PROLOGUE
Janis stood at the church altar, confused.
Countless questions rushed into her head as she stared at the man standing in front of her.
Where was she?
How did she get here?
And most importantly—why was she wearing a wedding dress?
The last thing she remembered was eating lunch at her uncle's house. And now, suddenly, she was here… getting married.
"Do you, Janis Wyatt, take Mr. Adrian Pedro as your husband?" the pastor asked, snapping her back to reality.
"Marry?" Janis repeated, frowning. Who was she getting married to?
"Yes. Marry. You're supposed to get married to Mr. Pedro," the pastor replied, a bit impatiently.
Mr. Pedro?
Who the hell was Mr. Pedro?
Before she could ask out loud, she felt someone glaring daggers at her from the crowd. She turned slowly—and of course, there she was: her uncle's wife, Desiree. The most useless woman in the entire galaxy.
"Miss Janis, are you listening to me?" the pastor asked again, now tapping her arm repeatedly.
"I… I don't know who Pedro is," Janis said honestly.
Collective gasp.
Even the choir froze.
"Pedro is the man you want to marry," the pastor replied, pointing to the tall man standing beside her.
Janis turned to look.
Mr. Pedro.
He was fair, tall, and mysterious. His dark eyes held secrets, and his black hair was styled like he had just walked off a billionaire romance novel cover.
Janis blinked. She had never seen someone so dangerously handsome.
How could she marry someone like him?
He was too attractive. And if there was one thing Janis knew for sure, it was that handsome men were dangerous.
"I've never seen him before in my life," she blurted.
Gasps. Again. Louder.
From the corner, Desiree laughed with contempt.
But her uncle, Sylvester, was frowning—hard.
Janis stared at him for a moment… and suddenly it clicked.
She understood why she was here.
Why she had to marry this Adrian.
This wasn't love. It was business. Family reputation. Survival.
Meanwhile, Adrian's family—especially his mother—was absolutely livid in the crowd.
They didn't organize a billionaire wedding for the bride to show up and start free-styling on the altar.
The who's-who of the country were in attendance. This was a scandal in high definition.
Adrian's mother stood up, ready to call off the entire wedding. The disgrace was enough. The Wyatt family wasn't the only one with a daughter—she could find a better bride by noon.
"I do," Janis said suddenly, interrupting the chaos.
And for the first time since the ceremony began, she saw a flicker of surprise cross Adrian's face.
It lasted only a second—but she saw it.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the pastor said.
Janis blinked.
Wait. When did he say "I do"?!
Had she blacked out? Or was this wedding just a rigged reality show?
"You may now kiss the bride," the pastor added.
Janis froze.
Kiss? A stranger?
Would he even want to kiss her?
"STOP!" someone suddenly screamed.
Everyone turned, startled.
A disheveled black man in a wrinkled suit sprinted down the aisle.
People began screaming, clutching their pearls, clutching their hearts—pure chaos.
"Janis! Don't marry him!" the man shouted dramatically.
"We were supposed to get married today, but you left me for a rich man!" he wailed.
Before he could reach the altar, a dozen bodyguards tackled him to the ground.
Janis looked down at the man and almost burst out laughing.
Gary.
Her aunt had really gone through all this trouble just to embarrass her with Gary—the worst actor in the entire country. His crying was faker than processed cheese.
"Can we end this wedding without kissing?" Janis whispered to the pastor while the crowd gawked at Gary being dragged away like a sack of drama.
"I don't really care what happens," the pastor muttered. "I just want to end this wedding quickly."
"This is the worst ceremony I've ever done."
"I now pronounce you husband and wife… again," he said with a sigh.
"You may now walk down the altar while holding hands."
Everyone stood up and clapped like they weren't just witnesses to a live soap opera.