The Bride's Revenge: I Married His Uncle

On my wedding day, Ralph Delgado walked up to me with his untouchable sweetheart on his arm, and she was pregnant.

He said, Nina Blaine isn't well, and the baby can't grow up without a name.

Step aside for her for now. Once the baby's born, I'll make it up to you.

Every guest in the hall told me to be reasonable.

Then Martha Delgado threw her teacup down at my feet.

"Lena Henson, a bankrupt little heiress like you should count it a miracle to marry into the Delgado family at all."

"Ralph is willing to make you Mrs. Delgado. You should be on your knees thanking him."

I looked down at the tea splashed across my wedding gown, and I laughed.

Then, in front of every last one of them, I tore up my wedding vows.

"Ralph, have you forgotten?"

"I paid for this wedding. I booked the venue. I invited the guests."

"You want a different bride?"

"Fine."

"Then I'll take a different groom too."

1.

"Lena, just step aside for Nina."

Ralph stood at the end of the aisle, still wearing the suit I'd picked out for him myself.

Another woman held his arm.

She wore a white dress, her belly already showing, her eyes red as if she'd just been caught in the rain.

The hall went so quiet you couldn't even hear a wineglass clink.

I gripped my bouquet and looked at him across a good fifty feet of red carpet.

"Say that again."

Ralph frowned.

"Lena, don't make a scene."

"Nina's pregnant. She can't handle stress."

"Let her come in as the bride today. Once the baby's safely born, I'll settle things with you."

I let out a laugh.

"Settle things?"

"Ralph, I'm standing here in my wedding gown, and you're telling me to hand my wedding over to your mistress."

"That's how you settle things with me?"

Nina immediately shrank back behind him.

"Miss Henson, please don't blame Ralph."

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have come back."

"I was only afraid people would say my baby had no name, no father. I really wasn't trying to take anything from you."

As she spoke, the tears spilled over.

Ralph's face darkened on the spot.

"Lena, look at the state she's in, and you're still pushing her like this?"

"That's my child she's carrying."

"You always said you loved me. Isn't love about letting go for the other person?"

People around us started to murmur.

"Didn't the Henson family go bankrupt ages ago? What's she doing, still playing the grand heiress?"

"Young Mr. Delgado's willing to marry her and she's still not satisfied."

"There's a baby now. You can't leave a mother and child with no standing, can you?"

I looked down at the bouquet in my hands.

White roses.

Ralph had said white suited me. Clean. Obedient. Never fighting for anything.

And back then I'd actually believed him.

"Ralph."

I threw the bouquet on the floor.

Petals scattered everywhere.

"You think today I've got no choice but to swallow it, don't you?"

Impatience flickered in his eyes.

"Lena, this is no time to be throwing a tantrum."

Martha Delgado came up onto the stage, leaning on a servant's arm.

She wore a dark red qipao, a cane in her hand, disgust written plainly across her face.

"Lena Henson, don't push your luck when we've been generous."

"The Delgado family took you in only because your father once had some ties to us."

"But you'd better be clear about this. You are not the Henson heiress anymore."

"Your father's debts still aren't paid off, and the Delgados are the ones covering the bills at your mother's care facility."

With every word she spoke, Ralph stood a little straighter.

Nina had stopped crying too.

She hid behind Ralph, watching me with a look that was pity and triumph all at once.

I raised my hand and pulled off my veil.

Ralph's expression changed.

"What are you doing?"

"Changing grooms."

He looked like he'd heard a joke.

"Lena, don't be childish."

"Everyone here today is somebody in Bayport. You've backed yourself into a corner, and the only one who ends up humiliated will be you."

I ignored him and turned to look at the farthest corner of the room.

A man sat there.

Black suit, silver cufflinks, half a glass of red wine in his hand.

From the start of the wedding until now, he hadn't said a word.

Ralph followed my gaze, and the color drained from his face.

"Uncle?"

