Bianca's POV
The Next Day
I gripped the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turned white. My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at the grand entrance of the registry. Today was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. Instead, I was walking straight into my humiliation. What a joke.
Jeremy hadn't called. Hadn't texted. Hadn't even bothered to check if I was alive.
But I knew exactly where he was. And who he was with.
I had spent all night thinking. Crying. Plotting. And by the time the sun rose, I had made my decision. I wasn't going to run, hide, or let Jeremy and Ella have the satisfaction of seeing me broken. No. I was going to get married today.
To someone—anyone.
I inhaled sharply and forced a composed smile onto my lips. If Jeremy thought he could play me, I'd show him that I was the one who made the rules.
With one last deep breath, I stepped out of the car, adjusted my sunglasses. The air was peaceful. People were smiling and walking around with joy in their eyes.
Well… except for that one voice.
A deep, commanding voice that cut through the morning air as sharp as a blade.
"I don't need an excuse, Daniel. My fiancée ran away, and I need a fucking bride within the next two hours or i won't get my inheritance. God! Why can't you do your job well?" he roared in fury.
I turned my head toward the voice—and then I saw him.
A tall, commanding man stood in the room, his presence impossible to ignore. He was Dressed in an expensive three-piece suit that screamed wealth and authority, he carried himself with the confidence of someone who always got his way.
His sharp jawline was set in firmly, as anyone could see frustration in his piercing blue eyes. The perfect suit, did nothing to hide the broad shoulders and powerful frame beneath. Everything about him—his stance, his gaze, the barely restrained impatience in his movements—made one thing clear. He wasn't a man used to waiting. And right now, he wanted a bride.
His fingers were tightened up into fists at his sides as his jaw clenched so tightly I thought he might snap. The air around him was charged with an extreme tension.
Daniel, the man he was speaking to, stammered in fear at his presence. "Sir, I— I'm trying, but it's not exactly easy to find a willing bride on such short notice."
The intimidating man exhaled sharply before tanking a hand through his perfectly styled dark hair before shoving it back into his pocket.
"Trying is not enough, Daniel. I don't care if you have to pay someone. Hell, drag a woman in if you have to! But I am not walking out of here without a wife."
The desperation in his voice sent a chill down my spine.
A man desperate for a bride. A woman abandoned at the altar.
My heart pounded harder as a ridiculous, insane thought crossed my mind.
This was madness. Insane.
But wasn't my entire life already falling apart? Wasn't I standing here, about to be humiliated, because of Jeremy?
I squared my shoulders and inhaled sharply, before I could talk myself out of it, I took a bold step toward the man in the suit.
"If you need a bride," I said, tilting my head slightly, "I just so happen to need a groom."
His head turned toward me, and his blue eyes narrowed in surprise at my audacity.
For a second, he simply stared at me, taking me as he accessed me from head to toe
Then, slowly, his lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile but wasn't rejection either.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice waa now lower now, he was now more intrigued than angry.
I took off my sunglasses as I met his gaze head-on.
"Your solution."