Jilted at the Altar, Chosen by the Heir

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Ronnie Harding and I were a perfect match on paper. Our families arranged our marriage before either of us could walk.

The two families had agreed to hold the wedding on the day we graduated from college. And yet, when I peeled off my graduation gown and reached for my bridal set, I found the wedding shoes made to my measurements were the wrong size.

Sweat broke out across my forehead. "We booked these handmade shoes two years in advance. They took my measurements again just last month. How could this happen?"

Ronnie stood there thumbing out a message on his phone, a mild, easy smile on his face.

At the sound of my voice, he lifted his eyes just a fraction.

"If they don't fit, swap them for another pair. That's worth getting worked up over?"

I was about to explain that the shoes and the gown were a matched set, that this wasn't as simple as swapping one pair for another.

Then Christina Taylor, Ronnie's junior classmate, came bouncing in. "Ronnie, I forgot to sanitize the shoes after I wore them. That's okay, right?"

...

The prep room went dead silent.

The makeup artist, the stylist, the photographer following us around, all of them stared at Christina in disbelief.

But Christina didn't seem to notice a thing. Her wide, doe-round eyes were fixed on Ronnie.

Ronnie put his phone away, and the faint smile spread into something deep and doting.

He wore the look of a man helpless against her, and tapped the tip of her nose. "Didn't I tell you not to come? Rosie's got a temper. What if she gives you a hard time later?"

"I'm not scared. I've got you to protect me."

Christina wrapped herself around his arm and gave it a little shake.

Only then did she put on the expression of someone just noticing there were other people in the room, and gave a timid little wave. "Hi, Rose Winfield."

The wedding I'd planned so carefully was a disaster before it had even begun, and I was already boiling.

I looked at the one who'd caused it and glared at her, hard.

Christina blinked, and tears came rolling down.

She let go of Ronnie's arm and dropped straight to her knees in front of me, crying as she knelt. "It's all my fault, every bit of it. Don't blame Ronnie. And please, please don't call off the wedding just because you're angry!"

Ronnie had already started to bend down to pull Christina up.

At those words, he lifted his dark eyes and looked at me, cold, his handsome face full of impatience.

"Rose, you're a grown woman in your twenties. Can you stop throwing childish tantrums?"

"The second you're unhappy, you want to break up. The second you're in a mood, you want to call off the wedding."

"Let me be clear. I'm not your father. I'm not going to coddle you."

"If you won't put on those shoes and go through with this wedding today, then don't marry me at all."

Having thrown down his ultimatum, Ronnie pulled Christina up with aching tenderness and folded her into his arms.

The pad of his thumb gently wiped the tears from her cheek.

"Stop crying. You had your makeup done special today to match the new shoes. It won't look good if you cry it all off."

Christina hiccuped through her sobs. "So what if it doesn't look good?"

"I went through my whole closet and couldn't find a single dress to go with the shoes. I can't even take a pretty picture!"

"If I'd known, I never would've asked to borrow the wedding shoes."

"There, there. I'll have someone make you a dress to match, right away."

Christina's tears turned to a smile, and then the next second, she scrunched up her nose again.

"But today's your big graduation day. I want so badly to dress up and take a photo with you."

"Once today's gone, even if we reshoot, it just won't mean the same."

Ronnie considered this.

Soon enough, he turned his head and looked at me.

I saw his gaze land on my gown, and a bad feeling rose in me.

Ronnie gave an order. "Rose, take off that gown and give it to Chrissy to wear."

His matter-of-fact tone cut into me.

I clutched the front of my gown and stepped back. "Why should I?"

Ronnie came toward me.

"Weren't you just complaining the shoes didn't fit, that you didn't want to wear them? Then give it all to Chrissy."

"I'll have a new set made for you."

I stared at Ronnie, unable to believe it, feeling in that moment as if every drop of blood in my body had reversed course.

This gown was no ordinary gown. The Winfield and Harding families had brought out jewels from their private collections, and a national-treasure embroiderer who'd long since retired her needle had stitched it thread by thread, cut to fit my body.

The only one of its kind in the world, made for me and no one else.

And with one airy sentence, and a compliment about how generous I was, Ronnie expected me to just hand it over?

Dream on.

Ronnie reached out and yanked at my gown, actually trying to strip it off me by force.

I couldn't take another second of it, and slapped him across the face.

"Ah!"

Christina shrieked and ran over, throwing herself in front of Ronnie to shield him.

"Rose, how could you hit someone? You're acting like a shrew. You don't deserve to be Ronnie's wife!"

I rolled my wrist. "Whether I deserve it, that's for you to decide?"

Something crossed Christina's mind, and two spots of pink rose on her cheeks.

She squared her shoulders and shot back, crisp and clear. "If I had your family background, I'd deserve it more than you do!"

"I'd give Ronnie all the tenderness I had my whole life. Not like you, snapping at him, ordering him around, trampling all over his pride!"

"Chrissy!"

Ronnie looked moved, and reached from behind to press his hands on her shoulders.

Christina turned and gazed up at him, her eyes deep with feeling. "Ronnie, I know there's no hope of me ever marrying you in this life. That's why I want, so badly, to take a set of photos with you."

"Even if it's fake, I can still fool myself into believing I married you."

Ronnie couldn't hold back any longer, and crushed Christina against his chest. "Done!"