On the day I married Howard Fitzgerald, his first love Stephanie Duncan was forced into an arranged marriage with Noah Webster, New York’s most notorious playboy. Howard didn’t want her to lose her chance at happiness, so he fled our wedding ceremony to find Stephanie. Even Xavier Fitzgerald, Howard’s late brother’s orphaned son whom I had raised for seven years, left with him. “Dad told me he only wants Stephanie to be my mom!” In front of everyone, Howard passionately kissed Stephanie and placed the wedding ring that should have been mine on her finger. All of New York was laughing at me. Surprisingly, the next day, Noah stopped my car. Leaning against the hood, he smirked and said, “Ellie, your fiancé ran away from your wedding, and my fiancée was stolen from me. How about we get married?” I smiled back, “No problem. I’ll marry you.” As soon as I said this, the sarcastic smile on Noah’s face instantly vanished. “What did you say?” Looking directly into his eyes, I enunciated each word: “I said, let’s go get our marriage license right now, shall we?” Three hours later, Noah and I stood outside City Hall, each holding our marriage certificate. After a few seconds of silence, Noah suddenly said, “I’ll go prepare for the wedding ceremony. We’ll officially get married the day after tomorrow. Remember, don’t back out.” As if afraid I might change my mind, Noah hurriedly exchanged contact information with me before driving away. I couldn’t help but smile. The way he nervously fumbled for his passport earlier made him seem completely different from the rich playboy everyone described. Despite his reputation as a womanizer, I thought Noah was at least better than Howard. Then, just as I reached my front door, I saw Howard standing there with Xavier. My expression immediately darkened. “Mr. Fitzgerald, your wedding just ended. Why aren’t you with your wife instead of looking for me?” Howard looked guilty and tried to appease me: “Ellie, Stephanie is like a sister to me. Noah is a playboy. How could I stand by and watch her fall into trouble?” So he abandoned our wedding, making my family the laughingstock of New York. Howard even publicly kissed Stephanie, trampling my dignity into worthlessness. “Howard, we’re done.” Howard was stunned. He frowned and said, “Ellie, why can’t you understand? Stephanie and I only had a fake marriage. We don’t even have a marriage certificate. After all, I only want to marry you. Stephanie is kind-hearted and promised to divorce me once the storm blows over so we can be together. Stop being unreasonable.” I laughed coldly to myself, wondering how Howard could shamelessly say such things. Even if I swallowed my pride, my parents would never allow our family to endure such humiliation. “Once you’re divorced, you’ll be a previously married man. What makes you think I would marry you then?” Hearing my words, Howard became furious. “Ellie, when will you stop? Everyone in New York knows we’ve been together for seven years, and you’re no longer an innocent girl. Besides me, who else would marry you?” Seven-year-old Xavier pouted and pushed me away forcefully. “You’re so petty! You’re not even as generous as Stephanie. She knows they’re fake-married, but she’s not angry at all. Indeed, only Stephanie deserves to be my mom!” I felt heartbroken looking at this boy I had raised as my own. Years ago, Howard’s brother and his wife died in a car accident, leaving behind Xavier who was only a few months old. Howard adopted Xavier afterward. However, when Stephanie found out, she abandoned them without hesitation and left the country. As Howard’s fiancée, I diligently cared for Xavier and treated him as my son, only to be humiliated like this in the end. “Let her be your mom then. After all, I’m already married, and I’ll have my own children in the future.” Howard assumed I was bluffing and sneered, “Stop trying to scare me with this marriage nonsense. Ellie, take a few days to calm down!” With that, Howard left with Xavier. I clenched my fists, feeling utterly frustrated. Indeed, everyone in New York knew I loved Howard deeply, and he didn’t believe I would marry anyone else. But ever since Stephanie returned, the once gentle and caring Howard was gone. I thought seven years of love would be enough to withstand anything, but everything that happened showed me I had only been fooling myself.
