake.
In his eyes, she was the most perfect woman in this world.
When we were planning our wedding two weeks ago, he told me he wanted to invite Monica.
I wasn't quite happy about it, but I didn't say no.
Monica represented memories of his youth, so it made sense that he couldn't easily let go.
The next day, however, I caught sight of an intimate text on his phone from an unknown number.
"Can't believe you're getting married. We agreed to have each other's names on our wedding invitations. Are you gonna go back on your word?"
I could tell it was from Monica.
I didn't question Antonio, though. We had been together for four years, and I trusted him.
Yet now, I was holding an invitation without my name or our wedding photo, nothing like the ones we had at home.
Antonio altered the invitations. He even placed Monica's name next to his.
But what about me?
I was the bride. Where was my name?
"Oh! Found it. Maxine, come take a look. Is this her name?"
An elderly lady with reading glasses looked at the invitation for a long time. Finally, she pointed to a corner with her pen and called out to the lady before me.
They gathered to check the invitation. Eventually, they relaxed their furrowed brows.
"Gee. How small.
"If you hadn't told me, I would've thought it was an ant."
I clutched the invitation and finally saw my name in a corner.
The lady's sarcastic tone pissed me off, but I managed to calm down.
It wasn't her fault but Antonio's.
He was dressing up inside, and I couldn't even get in.
I was an orphan, so the guests today were all his relatives.
During our four years together, I had only met his parents.
I wanted to show them my chat records with Antonio to prove who I was.
However, the lady called Maxine snorted, "Everyone knows chat records can be faked. We're not out of date!"
I tried my best to persuade them, but they just wouldn't let me in.
Just as I was feeling desperate, I looked up and saw Antonio's mom come out.
My eyes lit up. I waved my hand and called out to her, "Jocelyn! Help! They won't let me in!"
I thought she would come right over, but she just glanced at me and left with a frown, like she didn't even know me.
Maxine laughed out loud. "Miss, stop acting like you're really the bride.
"A word of advice? Get a job. Being a freeloader isn't something to brag about."
She rolled her eyes and put on a smile as she greeted other guests.
I didn't get it. Why did Jocelyn act like an entirely different person all of a sudden? Having no other choice, I called Antonio.
Yet I didn't hear his gentle voice; instead, it was an extremely cold mechanical voice.
I froze in situ while holding my phone, finding it hard to believe.
On my wedding day, my fiancé actually blocked me?!
What the heck?
Antonio didn't reply to any of the messages I sent to him.
I stood at the entrance of the banquet hall, every passer-by pointing at me.
Their whispers reached my ears, agitating me even more.
Just then, the two elderly ladies in front of me suddenly stood up, their eyes lighting up.
"My, my. Isn't this the bride? She's so pretty."
With smiles on their faces, they pushed me aside and welcomed someone behind me.
Puzzled, I turned around, only to see a woman in a white wedding dress surrounded by the crowd.
Smiling, she had complete makeup and even a small flower pinned to her chest.
Chapter 2
Compared to me, she indeed looked more like today's bride.
I had seen her face in Antonio's high school photos.
So, at first glance, I recognized her—she was Monica, Antonio's first love.
Finally, I could vent my anger.
I rushed toward Monica and grabbed her veil with both hands.
Seeing this, the crowd gasped.
"Monica! It was you, right?"
Monica maintained her smile while looking at me contemptuously.
Clearly, she looked down on me.
"Me?
"Grace, you gave me too much credit. Has it ever occurred to you it was Antonio who did this?"
She lowered her voice.
Yet each of her words was like a knife, stabbing my heart.
"All I said was I wanted my name next to his, and he placed your name in the corner without hesitation.
"And in case you haven't noticed, there are no wedding photos of you two, neither on the invitations nor at the scene.
"Isn't it obvious? Today's wedding isn't about you and Antonio. You're just the excuse he used to marry me."
She grabbed my wrist and pried my fingers one by one under my stunned gaze due to shock.
"You know, Grace, you're so useless.
"You've been going out with Antonio for four years already, right? Yet he still hasn't gotten over me. If I were you, I'd top myself already."
Antonio still hadn't gotten over her?
Then what about our four years together? Was it a mere joke?
Surrounded by the crowd, all I could think of were the bits and pieces of my four years with Antonio.
The first time I met him was at a student union regular meeting.
Back then, he was a freshman, and I was already the president of the student union.
Even today, I still remembered that day was my birthday.
I was an orphan, and my birthday meant nothing to me. Honestly, it wasn't even my real birth date; it was just the day I entered the orphanage.
Over the years, I never celebrated my birthday.
But that day, when I walked into the meeting room, it was pitch dark.
As I turned on the light, I saw them holding a cake. They stood in the middle of the meeting room, shouting "Happy Birthday" to me.
I was genuinely surprised.
When I knew Antonio was the one who proposed the surprise for me, and he remembered my birthday merely because he had happened to see my file, I fell for him.
I thought it was the beginning of a romantic love story.
Yet now that I thought about it, it was the beginning of my nightmare.
I stood in situ in a daze, hearing someone's puzzled voice.
"Monica, do you know her?
"She's crazy, claiming that she's the bride.
Monica smiled.
"Perhaps she's just obsessed with getting married. She goes crazy whenever she sees someone tying the knot."
After saying this, Monica went into the banquet hall.
I wanted to follow her but was blocked.
Several elderly ladies stood in front of me.
They sized me up, looking disdainful.
"I was wondering. It turns out she's just a crazy beggar who's desperate to get married."