I gathered my skirt and walked down the aisle, step by step.

Every eye in the room moved with me.

I stopped in front of Dean Delgado and held out my hand.

"Mr. Delgado, are you short a bride?"

Dean lifted his eyes to me.

They were startlingly cold, but when he saw the tremble in my open palm, he suddenly smiled.

"I am."

He set down his glass and took my hand.

"But, Miss Henson, I don't do stand-ins."

I stared at him.

"Then what do you want to be?"

Dean rose to his feet and reached over to straighten the strap that had slipped off my shoulder.

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly across the whole room.

"Your one and only husband."

"Dean, have you lost your mind?"

Ralph came charging down off the stage and threw himself in our path.

His face was an ugly shade of gray, and he'd yanked his own tie crooked.

"Uncle, she's my fiance."

Dean didn't even look at him. He just bent his head and asked me,

"Do you still want to marry?"

I said, "I do."

Ralph's eyes flinched as if he'd been jabbed with a needle.

"Lena, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"You'd provoke even my uncle just to spite me?"

"Do you have any idea what kind of man he is?"

I smiled.

"I do."

"The real power behind the Delgado Group."

"The man your own father has to bow his head to."

"And the only one who didn't laugh along just now, when you called me your 'bankrupt little heiress.'"

Ralph had nothing to say to that.

Martha caught up with what was happening, her cane cracking against the floor.

"Dean, stop this nonsense."

"Ralph is young and foolish. Are you, his uncle, going to lose your head along with him?"

Dean finally lifted his eyes.

"Young?"

"Twenty-eight, and already fathering a child, and still young?"

He loosened one cuff.

"Mother, when did the Delgados change the rules?"

"Bringing an outside woman to a wedding to force the real bride to step asidethat counts as foolish?"

Martha choked on her words.

Nina cradled her belly, her face white.

"Mr. Delgado, you've misunderstood."

"I'm not an outside woman. Ralph and I truly love each other."

"I understand why Miss Henson can't accept me."

"But the child is innocent."

Dean gave her a single glance.

Just one, and Nina shut her mouth.

That look was too cold, the way you'd look at a scrap of wastepaper waiting to be thrown out.

Ralph stepped in front of her at once.

"Uncle, don't frighten her."

"Nina isn't strong."

Dean scoffed.

"Not strong, and yet she can haul that belly here to hijack a wedding. Busy woman."

A ripple of laughter broke from the guests that no one could hold back.

Nina's face went red, then white.

Ralph exploded.

"Enough!"

"Lena, keep other people out of what's between us."

"All you want is the title, isn't it?"

"I can marry you."

"But Nina and the child have to stay."

"You'll still be Mrs. Delgado. She won't step over you."

I looked at him.

Even now, he actually thought he was doing me a favor.

"Ralph, do you have any idea how much this wedding cost today?"

He frowned.

"You want to talk money at a time like this?"

"Of course I want to talk money."

I took the itemized bill from my maid of honor and threw it straight against his chest.

"The hotel, booked out entirely. One point two million."

"Jewelry rental. Three hundred thousand."

"Guest travel, both ways. Six hundred thousand."

"Wedding design. Eight hundred thousand."

"And that suit you're wearing. Eight hundred sixty thousand."

Ralph's face stiffened.

I said it word by word: "I paid for all of it."

"The Delgado family didn't put in a single cent."

Martha shrilled at once, "Lies! Where would you get that kind of money?"

I turned to her.

"The Hensons went bankrupt, yes."

"But I'm not dead."

"Martha, your family held my mother's care bills over my head and pressed me with my father's old debts. Quite a performance."

"Pity for youI sorted out those accounts a long time ago."

Ralph's pupils shrank.

"What accounts have you been looking into?"

Dean suddenly took my hand.

His palm was steady.

"Are we still having the wedding?"

I looked up at the backdrop onstage with my name and Ralph's printed across it.

It hurt to look at.

