Esmeralda was with her two best friends to choose her wedding dress. She was so happy that she could not express her feelings in words. She always wanted to marry her prince charming. She was not a hopeless romantic but which girl didn't hope for a fairytale wedding?  

However, there was a hitch in the programme.  

Was she going to marry? Yes. Did her fiance propose? No!  

It must be weird for a third person to know that she was buying a wedding dress but her fiance had yet to propose.  

As a strong and grown-up girl, she took the risk of preparing for her wedding even before the proposal. 

Once again,  what was the harm in preparing? 

She was a planner and she loved to plan things in her head even though they never turned out to be true.  

However, this time she was sure. Like double, triple or three thousand times sure.  

She had seen her boyfriend buying a ring. Not just she, but the entire country had seen him buying the engagement ring and the news had been trending all over the internet. When you are one of the most eligible bachelors in the country and went to buy a ring, the news was certainly spread on the internet. 

The internet had been speculating about the identity of the mysterious woman.  And she, the mysterious woman, couldn't help but giggle. 

"I can't believe Oliver is finally proposing," Hazel said with a dreamy smile.  

Hazel was Esmeralda's best friend and she was nothing but a hopeless romantic. It could be said that she was the reason behind Esmeralda's big and almost unreal romantic dreams and expectations. 

At twenty-six, her best friend was married to the absolute love of her life for seven years. Hazel claimed to know everything about love and her bestie was a celebrity who had several books, a podcast and even a YouTube channel on relationship advice. She was what people call a relationship Guru. When nobody knew anything about love, Love Guru Hazel did.  

If someone were to ask how and when they became friends, it was when Hazel had come to Italy for an exchange programme and instantly clicked with Esmeralda. On the very first day, their friendship had begun and ever since that day, they were absolute besties!

"He technically didn't propose," Esmeralda said with a sigh. "It's been a week and he hasn't popped the question. Haze, do you think he will propose?" 

As much as she would like to keep this game of when he's gonna propose, she was getting restless for some reason but she didn't want to worry her best friends with her habit of stressing. Along with being a planner, she was a full-time stresser too. If stressing was a job, she would be a multi-millionaire.  

Hey, hey, it didn't mean she was not a millionaire. She was a self-made millionaire! 

"He has to propose!" Hazel said, her eyes carrying a look that said she was going to do something dangerous. "We are buying you a wedding dress. As soon as he asks you those four words. Drag him to the altar and marry the hell out of him." 

Esmeralda tried to smile at her best friend's threat but she only got more worried. What was wrong with her? She couldn't tell. 

She tried on many dresses and in the end, they finalized none of the dresses. She was trying out the dresses of the brand she had been an ambassador to. 

Come on, she wasn't choosing this brand for the discount that she would be getting but the luxe brand's wedding dresses were something every celebrity wishes to wear once in their lifetime.  

When Esmeralda tried to take a third person's advice, she realized that Amber, their other best friend, was not there. Amber was not just Esmeralda's best friend but her agent too. 

When Hazel was sixteen and had gone to Italy for an exchange programme, she had returned with Esmeralda, showing her big dreams of entering the film industry. For some reason, the sixteen years old Esmeralda left home to chase those dreams of rolling the entertainment circle. 

It wasn't easy for Esmeralda to achieve that dream and it took her six years of struggle to reach where she was today.  She never gave up. She took every small or big role to reach her destination. Her journey was long and tiring, but she finally completed it. 

Esmeralda Fox was the most recognised villainess in the film industry. Her first role that she secured at the age of seventeen was a role in a Disney movie where she had to play the role of a villainess that was not liked by viewers to this day. She had played so many villainess roles to this day, one gruesome then another.  

It wouldn't be wrong to say that she was the most hated villain in the entire film industry. 

"Emerald, you have to see this!" Amber came running inside the waiting room where Hazel and Esmeralda were sitting. "But promise me that you will be calm. You can't lose your temper. We are in public." 

Esmeralda, who was called Emerald by her close ones, tried to smile. She was not going to react. She was not going to react if it was another post on her, dissing her for bullying their favourite heroine in the movie. It wasn't her fault that those fragile heroines were supposed to be bullied at her hands. 

Again, she wasn't going to react at all. Even if the netizens were calling another woman her boyfriend's mysterious woman.  

However, as her eyes fell on the headlines, she felt the colour draining from her face. Her heart stopped beating for a moment, her brain couldn't decipher the meaning of the headlines.  

"Oliver Jenner to marry heiress Keira Jade." 

This was the first headline she read. She was sure that her eyes weren't playing a trick on her again. 

"This is a false article," Hazel said without any reaction. "He is a public figure. They post shit on him all the time. Netizens are merely assuming the identity of the woman he is going to propose to." 

Amber tried to smile but then she showed the other picture where Oliver was on his knees and he was slipping off a particular emerald ring on a girl's finger. The girl who was not Esmeralda.  

Esmeralda had believed that the ring was for her as her eyes were emerald in colour and he must be wanting to surprise her. But no,  it was never meant for her. 

She had been betrayed and fooled.  

Her dreams of marriage and love were shattered that day forever and she knew that she would never be able to fall in love again.  

After giving everything of her to a man who she had loved for three years, she was hollow and empty. 

There was no love left to be given to anyone.  

That day when Oliver broke her heart, dreams and soul, she understood how cruel love could be. It was not the man's fault that her heart was broken but love's.  

Had she not fallen for the man… 

Had she seen his true face…  

Had she protected her heart and soul…

_____

A/N: Hello, my dear readers! I came with a new WPC entry! Billionaire's Marriage of In-convenience. I hope you all are liking the story so far. Opps, how could I forget that it is the very first chapter. Hihi. I hope that you will give the same love to this book as you gave to previous ones!