"For a beggar, she dresses so well. Did she steal those clothes from somewhere?"
"Maybe. What if she stole from the changing room here?"
Their mocking voices were sharp, and they covered their noses with their hands as if they smelt something foul.
I clenched my hands at my sides into fists, saying again.
"I'm serious. I'm the bride today! If you don't believe me, I have photos of me and Antonio."
I pulled out my phone, ready to show them the photos in my album.
Yet, before I could find any, someone snatched my phone away.
The lady in front of me, dressed in dark red, marveled at my phone.
"Gee. Even beggars can afford such fancy phones these days.
"What's the world coming to?"
As she said, she was about to take the phone away.
I immediately stepped forward to get my phone back.
"Give it back!"
However, before I could reach it, she suddenly shrilled.
"Help! This beggar is assaulting me!"
Her cries attracted the attention of the men who were smoking outside.
They stubbed out their cigarettes and walked over, frowning.
"What's going on?" one of them asked in a low voice.
Just as I was about to explain, a woman beat me to it.
"This woman here is a retarded beggar. She says she's the bridge and even wants to ruin the wedding."
With that, she convinced them that I was indeed a beggar.
I tried to explain, but they didn't give me the chance.
"A beggar?"
A tall man, 1.9 meters at least, walked over and grabbed me by the collar.
He sized me up, sneering.
"As a beggar, you surely dress so well. You're a social climber, right?"
He and another man started judging me, not giving me a chance to speak.
Before I could react, he started pulling off my jacket.
I kicked him in the leg right away, and as he let go in pain, I stepped back, watching him warily.
"What are you doing?
"You wanna rob me in front of all these people?"
"Rob? That's rich. You're just a beggar.
"I'm just taking back what doesn't belong to you in the first place."
Chapter 3
They surrounded me, held my arms, and restrained me.
I struggled desperately, not wanting to be humiliated like this a second longer.
However, the more I struggled, the harder they held on.
Someone punched me, and I felt dizzy; my head hurt.
Immediately, several people started to punch me, and I had no strength to fight back at all.
I fell to the floor, and a small velvet box fell out of my pants pocket.
The woman in red picked it up.
Inside was the ring I had prepared for Antonio.
Her eyes lit up.
"Gee. Where did this beggar steal this ring from?"
Her eyes flickered, and she slipped the box into her pocket, pointed at me, and shouted.
"It's her!
"She stole my ring, and I've found it now. Kick her out! She's not only a beggar but also a thief!"
I looked at her in great disbelief, even doubting my own ears.
"I didn't steal it from anyone. It's..."
Yet again, they didn't give me a chance to speak.
Someone punched me in the face, and I fell to the floor again.
The security guards, hearing the commotion, hurried over. After hearing the "story", they immediately walked over to me.
Right now, I was more than furious; I also felt humiliated after being insulted.
Gritting my teeth, I looked at those people with evil smiles on their faces fiercely.
"You will regret this!"
"Regret? Yeah, right. You're just a beggar. What can you possibly do to us?"
The woman snorted, trying hard to put the ring on her swollen finger.
Yet, she failed.
She could only carefully put the ring in her pocket.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kelsey Vasquez coming out of the banquet hall, and my eyes lit up at once.
Kelsey was Antonio's friend; surely, she knew me.
"Kelsey!"
I shouted her name at the top of my lungs, afraid that she would pretend not to hear, just like Jocelyn.
Fortunately, she stopped and walked towards us with a frown.
My heart was lit up with hope again.
"Kelsey, explain to them. I..."
"Who's this? Get her out. The wedding is about to start."
Kelsey's words shattered my last shred of hope.
Immediately, the security guard standing next to me stepped forward to drag my body.
I looked at Kelsey with great disbelief.
She smiled contemptuously at me, her lips moving.
I read her lips.
She said, "Serve you right."
Only then did I realize she was taking revenge on me.
She had pursued me, but I turned her down.
Eventually, I was thrown out of the hall by the security guards.
As my body hit the ground heavily, I felt immense pain.
The onlookers stood at the door, and someone spat at me.
"What a jinx. Get lost!"
My ears were ringing.
My phone was thrown beside me, and the screen was broken into several pieces.
"It's as crappy as you."
My suit jacket had been taken off.
My carefully groomed hair was now utterly messy.
Everything that happened today was like a dream to me.
I thought I'd marry the man I loved today.
Yet I was utterly insulted and learned the fact that Antonio had never fallen for me.
I cherished the past four years of time and memories like treasures.
Yet, it meant nothing to him.
I walked on the street dejectedly, ignoring the curious gazes of the passers-by.
Finally, I stopped outside a restaurant.
Antonio proposed to me here. It had only been a few months, but it felt as if a lifetime had passed.
Upon seeing me, the waiter in the restaurant immediately walked towards me.
"Ms. Parrish, what happened to you? Aren't you supposed to get married today?"
Smiling bitterly, I waved my hand at him.
I bought this restaurant half a year ago.
I secretly became the behind-the-scenes boss simply because Antonio liked this place.
I'd give it to him as a wedding gift after the wedding.
Yet it seemed he probably wouldn't receive this gift after all.
Just as I was about to explain, my phone rang.
It was Antonio.
After a moment of hesitation, I answered the phone.
His voice was so sharp that it almost pierced my eardrum.
"Grace, where are you? Come back. The hotel staff is asking us to pay 110,000 dollars, the final payment for the wedding. Come back and pay up!"
