On Our Wedding Day, He Gave His Sweetheart My Car

"Sylvia, it's our wedding day. Are you really going to make a scene here? Come with me, now. My parents keep calling." A message from his parents lit up Stuart's phone. He glanced at it, and his movements grew more frantic. The bridal procession was over. By now the hotel was full of relatives, all waiting. The wedding favors, the banquet, the parting gifts — every last thing was prepared and ready to hand out. If this wedding didn't happen, there would be no way to clean up the mess. But I didn't care. While Stuart was frazzled, firing off replies to his parents, I took out my phone and called mine. The call connected quickly. My parents' anxious voices came through. "Sweetheart, why aren't you here yet? Did something happen on the way?" My eyes went red in an instant, and the hand holding the phone shook so hard it frightened me. "Mom, Dad, I don't want to get married." The line went silent at once. My grip tightened. A minute later, a careful, aching voice reached my ear. "Sweetheart, if you've made up your mind, then come home. We'll be waiting for you." I nodded and hung up. Stuart had just finished soothing the relatives, too. He came over to me, his tone softening a little. "Sylvie, whatever this is, can't it wait until the wedding's over? You don't want to be humiliated over something like this, do you?" My eyes went cold, degree by degree. Every word out of Stuart was a threat. He didn't think he'd done anything wrong at all. I stopped looking at him. Once I'd settled the arrangements with the motorcade, I lowered my head and booked a ride. The wedding was off, but there was still a huge mess to deal with at the hotel. After all, my family had covered more than half the cost of this wedding, so of course I was going to find a way to get it back. Seeing no reaction from me, Stuart's brow drew tighter and tighter. "Sylvia, I'll say it one last time. Come marry me, or I'll make you regret it." I looked at him, almost amused. "The motorcade is already gone. Do you not understand plain words? This wedding is canceled." "Fine. Just fine!" Stuart's fists clenched hard. His fury tipped over into a laugh. "You think this will force me to grovel and apologize to you?" "You don't want to marry me? I can find someone else!" He turned and pulled Jocelyn's hand into his. "Jocelyn, will you marry me?" Jocelyn froze. Clearly she hadn't known about this beforehand either. Her cheeks reddened bit by bit. She glanced at me, then lowered her head and spoke in a soft, delicate voice. "Stuart, if you need someone to save the day, then I'll do it. Once the wedding's over, your bride will still be Sylvie. I'll leave then." As Stuart listened, the anger in his eyes gave way to tenderness. He spun around and shot me a vicious glare. "Marry me, and you're my wife. No one else comes into it." Stuart stood beside Jocelyn, but his eyes stayed fixed on me. I knew he was waiting for me to give in. He'd worn this trick out long ago. Jocelyn stood at his side, clinging to his arm for dear life, without a trace of reluctance about her. I let out a scoff and waved a hand at the two of them. "If you're going, then go. I haven't canceled the banquet at the hotel yet, so just transfer me the money when the time comes." As I finished, the ride I'd booked pulled up right at my feet. I didn't look back. I climbed in.

The whole way home. The moment I pushed open the front door, I saw my parents sitting by the sofa, their faces full of worry. When they spotted me, they stood and came over, not a word of blame, only taking my hands and looking me over, this way and that. "Sylvie, did Stuart hurt you? Don't be afraid, your dad and I are right here." When I was sick and learned Stuart had left me behind to go find Jocelyn, I didn't cry. When I learned Stuart had bought Jocelyn a diamond ring and wanted me to give up the wedding car for her, I didn't cry either. But now the tears came like floodwater through an opened gate, and no matter what I did, they wouldn't stop, sliding down the rims of my eyes. I threw myself into my parents' arms. "Mom, Dad, Stuart wanted me to give up the wedding car to Jocelyn just now, and in a fit of anger I decided I don't want to marry him. Will you think I'm being childish?" As I spoke, a knot of unease sat in my chest. Because the marriage to Stuart was something I'd practically begged for in front of my parents. At the start, they'd fought us both, hard. If it weren't for how much they loved me, they never would have given in. And now, everything was ruined. Mom let out a deep sigh. She gently wiped the tear tracks from my face. "Sweetheart, you are my whole heart. No matter what you do, your dad and I will never blame you." Dad was even angrier, his face flushed red. "That Stuart, lower than an animal. I said she shouldn't marry him. He actually has the nerve to make my daughter give up her wedding car to someone else? Does he see the Sinclair family as anything at all?" I took my parents' hands and sat down on the sofa with them. My eyes, just done crying, were swollen red and frightening. Mom watched me carefully. "Sweetheart, have you thought about what comes next? If the Gilbert family won't step forward, your dad and I can handle it." I shook my head. Since it was something I'd done, I would settle it myself. A child of the wealthiest Sinclair family wasn't so fragile. Once I'd steadied myself, I looked at Dad and said quietly, "Dad, halt every deal the company has with the Gilberts." Dad hesitated for a moment. "You're sure? Without those projects, the Gilbert family will go bankrupt fast." I nodded firmly. All these years, if not for the Sinclair family's backing, how could a small company like Stuart's ever have had the chance to go public? How could he ever have become the new tycoon everyone praised? Thinking about it now, it was only because I'd given him too much face, helped him too much, that he'd forgotten exactly whose help all of it rested on. "Not just the Sinclair deals. Every company that works with the Gilberts is barred from working with the Sinclairs again." Back when we were together, the thing I heard most from Stuart was this: A pampered heiress like me would be useless the moment she left her family. Then let me tell him this now. A man like him, the moment he lost the help of this "useless" heiress, would sink straight into the mud. Dad listened, then pulled out his phone and called the person in charge at the company. When he hung up, he looked at me. "It's all been arranged." I stood, picked up my handbag, and smiled at my parents. "Mom, Dad, let's go to the hotel. It's time to clean up the mess."