It hurt far too much.

"We are."

Dean turned his head and gave the order to his assistant.

"Ten minutes."

"Take down everything connected to Ralph."

The assistant nodded at once.

"Yes, Mr. Delgado."

Ralph lunged forward to grab me.

"Lena, you wouldn't dare!"

Dean drove a foot into the back of his knee.

Ralph dropped to the floor on the spot.

The whole room erupted.

Dean bent down and patted his shoulder.

"Ralph. Congratulate your aunt."

Aunt?

Ralph knelt on the red carpet, his whole face twisting.

He looked like he couldn't understand the word.

I used to call him Big Brother Ralph.

Nina called him that too.

And now his uncle had made me his aunt.

Those two words hit harder than any slap.

Dean, you can't marry her.

Ralph gritted his teeth.

The one she loves is me.

She's followed me since high school. When I went abroad, she waited. When I came back, she married me.

You think she actually wants to marry you?

She's just hurt because of me. She's sulking.

Dean looked at me.

Is he right?

I didn't answer right away.

A flicker of hope lit in Ralph's eyes.

Lena, I know you're angry.

I admit it. I handled today badly.

But we've been together for years. You can't just cut that off.

Nina grabbed his sleeve.

Ralph

Ralph didn't look back.

His eyes stayed nailed to my face.

It struck me as almost funny.

This was exactly who he was.

He could stand there on our wedding day, holding another woman's hand, forcing me to step aside.

And then, the moment I turned away, put on the face of a man who'd been betrayed.

Ralph.

I spoke.

Do you still remember? Three years ago, when my father was in trouble, I knelt at your family's door and begged you for help.

His expression shifted slightly.

The situation was complicated back then. I didn't have a choice.

No choice?

I nodded.

You said if I married you, you'd help the Hensons keep our last piece of land.

And what happened?

The land went into a Delgado project, and my father was left carrying all the debt.

You used my mother's medical records to force me into signing a prenup.

You told me that other than the title of Mrs. Delgado, I could forget about walking away with anything.

The murmuring in the room started up again.

Martha roared Shut your mouth!

Lena Henson, don't stand there twisting black into white.

Your father's investment failed on its own. What does that have to do with the Delgados?

I looked at her and smiled.

What's the rush, Martha?

I haven't even gotten to you yet.

Her face twitched.

Nina seemed to sense something was wrong and tugged Ralph backward.

Ralph, let's just go.

It's fine if the wedding doesn't happen. I don't want to put you in a hard spot.

The more she backed away, the more the irony hit me.

She hadn't looked like this earlier, when she was forcing me out of my place.

Dean's assistant stepped up onto the stage.

The wedding photo on the screen was taken down.

My name and Ralph's disappeared.

In their place, two names.

Lena Henson. Dean Delgado.

Another round of sharp breaths ran through the room.

Ralph stared at the screen, and the last bit of reason in his eyes shattered.

He shot to his feet.

Who gave you permission to change it?

This is my wedding!

Dean unhurriedly straightened his cuff.

The contract was signed by Lena Henson.

The bills were paid by Lena Henson.

The bride is Lena Henson too.

Which part of this is you?

The color drained from Ralph's face.

Martha was so furious she was gasping.

Dean, if you dare marry her today, I'll pretend I never had you for a son.

Dean smiled.

When did you ever treat me like one?

The line was soft.

But it froze Martha where she stood.

I turned my head to look at him.

Dean didn't explain.

He simply took my hand and led me toward the stage.

The officiant's legs had already gone weak with fright, but he forced himself to pick up the microphone anyway.

So, so the wedding continues?

Dean said It continues.

Ralph rushed forward.

I don't agree to this!

The words were barely out when the ballroom doors were pushed open from outside.

Several people in uniform walked in.

The man at the front held out a badge.

Mr. Ralph Delgado, someone has reported you for suspected business fraud and illegal transfer of assets.

