Richard's Pov

California, 9 am, inside a luxury hotel.

I stood in front of the mirror, looked at my reflection, and smiled contentedly. It was a happy day for me because I was getting married to Irina, the girl I had a crush on for a long time. Even though she didn't love me yet, I was sure that with time, she would grow to love me. I would never let her get away from me. Never!

"Richard..."

I turned my head to see my dad entering the room. I smiled faintly while attaching the wrist buttons of my black tuxedo. My gaze was fixed on him; he looked dashing and dignified in a black tuxedo with neatly combed hair.

"Finally, you will marry her," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, finally..."

"You are dominating this marriage, so you have to show that you have the confidence to be Irina's husband," my dad said while patting my shoulder. "You have to promise never to be rude to her. You have to be gentle and make her fall in love with you, and not regret leaving her old love for you. The key to making a woman love you is making her comfortable around you."

"Don't worry, Dad. I know what I have to do," I said casually. "And I will inject a large amount of funds into her father's company after this... I will try to help revive her father's company again," I said, remembering Irina's family, which almost fell into poverty because their company went bankrupt. I used this situation to ensnare them, making them unable to refuse my proposal because I promised to restore their company to glory.

My gaze shifted to the newly opened door. I saw Franco, my confidant, who approached me with a worried expression. My dad immediately distanced himself from me and welcomed Franco.

"Sir, the bride's party asked us to postpone the wedding for up to 1 hour," said Franco.

I frowned and asked, "Why do we have to delay? Is there a problem?"

"I don't know. They just said that the wedding should be postponed for a while," Franco answered anxiously.

I exhaled roughly, feeling uneasy. I walked to the table near the couch, bent down, and took my phone. I tried to contact Irina while glancing around. My eyes fell on my mother, who was looking at me worriedly.

"Damn it, her number is not active!" I swore.

"Or maybe she ran away because she didn't accept this marriage," my dad said with a worried expression.

I shook my head. "No, she can never run away from me!"

"There may be a little problem. We shouldn't be prejudiced," said Franco.

I walked back and forth in confusion, trying to contact Irina once more, but still got no answer.

"Oh, damn it!"

"We'd better wait," cried Franco.

I immediately looked at Franco with widened eyes. "I can't wait without knowing what's going on!"

Franco was immediately stunned.

I exhaled my breath, which felt tight because of this fear. "I'm going to talk to Mr. Bartman!"

I switched to trying to contact Irina's father, Mr. Bartman. I had to make sure that he didn't let his daughter run away from me, or else I would make his family miserable!

I turned to the open door, and my eyes found Mr. Bartman, who came into the room with Daisy, Irina's sister. I pocketed my phone as I approached them with quick steps.

"Why did the wedding have to be postponed for an hour?" I asked with a probing look.

"Irina ran away ..."

"I'm sorry... I can't control it anymore," said Mr. Bartman, with his head down, as did Daisy.

"She probably ran away early in the morning... I... I didn't find her in the room when I and the makeup artist were getting ready to do her makeup," said Daisy with a frightened look.

I immediately clenched my fists, imagining Irina running away with her boyfriend. I couldn't control myself anymore, my breathing felt tight and hot, and the temperature of the room felt like it was burning me, just like the mood I was in now.

"Oh, Fuck!" I screamed.

"Richard..." My dad came to me and immediately took my arm. I gasped for breath and glanced at Mr. Bartman, who looked very scared to see me.

"You're stupid, you're so stupid!" I snapped.

"Sorry, Richard. This was completely beyond my expectations..." Mr. Bartman shook his head, with a pleading look at me. "I think she has accepted this arrangement... she wasn't acting suspicious at all before... So, I don't think there will be this kind of problem."

"But she ran away, you should have locked her up!" I screamed, almost punching Mr. Bartman, but my dad and Franco immediately held me down. "You know if the wedding is called off, I will be ashamed in front of my guests. Did you let Irina run away on purpose so you could embarrass me, huh?"

"No, I have no such intention." Mr. Bartman shook his head.

"But the truth is you couldn't advise Irina to stay married to me, you let her go...you let her humiliate me!" I said angrily, hating the look on Mr. Bartman's face and the thought of Irina. "I don't want to know, you have to find her ASAP!"

"Richard, that can't be..."

"Why?"

"She's gone too far ... She checked in at the airport an hour ago... she had a flight to Mexico," explained Mr. Bartman, making me even angrier. I rebelled, shaking my dad's and Franco's hands off.

"Bastard, bastard... I hate you, Irina!" I screamed, cursing while slamming whatever was on the table.

Prackk...

I panted, glancing at the broken flower vase strewn across the floor. I turned to Mr. Bartman and Daisy, who was looking down, and it sickened me.

"I was being nice to you just by the way you handed your daughter over to me, but this is what you're doing to me!" I said, clenching my teeth. "Helping you to revive your company again is not difficult for me, but today you got me in big trouble!"

"Richard..." Mr. Bartman looked at me, showing fear.

"You will embarrass me... I've prepared everything, but now it's all in vain because Irina ran away!" I growled, then pointed at the glass wall, imagining everyone was waiting for the wedding to begin. "Now the guests have arrived. They will make fun of my fate if they find out my bride has run away!"

"They don't know yet," said Mr. Bartman.

"But they will find out, you idiot!" I snapped again. "After this, I will go viral, viral because of my failed marriage in less than a few minutes. That's a shame, that's a shame!"

Mr. Bartman shook his head. "This marriage is not a failure... Marry Daisy... she is ready to replace Irina for a while," he said.

I frowned, then glanced at Daisy, who didn't even dare to look at me. Instantly, I imagined what if I marry her? How do people respond, she doesn't look attractive with her big glasses!