They Ruined My Wedding Gown,Then Begged on Their Knees

### Chapter 1

My mother had a psychic do a reading. It said I had to marry this year, or something terrible would befall me.

The cards said Philip Winfield, the eldest Winfield son, was the best possible match for my fate, so my mother arranged the engagement on the spot.

I work in a classified government department, and my superior had a wedding gown custom-made just for me.

On the day of the wedding, I pushed open the door to the hotel dressing room and found my gown already on someone else. Rose Whitney, the groom's foster sister, was wearing it.

Her chest strained against the dress like it might split the seams, and she gave me a nasty little smile.

"Sorry about this. Philip and I got a little carried away this morning. I didn't mean to dirty it."

Only then did I notice the hem she'd pinched between her fingers, stained with a few smears that hadn't fully dried.

My scalp prickled, and heat shot straight to the top of my head.

Before I could react, my would-be mother-in-law shoved the door open and hurled a bridesmaid dress in my face.

"Put it on. Now!"

I stared at her, eyes wide with disbelief. "This is a bridesmaid dress! Are you out of your mind?"

Her face went dark, and she flung a sheet of paper at me.

"Little slut. Letting you into the Winfield family at all is doing you a favor. Don't push your luck."

I looked down at the words on the page, "Certificate of Miscarriage," and it took me a long moment to swallow my anger.

Then I called Philip.

"You and your foster sister ruined my gown, and your mother is smearing my name. Philip, is there any point in going through with this wedding?"

The voice on the other end came back cold and full of itself.

"What are you making a scene about? A shameless woman like you, and I'm still willing to marry you. That's your good fortune."

But barely half a day later, it was his entire family kneeling on the floor, crying and begging me to forgive them.

1.

This wedding was nothing as simple as they imagined. It bore on my future, and even more on the Winfields' future. My department had already sent several agents in secret just to vet the Winfield Group from every angle.

If Philip had shown even a little decency, I might have considered ending things peacefully and explaining it all properly to my superior.

But before I could say anything more, he'd already hung up on me.

Were the rich all this insufferable?

Watching the shock on my face, Rose looked ready to laugh herself apart.

"If I were you, I'd just put on the bridesmaid dress like a good girl and spare myself the humiliation."

Mrs. Winfield folded her arms and looked me up and down.

"Don't think that latching onto the Winfields turns a loose little sparrow into a swan."

Not only were my clothes plain, but because of my work I wasn't wearing a single piece of jewelry.

If even my would-be mother-in-law looked down on me like this.

Then there was truly no reason to go through with this marriage.

I held up that miscarriage certificate and said coldly, "You ruined my wedding and trampled on my dignity, and I haven't even come after you for it. But somehow you're the one looking down on me?"

As I spoke, I calmly took out my phone.

"Apologize, or I call the police right now. Try me."

Instead of being frightened, Rose stepped forward and shoved my shoulder.

"You little bitch, let me tell you something. Even the police chief wouldn't dare cross the Winfields. You think the cops are going to help you?"

Her bright painted lips flapped open and shut, so close I could almost smell her breath.

I took a step back and frowned.

"This is a society with laws. Since when can a family like the Winfields do whatever they please?"

The words had barely left my mouth.

Crack!

A slap from Mrs. Winfield landed across my face before I saw it coming.

"You really don't know a favor when you see one, do you? Either you play bridesmaid and fill out the room, or you'll walk in here today and get carried out."

"Forget being my daughter-in-law. From now on you're nothing but a dog in the Winfield house!"

I'd spent years at my department with almost no contact with the outside world. I had no idea how to deal with women like this.

I lifted my burning face and clenched my teeth.

"I'd like to see exactly what you think you can do to me!"

I was about to make a call and bring people in when a waiter's shocked cry came from the doorway.

"My God, she actually dared to cross Mrs. Winfield and Miss Whitney. She must have a death wish."

"A slut who's had an abortion, and she's lucky there's even a bridesmaid dress for her. She's got the nerve to turn her nose up at it?"

"If Young Mr. Winfield's going to marry a shameless woman like that, he'd be better off marrying me."

### Chapter 2

As the room tilted one way in the chatter, Ellie Winfield and Rose Whitney looked more pleased with themselves by the second.

Rose lifted her chin at me.

"You little slut. Talking to the mistress of the Winfield house like that. I think you're tired of living."

I didn't rise to it. I just found it funny.

"You want to marry Philip Winfield, don't you? Fine. I'll let you have him. But," I touched my left cheek, already swelling, and fixed my eyes on her, "first, keep your mouths clean. Otherwise, we'll see who's tired of living."

"Second, this gown is mine. Take it off, or don't blame me for what comes next."

Rose froze, then flushed with rage. "Take it off yourself, you"

Her eyes darted, and she suddenly snatched up the scissors beside her.

"I'll ruin it before I hand it over. Philip won't blame me anyway."

The blade was already driving toward the gown.

My eyelid twitched. Without a second thought I spun into a kick, my right foot landing clean on her wrist.

"Ah!"

The scissors flew and clattered into the corner.

Rose clutched her wrist, red and swelling, her face twisting with pain. "Youyou dare kick me? You want me to have Philip come in here and finish you off?"

Just then the door of the dressing room was kicked open.

A tall young man walked in, two bodyguards behind him.

