She Joked About Runaway Marriage, I Meant It

"Let him go! I'll wait for him to come crawling back on his knees."

I walked out of the reception hall without looking back, leaving Victoria's furious snarl far behind me.

I flagged down a cab. The driver kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror before carefully speaking up. "Where to, sir?"

I sat in the back seat, the anger churning in my chest slowly dissolving into something blank. Where could I even go?

Not long after my parents died, Grandma, still dazed with grief, got into a car accident. The other party demanded a massive settlement, and I had no choice but to sell the house.

It was pouring that day and I couldn't get a cab. Victoria was the one who showed up on a motorcycle and tore through the rain to get me to the hospital. She pulled off her helmet one-handed, revealing sharp, striking features.

"There's no PIN on it. Use it for now." Before I could react, she shoved a bank card into my hand and walked away.

By the time I sorted everything out and tried to pay her back, she was impossible to reach. Then she showed up out of nowhere, leaning against my shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world, raising an eyebrow at the guy who'd been trying to confess his feelings to her.

"Sorry, no can do. My boyfriend gets jealous."

Her reddish-orange hair caught the sunlight, and just like that, she barged her way into my life.

"Play my boyfriend for now. Just consider it payback for saving your life."

For three years, I followed her around trying to pay her back, and everyone just assumed I was her lovesick, devoted boyfriend. When she wrecked her bike racing outside the city, I was the first one there. When she broke her leg skiing, I brought her meals from the restaurant every day.

Just when I was almost done paying her back, Grandma went missing.

That night, Northridge got hit with the worst snowstorm in a decade. The snow was past knee-deep, and the security footage showed Grandma leaving the house in nothing but a thin sweater.

The police checked over a hundred cameras and couldn't find her. I was losing my mind.

Victoria was the one who rallied tens of thousands of people to search the entire city. The minutes crawled by. The ninth time I collapsed in the snow, she was there, reaching her hand out to me.

"They found her. I already had someone take her to the hospital. She's okay."

I threw my arms around her and sobbed. She wiped my tears awkwardly, trying to keep her voice light. "See? Getting a hug from your girlfriend. It's not a bad deal."

For the first time, I didn't correct her.

"Hey, you alright?" The driver pulled a few tissues from the box and handed them back. That was when I realized my face was already streaked with tears.

"Just drive."

The cab pulled forward, and the scenery on both sides blurred past.

The night before, Victoria had confessed something at Grandma's bedside.

"The person your parents saved at the beach ten years ago was me. My family offered 20 million dollars as a thank-you, but your grandmother turned it down.

"She said you can't put a price on a human life, and that your parents were heroes for what they did."

Her voice softened. "Caleb, we were meant to find each other. I'll love you for the rest of my life, with everything your parents would have given you."

Less than a day later, everything changed. A dull, constricting ache settled in my chest and wouldn't let go.

My phone kept buzzing. It was a video one of the bridesmaids had posted in the wedding group chat.

Spencer was wearing a black-and-gold suit with his arm around Victoria's waist, the two of them laughing as they toasted the guests.

"Someone ditched, so Spencer had to step up last minute."

"Tell me they don't look perfect together. They should just go ahead and make it official."

I held the power button until the screen went dark. For a second, it caught my reflection, cold and still.

"Sir, take me to Kingsgrove Manor."

There was something I needed to find out.