Please come with us.

The bag in Nina's hand dropped to the floor.

Ralph's head snapped toward me.

Lena Henson, was this you?

I stood under the lights, holding up the hem of my wedding gown.

Don't rush.

This is only the first gift.

The first one?

With hands clamped down on his shoulders, Ralph was still staring at me, hard.

Lena Henson, what the hell did you do?

I didn't answer.

Because Nina had suddenly dropped to her knees.

She went down fast, but kept her belly carefully shielded.

Miss Henson, I'm begging you, let Ralph go.

He just lost his head for a moment.

If you have to hate someone, hate me.

I'll get rid of the baby, I'll leave Bayport, and I'll never show up in front of you again. All right?

Ralph growled Nina, what are you saying!

Nina only cried harder.

I can't just stand here and watch her destroy you.

I know Miss Henson hates me, but the baby really is yours.

The moment she said it, the guests started murmuring again.

Say what you want, a pregnant woman is still a pitiful thing.

Isn't Lena Henson being a bit cruel?

The man's the one who did wrong. What did the baby do?

Listening to all of it, I nearly laughed out loud.

This world really was something.

When a woman gets her wedding stolen out from under her, they say she doesn't know her place.

When the mistress kneels down and sobs a couple of times, suddenly the baby is innocent.

Dean started to speak.

I gave his hand a squeeze.

Let me handle this.

I walked over to Nina.

She looked up at me, tears hanging on her face, but there wasn't the slightest panic in her eyes.

Miss Henson

Drop the act.

I crouched down, my gaze settling on her belly.

That baby in there. Is it really Ralph's?

Nina's face froze.

Ralph snapped Lena Henson, you'd even slander an unborn child?

Slander?

I took out my phone and opened a recording.

Nina's voice came through almost at once.

As long as I show the baby on the wedding day, the Delgados will have to acknowledge it.

That idiot Ralph is the easiest one to fool.

He says I look like his dead first love. I squeeze out a couple of tears and he'd hand me his life.

Another man laughed, low and dirty.

And the baby?

The baby's yours, obviously.

Once I've got the Mrs. Delgado spot, I'll find a way to kick Ralph out.

The recording ended.

The banquet hall went terrifyingly quiet.

Ralph looked like every bone had been pulled out of him.

Nina's face went white, not a trace of color left in it.

No. That wasn't me.

It's fake.

She scrambled up and lunged to grab my phone, and Dean's bodyguard blocked her.

I looked at Ralph.

Hear it clearly?

Your true love.

Your baby.

For her, you wanted me to hand over my own wedding.

Ralph's lips trembled.

Nina, say something.

Tell me it's fake.

But Nina's face changed all at once.

She reeled in her tears, turned, and pointed at him.

Ralph, quit playing the victim.

If you hadn't told me Lena Henson was easy to push around, would I have come here to make a scene?

You said she couldn't leave you, said her parents were in your hands, said she wouldn't dare fight back.

Now that it's all blown up, you want to shove everything onto me?

Ralph's eyes went bloodshot.

You lied to me?

Nina let out a shrill laugh.

So what if I did?

Didn't you lie to her too?

We're all filthy. Who's any nobler than who?

Martha was so furious she clutched her chest.

Drag this woman out of here!

Nina thrashed and screamed Your Delgado family isn't clean either!

Ralph siphoned off the Henson money, and every one of you knew!

That line went in like a knife, straight into the Delgados' lungs.

The officers turned to Ralph.

Mr. Delgado, please cooperate with the investigation.

But Ralph seemed to go mad, wrenching free all at once and throwing himself at me.

Lena Henson, I'll kill you!

Dean yanked me back behind him.

The next second, the bodyguards had Ralph pinned flat to the floor.

His face pressed into the red carpet, wretched as a dog.

I stood over him, looking down.

Ralph.

Weren't you the one who cared most about keeping face?

Today, I'll give you all the face you could ever want.