Noah was a man of swift action. The next morning, he sent people to deliver a wedding dress and wedding gifts to my home. My living room was nearly filled with these items. “Ms. Johnson, this is the wedding dress Mr. Webster personally designed for you, and he specifically commissioned top designers both domestically and internationally to create it. Mr. Webster is preparing for the wedding and wants you to try it on to ensure it fits properly.” For a moment, I stood frozen in place. I hadn’t expected Noah to arrange everything so meticulously. My parents stood nearby with stern expressions, clearly dissatisfied with my marriage plans. However, at this point, they could only accept it. Since we didn’t love each other, I should at least secure the greatest benefit for my family. Although Noah had a questionable reputation, the Webster family was undeniably among the elite upper-class families in New York society. If the Duncan family hadn’t already arranged a marriage alliance with the Webster family, Stephanie would likely have had no chance of entering Noah’s family. I was carefully hanging up the wedding dress, about to call Noah to thank him, when Howard unexpectedly walked in with Xavier and Stephanie. Seeing the room full of gifts, Howard immediately sneered, “Weren’t you being stubborn yesterday? Today you’ve already prepared a wedding dress and jewelry. Since you’re so eager to get married, why don’t we hold the wedding tomorrow?” Then, a flash of jealousy crossed Stephanie’s eyes. Feigning innocence, she removed a diamond ring from her finger and said, “Ms. Johnson, if that’s the case, I’ll return this ring to you. Howard only spoke that way yesterday because he had no choice. Don’t blame him.” Before I could respond, Howard immediately stopped her. “Stephanie, that’s something I gave you. You don’t need to return it to her.” Then he took out a silver ring and tossed it at me. “Don’t say I didn’t prepare anything for you!” Looking at the cheap ring on the floor, I laughed mockingly. The ring on Stephanie’s finger was made with a massive pink diamond worth ten billion dollars, specially commissioned by Howard from professional designers. He had said that ring belonged to his future wife. I thought he had bought it for me, but it ended up on Stephanie’s finger. Ignoring Howard’s words, I simply said, “I don’t need it. You should give it to your kind sister.” Seeing my coldness, Howard’s face immediately darkened. He grabbed the silver ring and threw it into the trash can. “If you don’t want it, just throw it away!” Seeing Howard’s anger, Xavier frowned and glared at me viciously. Then, he directly picked up a pair of scissors and cut up the wedding dress I had hung. Diamonds and pearls from the gown scattered across the floor. Xavier snorted, “You made my dad angry! If I destroy your wedding dress, you can’t marry my dad.” Then he dropped the scissors and ran to Stephanie’s side, tugging at her clothes. “Stephanie, you’re the best to me. Will you be my mom?” Looking at the ruined wedding dress, my heart filled with sorrow and disappointment. I never expected that the child I watched grow up would now publicly humiliate me to please Stephanie. Stephanie said in a coquettish tone, “Ms. Johnson, Xavier is too young to understand. Please don’t hold it against him.” She pretended to carefully open the bag she was carrying and took out a wedding dress. “Ms. Johnson, you’re getting married tomorrow. If you don’t mind, how about wearing this?” I recognized it immediately as the old wedding dress she had worn at her previous wedding. Seeing her challenging look, I suddenly realized they had come specifically to humiliate me today. Howard said with admiration in his eyes, “Ellie, Stephanie is being so thoughtful for you, so don’t be ungrateful. After all, your wedding dress is already ruined, so just wear this one tomorrow.” I took a deep breath and continued, “That won’t be necessary. Our engagement has been canceled, and I’ve already married someone else. Please leave.” Howard’s face instantly darkened. Just as he was about to explode, Stephanie suddenly choked up, “It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me, you two wouldn’t be fighting. I’ll leave tomorrow.” Howard anxiously wiped away her tears. “I’m not asking you to leave. Who dares to make you go?” He looked at me angrily and continued, “Ellie! Stephanie is trying to help you, but why are you so ungrateful?” “We’ve spent so many Christmases together. Don’t people know what kind of person you are? Besides me, who would marry you?” After saying these vicious words, Howard left with Stephanie. Xavier, standing nearby, didn’t forget to stick out his tongue and make faces at me before leaving. This scene reminded me of when Stephanie first returned to the country.
The day Stephanie returned to the country happened to be the seventh Christmas anniversary of my relationship with Howard. I waited at our agreed restaurant from early morning until late night, but Howard never showed up. It wasn’t until the restaurant closed that I browsed through his latest update on social media: [I’ve finally waited for you.] The accompanying photo showed them together, with Howard gazing tenderly at Stephanie as if she were the most precious treasure in the world. A wave of sadness washed over me, as I had heard that Stephanie was Howard’s first love. Later, Howard explained that he only saw Stephanie as a sister. He hadn’t seen her for so long, which was why he missed our anniversary. “Ellie, I swear you’re the only one in my heart.” I believed him. But it wasn’t until that wedding that I fully understood Stephanie had always been the most special person in Howard’s heart. The day before my wedding with Noah was my birthday. During Christmas time, Howard would always be by my side. But this Christmas, that was impossible. While I was wondering how to spend the day, I suddenly noticed Noah had sent me an address. I went out curiously and found the square packed with people. Countless