Introduction

Tomorrow, I, Ethan Reed, was set to marry Isabelle Davenport, the exquisite old-money bride who promised a future of prestige and endless possibilities.

Our lavish rehearsal dinner glowed with anticipation, my parents beaming with pride as their "new money" son married into established aristocracy.

Then, a chilling phone call shattered everything.

"I'm pregnant, Ethan," Isabelle whispered, "It's Liam's."

My world tilted, instantly replaced by a wave of nausea and disbelief.

She didn't stop there.

Isabelle demanded I postpone the wedding indefinitely, quit my career to support them, and even insisted their relationship be openly acknowledged, with Liam, her step-brother and the baby's father, moving into our condo.

The next indignity: she had my belongings, including my beloved grandmother's irreplaceable quilt, dumped on the curb, then maliciously desecrated the quilt itself with cigarette burns.

The final blow came when Liam staged a pathetic suicide attempt, and Isabelle, her eyes blazing, tried to force me to apologize, even offering me a letter opener to "understand his pain" by cutting myself.

How could the woman I loved be so utterly manipulative, so cruelly deluded?

My future, meticulously planned, lay in toxic ruins.

But amidst the devastation, a memory resurfaced, a lifeline in the darkness.

Today was my 30th birthday.

And a childhood pact with my best friend, Chloe: "If you hit the big three-oh still single, Ethan Reed, you're mine. We marry each other. Deal?"

Just as I stood broken, she appeared, the small gift in her hand, her eyes clear and steady.

"A deal's a deal, Ethan," she said, cutting through the ash of my ruined life.

"Marry me, Ethan. In three days. I'll handle everything."