CHAPTER 1 — "THE BRIDE WHO SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE"
The whispers started long before the wedding ceremony.
"She's just a single mother."
"She trapped him."
"She'll never fit into the Blackwood family."
Every guest had an opinion.
None of them knew the truth.
Outside the city's most luxurious cathedral, television cameras crowded behind barricades as hundreds of reporters waited for the wedding of the year.
Damien Blackwood.
Thirty-eight.
The youngest CEO in the history of Blackwood Global Holdings—a company worth over forty billion dollars.
A man whose face appeared on magazine covers.
A billionaire every influential family wanted as their son-in-law.
And today...
He was marrying a woman almost nobody had ever heard of.
Emily Carter.
Thirty-two.
A waitress.
A single mother.
No famous family.
No inherited fortune.
No designer last name.
Only one little six-year-old daughter named Lily.
As Emily stepped out of an old taxi instead of a limousine, flashes exploded everywhere.
The reporters couldn't believe it.
"Is that really the bride?"
"She doesn't even have bodyguards!"
"Look at that dress..."
Her wedding gown was elegant but simple.
Beautiful.
Yet painfully ordinary compared to the luxury surrounding her.
The guests exchanged mocking smiles.
Damien's wealthy aunt leaned toward another woman.
"I give this marriage six months."
Another laughed.
"If she were smart, she'd ask for half the company before the honeymoon."
Meanwhile...
Little Lily carefully held her mother's hand.
She looked around nervously.
"Mom..."
Emily smiled gently.
"Everything's okay, sweetheart."
But Lily noticed something no one else did.
Her mother's hands were shaking.
Emily wasn't afraid of marrying Damien.
She was afraid of his family.
Inside the cathedral...
The Blackwood relatives sat in the front rows dressed in custom-made suits worth more than Emily earned in a year.
None of them stood up to greet her.
Not one.
Damien's mother, Victoria Blackwood, looked Emily up and down before quietly saying,
"So this is the woman who thinks she belongs in our family."
Emily heard every word.
But she simply smiled.
"I don't need to belong anywhere."
"I only need to love your son."
That answer irritated Victoria even more.
She turned away without another word.
Moments later...
The music began.
Everyone stood.
Damien waited at the altar.
His eyes never left Emily.
Not once did he notice the cameras.
Not once did he glance at the guests.
To him...
She was the only person in the room.
As Emily slowly walked toward him, Lily followed behind carrying the wedding rings.
The little girl suddenly stumbled.
The ring box slipped from her hands.
It landed near the first row.
A wealthy woman immediately sighed dramatically.
"Unbelievable."
"What bad luck."
Victoria whispered loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear.
"Even the child doesn't belong here."
Lily's face turned pale.
She bent down to pick up the rings...
But before she could...
Someone else reached them first.
Damien.
The billionaire CEO.
He knelt on one knee.
Picked up the tiny ring box.
Then smiled at Lily.
"You didn't drop our future."
"You only reminded everyone that children are allowed to make mistakes."
He gently placed the rings back into her small hands.
Then he whispered,
"Walk with me."
The entire cathedral fell silent.
Instead of returning to the altar...
Damien held Lily's hand.
The CEO...
The billionaire...
Walked together with the little girl toward the altar.
The photographers couldn't stop taking pictures.
Some guests looked uncomfortable.
Others looked furious.
Victoria's face darkened.
The ceremony finally began.
When the priest asked the traditional question—
"Does anyone object to this marriage?"
A voice echoed across the cathedral.
"I do."
Every head turned.
Standing at the entrance...
Was a sharply dressed man holding a sealed envelope.
And beside him...
A woman carrying a little boy.
May you like
The boy looked almost exactly like Damien.
The cathedral exploded into chaos.