brilliant fireworks burst in the night sky, illuminating the entire horizon. I heard exclamations from passersby. “My God! I heard this is a fireworks show that Mr. Fitzgerald specially prepared, spending millions to cheer up his wife!” “He loves his wife so much! If I were Mrs. Fitzgerald, I’d be thrilled!” “Plus, he recently disregarded Mr. Webster and Ms. Johnson’s reputation just to marry her. It’s like something straight out of a novel!” Listening to these comments, I found them ironic. Howard’s so-called deep love was always built on trampling others’ dignity. I turned to leave, but from behind came Stephanie’s feigned surprised laughter. “Ms. Johnson, you’re here too?” When I turned around, Stephanie was walking toward me, affectionately holding Howard’s arm. Howard kept a straight face and let out a cold snort. Then he glanced away, clearly still angry about what had happened before. Stephanie swung the designer bag Howard had given her and took a gift bag from her bodyguard, handing it to me with a show of superiority. “Ms. Johnson, Howard was busy preparing fireworks for me today and accidentally forgot your birthday. Consider this as compensation?” I glanced at the perfume in the gift bag, which was clearly a free gift that came with the purse she had just bought. I stepped back, coldly distancing myself from her. “No, thank you.” I wouldn’t stoop so low as to accept her charity. Howard frowned, his tone suddenly turning cold. “Stephanie, you don’t need to please her. Since Ms. Johnson doesn’t like it, just throw it away.” After saying this, he even ignored me, putting his arm around Stephanie and heading straight to the car. Just as the car started, the buzzing sound of drones in the sky caught my attention. People around me looked up and gasped. I raised my head to see countless illuminated drones slowly arranging themselves, eventually forming several dazzling words: [Happy Birthday, Ellie Johnson.] At the same time, LED screens on surrounding buildings suddenly lit up, scrolling a striking message: [Happy birthday, Ellie. Lifetime happiness.] I stood frozen, still in shock, when my phone suddenly vibrated. I checked it to find a message from Noah: [Happy birthday, Mrs. Webster.] I froze. A moment later, Noah sent another message: [I’m busy preparing for our wedding today, so I can’t celebrate your birthday with you. Hope you like the surprise I prepared for you.] Noah: [Don’t worry. I’ll definitely throw you another birthday party later.] A wave of emotion washed over me. Thinking back to all the Christmases I spent with Howard, he had never put so much thought into preparing a birthday surprise for me. He would always make excuses like, “We’ve been together for so long. Isn’t having me by your side enough?” I replied sincerely: [Thank you! I really love it.] After watching the performance, I went straight home. As soon as I stepped through the door, the housekeeper came up to tell me that Noah had sent over a newly customized wedding dress. This dress was more exquisite than the previous one, both in cut and material. “They specifically instructed you to relax and wait for the wedding. They’ll take care of everything tomorrow.” The next day, I was woken up by my parents before dawn, and the makeup artist had already arrived. After my makeup was done and I changed into the wedding dress, a surreal feeling came over me. Just a few days ago, I was eagerly anticipating marrying Howard, but now I was about to become the bride of Noah, New York’s notorious playboy. Beads of sweat formed unconsciously on my palms. But regardless, since I had made my choice, I would take full responsibility for my decision. At eight o’clock sharp, the sound of a car engine came from outside. Surprisingly, the man who stepped out of the car wasn’t Noah, but Howard. I was shocked to see Howard in his suit, Xavier in his little tuxedo, and their family behind them. I had already cut ties with him and returned all the wedding gifts they had given me. But what did he want now? Howard walked up to me, his eyes full of smugness. “Ellie, even though you said you didn’t want to marry me, you still prepared everything. “But since the news of my divorce from Stephanie hasn’t been announced yet, I can only take you home discreetly today and get our marriage certificate. You should behave yourself during this time, and we’ll have a proper wedding next month. “Hurry up and remove all these expensive things from your house!” Xavier also looked up and chimed in, “Dad’s right. If you want to marry into our family, you have to follow the rules!” I frowned, instantly furious. Who did he think he was? Did he want to have several wives? “Howard, are you pretending not to understand or are you just being stupid? I told you we were over! “The person marrying me today isn’t you. Get out! Don’t block my way to my wedding.” Howard still couldn’t believe it, a flash of anger crossing his eyes. “How long are you going to keep up this act? “Stephanie specifically asked me to marry you last night, and she’s even risking her reputation. Why can’t you be more sensible?” I couldn’t help but laugh coldly. I had never agreed to marry him again, but why was he so confident? Did he really think I had no choice but to marry him? Just as I was about to call someone to drive them away, I saw dozens of luxury cars arriving one by one, eventually stopping in front of my house. Looking into the distance, I couldn’t see the end of the line. Xavier asked in surprise, “Dad, didn’t you say she wasn’t worthy of these luxury cars?” Howard frowned, looking confused, and said, “I didn’t order this many cars.” Just as he finished speaking, Noah stepped out of the first car. He strode forward in a well-tailored black suit, looking incredibly handsome. Glancing at Howard’s shabby cars, Noah mockingly taunted, “Well, Mr. Fitzgerald is here again?” “Are you here to steal my wife again? You look so pathetic. Has the Fitzgerald family gone bankrupt?”
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