Darin and Kiara stood frozen.
Paige’s polished mask cracked right then and there. She was at a loss, her elegant facade gone in an instant.
The room turned its focus on Cole. Ruben narrowed his eyes and asked sharply, “Care to explain, Cole?”
Cole maintained his poker face. “I’m just as confused as you are.”
“Confused?” Ruben echoed, his voice climbing with fury, his mustache nearly twitching with rage. “You’re standing there saying you signed off on a marriage and somehow have no idea how it happened?”
Cole’s head slowly turned toward Elliana, his stare sharp enough to cut glass. She hadn’t moved-still caught in disbelief.
The coldness in his eyes pulled everyone else’s gaze to Elliana. Now she was the center of a storm she didn’t see coming.
Elliana gave a slow blink, shrugged innocently, and said, “Beats me. I don’t know either.”
No one had any real reason to doubt her. She’d grown up invisible-tucked away in the back corner of the house, scraping through grade school, stuck in a storeroom no bigger than a closet, and constantly ridiculed for how she looked. The idea that she could’ve snuck off to Podgend and married Cole in secret sounded impossible.
“There’s no way this is real! Someone had to mess with the registry!” Grinding her teeth in frustration, Kiara instructed, “Sort out the truth later. For now, divorce immediately and get Cole married to Paige today.”
“Right, right, getting Cole and Paige married takes priority!” Darin chimed in.
“I’m afraid Cole couldn’t marry Paige.” Ruben exhaled slowly. “The Evans family has strict traditions. A man can only remarry if his wife has passed away. Divorce isn’t even an option. The one walking down the aisle today has to be Elliana.”
“You can’t be serious!” Paige couldn’t take it anymore. She jumped up, her composure crumbling, eyes glistening with rage. “Everyone in Ublento knows I’m the one meant to marry into the Evans family! And now you’re swapping me out for Elliana like it’s nothing? How am I supposed to show my face after this?”
Kiara didn’t bother with the niceties anymore. Her voice turned sharp and poisonous. “Paige is meant to be Cole’s rightful wife! That pathetic brat Elliana doesn’t belong anywhere near him!”
Watching Kiara and Paige’s meltdown was priceless. Elliana could barely hide her amusement-it was better than anything she could’ve planned. She had daydreamed about stealing Cole just to piss them off. But fate? It had gone further. It dropped the marriage in her lap without her lifting a finger. Ridiculous or not, she wasn’t giving it up. With a sugar-sweet smile, Elliana looked up at Cole and said, “Darling, sorry about all this drama.”
This was like a slap to Paige’s pride. “You bitch! He’s mine! How dare you call him that!” she screamed, charging at Elliana in a blind fury.
Quick on her feet, Elliana ducked behind Cole and clutched his shoulders like a shield. With a teasing glint in her eye, she leaned to the side and said sweetly, “Take a breath, Paige. Where are those polished manners you take pride in?”
Paige stumbled past Elliana, fists clenched and trembling, ready for round two-until Elliana’s words froze her mid-step.
Everything Paige had built-her pristine reputation, her status on Ublento’s social scene-was slipping through her fingers. She’d clawed her way to the top, and one chaotic scene was going to ruin her yearslong effort.
Everyone stared as Paige, who moments ago had been screaming like someone unhinged, suddenly slipped back into her gentle, wide-eyed act. “Cole, you can’t…”
“Leave me. No one loves you more than I do…”
Darin and Kiara turned to Cole, silently begging him to say something-anything-that could change the course of this disaster. Ruben’s reputation was unshakable-he never bent the rules. Convincing him was a lost cause. If anything was going to change, it had to come from Cole.
Standing dead center in the storm of voices and tension, Cole looked like a statue-emotionless and untouchable.
After casting a glance over his shoulder at Elliana, still quietly holding onto him, Cole looked forward again. His voice cut through the air, steady and firm. “As an Evans, I’m expected to uphold my family’s traditions. I won’t be the one to tear them down.”
The words hit like a thunderclap. Both Kiara and Paige paled, as if the floor had dropped beneath them.
Darin’s gaze shot to Ruben, panic bubbling beneath the surface. “Ruben, surely there’s-“
Elliana’s overdone makeup gleamed a glance, but Ruben’s focus lingered on Cole-steady, composed, unshaken. He exhaled, long and heavy. “This is unfair to you, Cole. But our family’s traditions leave no room for exceptions,” Ruben muttered to himself.
Ruben stared directly at Darin. “Darin, I made a promise to your father, which is the only reason I agreed to this marriage alliance in the first place. But the engagement never stated exactly which of your daughters would be marrying into my family. Now that Elliana is Cole’s wife, the deal still stands. Don’t push me to go against the traditions my family has followed for generations!”
While Darin was reluctant to accept this, he didn’t dare voice it, since crossing Ruben wasn’t an option. Swallowing his fury, he gave a stiff nod.
And with that, the switch in brides was sealed for good. Elliana stepped forward without hesitation, slipping into the gown that had been meant for Paige..
Nothing about Cole’s wedding whispered subtlety-it shouted luxury from every corner, drenched in diamonds and power.
A hundred-million-dollar gown, laced with over 400,000 diamonds and pearls, was the crown jewel of the ceremony. Paige had fantasized about walking down the aisle in it for as long as she could remember. Aware of the enormous difference between the Jones family and the Evans family, Kiara and Darin had gone to great lengths to maintain appearances. They’d put together five hundred million dollars as a wedding gift, aiming to marry Paige off in a grand spectacle that would leave the entire city in awe. But in the end, every bit of it went to Elliana.
The wedding dress, air-shipped straight from a well-known gown brand overseas, now rested on Elliana’s body. Kiara, Darin, and Paige could only watch as everything they’d sacrificed for sparkled on the wrong girl-rage nearly knocking them off their feet.
Elliana could barely hold back her laughter, but with Cole standing right next to her, she bit it back and kept her expression neutral. There was no mistaking Cole’s reputation-dangerous, decisive, and impossible to predict. She knew better than to get careless. She still had no clue how she became his wife, but she needed answers-and fast.
A swarm of reporters buzzed outside the Jones family’s mansion, hungry for any crack in the story. Instead of feeding the frenzy, Cole avoided the car altogether and flew off with Elliana in a private helicopter.
Tears streamed down Paige’s face as the helicopter disappeared into the clouds. “Mom, is my dream of becoming the wife of the wealthiest man truly gone?”
“Absolutely not!” Kiara’s voice dripped with venom as she said, “Cole won’t tolerate being trapped like this. Elliana was shoved into his life. Who knows? She might not even make it through tonight.”
A spark flickered behind Paige’s tears. “You think he’d actually get rid of her?”
Kiara gave a cold smile. “Once Elliana’s no longer in the picture, Cole will definitely come back to you. Just hold on to your place as Ublento’s top socialite. You’ll be his wife eventually.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.