When the driver pulled up outside the hotel, the first thing I saw was Stuart, standing at the entrance, glancing around, his face tight with worry. Jocelyn stood beside him. She had sharp eyes. She pointed at our car and tugged at his sleeve. "Stuart, don't panic. See? Sylvie's here." I stepped out of the car. The moment Stuart saw me, he hurried over. His face was twisted with anger, and he was about to lay into me, but out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of my parents getting out of the car behind me, and swallowed it down. "Sylvia, good timing. My parents are still waiting on us. Come on, let's get married, get through the ceremony, and we'll deal with everything else afterward." As he spoke, his parents came closer. Their faces were dark. Stuart's mother marched up and jabbed a finger at my forehead. "Sylvia, what's the matter with you? Making our whole family stand here waiting on you. If you don't want to get married, then don't!" I knocked her hand aside. Only after I'd made up my mind not to go through with it did I see just how ugly the whole Gilbert family really was. Even his mother, from a small, low family, thought she could point her finger in my face. I, Sylvia Sinclair, had been doted on by my parents from the day I was born. No one had ever cursed at me before. "Mrs. Gilbert, I think you've misunderstood. I'm not here to get married. I'm here as the Sinclair heiress, to settle the affairs between our two families." The arrogance froze on her face. She stumbled back a few steps, her eyes going wide. "Sylvia, what are you talking about? You want to divorce my son?" The color drained from Stuart's face in an instant. He ignored my resistance and dragged me off to one side. "Sylvia, are you done throwing your fit yet? When I said I'd marry Jocelyn earlier, I was only trying to scare you. Now that you're here, let's go get married. What you pulled just now, that little meltdown, I'm willing to overlook it." I curled my lips in contempt. That look of mine stung Stuart right where it hurt. His tone hardened all at once. "Sylvia, I'm warning you, stop making a scene. I don't believe someone as into me as you are would actually walk away from this wedding. Kicking up a fuss once is cute. Do it too many times and it just makes you a bore!" I was about to say something when my father came over, pulled me back, and put himself between me and Stuart. My father had always been tall, and there was the presence he'd built up over the years running the company. Stuart's swagger vanished on the spot. He forced out an ingratiating smile. "Mr. Sinclair, Sylvie and I just had a little disagreement. There's no need to trouble you over it." "Don't worry, the wedding's still on today. Why don't you and Mrs. Sinclair go inside and have a seat." My father gave a cold snort and ignored him entirely, turning to me instead. "He didn't hurt you just now, did he?" I shook my head and slipped my arm through his. "Dad, let's just go in. The manager's already waiting over there." Stuart watched, helpless, as my father and I walked away. As we passed him, I caught the flash of panic that shot through his eyes, and it struck me as more ridiculous than ever. By the time we reached the hotel banquet hall, the manager was already waiting. He came over smiling, bowing and scraping to me and my father. "Mr. Sinclair, a small matter like this shouldn't have you and Miss Sinclair making the trip yourselves. I've already sent people to start taking the banquet hall down. Mr. Sinclair, our director said there's no need to cover the cost this time. Consider it a gift, from us to you." My father waved a hand. "The bill gets paid all the same. Actually, leave the hall for me. My daughter has something to take care of." With my parents watching, I walked up onto the stage in the banquet hall. All at once, countless lights swung onto me. The reporters who'd been held back by the bodyguards earlier crowded up in front of me, cameras raised. "Miss Sinclair, we've heard you're canceling the engagement with the Gilbert family. Is that true?" "The engagement between the Gilberts and the Sinclairs is tied to your business partnership. Have you really thought this through?" "So does this mean every deal between the Sinclairs and the Gilberts ends here?" Stuart had just stepped up onto the stage when he caught that last question. He rushed forward in a fury and knocked the reporter's camera aside. "Don't spread nonsense!" "The Gilbert and Sinclair wedding is going ahead as planned, and the partnership isn't ending either."