His eyes went to Rose's hand cradling her wrist, and his brow drew tight.

"Rose, what happened?"

Rose's eyes reddened. Ellie got there first, jabbing a finger at my face and shrieking. "Philip, this shrew not only cursed at me, she hit Rose the second Rose kindly tried to help her into the gown. Teach her a lesson, now!"

So this was Philip Winfield.

Only now did he slide a glance at me. "Rebecca Fletcher?"

"Yes." I met his eyes, calm.

The man's face was no worse than a movie star's, and he had a good build too. A pity. On looks alone, I'd rather liked him.

"Philip, our wedding, let's just"

Before "call it off" could leave my mouth, he cut in, impatient. "Cursing my mother, hitting my foster sister. This is how you were raised?"

"Today you either put on the bridesmaid dress like a good girl, or you get out and don't let me see your face again."

That lit my temper.

"Mr. Winfield, on the day you're supposed to marry me, you were messing around with your so-called foster sister and got my gown dirty."

"And your mother just slapped me. Then you walk in and the first thing out of your mouth is that I have no manners?"

The corner of Philip's mouth curled into an arrogant sneer.

"My mother slapped you to teach you some sense. Or did you actually think you were the young Mrs. Winfield already? Besides, it's just a cheap gown."

His voice dripped with scorn.

"I'll pay the cleaning fee. Happy now?"

Was this about cleaning?

I clenched my fist. "Philip, that gown was custom-made for me by the head of my department."

From the request to the design to the finished piece, that gown had taken two full months. To make sure it reached the wedding on time, my director had even chartered a plane to fly it over.

"So what?" Philip looked over my bare face, contempt spilling out of his eyes. "I have no idea what my father was thinking, insisting I marry some broke country girl clawing her way up."

"Since you're so set on marrying into the Winfields, then put on the bridesmaid dress like a good girl and the wedding goes ahead as planned. Make one more scene, and"

He paused, spacing out each word.

"I have a hundred ways to make that sad little workplace of yours disappear."

For a second I thought I'd misheard. No one had ever been this brazen, threatening to make my workplace disappear.

I honestly didn't know whether to be angry or to laugh.

I'd sat on a plane for over ten hours through the night and rushed straight to the wedding without shaking off a minute of the jet lag. And it turned out my husband-to-be was this kind of man, sizing people up through the eyes of a dog.

Besides, when had I ever said I was set on marrying him?

### Chapter 3

If my mother hadn't been pushing me so hard to get married, he'd have been a stranger to me, worth a second glance at most.

I couldn't be bothered to waste any more breath on him.

"Since Mr. Winfield thinks I'm beneath him, then have your mistress give me back the gown. She isn't good enough for it."

"This wedding is off."

The words were barely out of my mouth before Rose Whitney cut in, unable to wait a second.

"You little slut, still putting on an act in front of Philip?"

"'This wedding is off.' Listen to that. How pathetic. At least a few thousand women have tried playing hard to get with him. I'm sick of watching it."

The crowd stirred again.

"Exactly. Do you even know who you've crossed?"

"All of Chicago is Winfield territory. Mr. Winfield could crush you under one foot."

They kept going on about how untouchable the Winfields were.

What they didn't know was that not long ago, Philip's father had been bowing and scraping in front of my mother like a lapdog.

I still had it on my phone: the video from when the lawyer announced that "once the wedding is complete, the ten-billion contract between the Fletcher conglomerate and Winfield Group takes effect immediately." Philip's father, that fawning smile still frozen on his face.

The whole pack of them was chattering, and it was giving me a headache.

"I just want to take back what's mine. Is there a problem with that?"

Philip Winfield gave a short, scornful laugh. "So in the end, this is about money."

He reached into the inner pocket of his suit for a checkbook.

"Wait!"

Rose suddenly caught his hand, a nasty little smile on her lips, and held her phone up in front of his eyes.

A few seconds later, Philip's face turned frighteningly dark.

"Rebecca, you not only slept around with some other man before the wedding, you've had multiple miscarriages too?"

One look at the smug expression on Rose's face and I knew exactly what filth she'd smeared on me.

These two were the ones running around behind everyone's backs. How did they have the nerve to turn it on me?

Watching Philip work himself into a fury, I knew there was no point saying much to him.

Still, I offered one line.

"Philip Winfield, that's your mother slandering me. I've never even kissed a man, let alone had a miscarriage."

"Slander?" He shoved the phone in my face, seething. "The doctor came forward to testify. The whole world knows you made a fool of me, and you've dragged my name through the dirt!"

I looked more closely. In the video, a man in a white coat was going on at length about how I'd come to their hospital more than once for an abortion, then threatened them to keep quiet.

The screen was full of comments calling me shameless, a whore, a money-grubber.

Faced with filth like this, even anger felt like a waste.

I pushed down the heat in my chest and let out a soft scoff.

"So what do you want, then? You're not thinking of shaking me down, are you?"

"Shaking you down? My reputation is worth more than your life. Could you even afford it?"

Interesting. I couldn't help raising an eyebrow. "I'd love to know. Exactly how much is Mr. Winfield's face worth?"

"A hundred million!" Before Philip could speak, Mrs. Winfield jumped in. "Our Philip is the Winfield heir, the future head of a ten-billion enterprise. You'll pay him a hundred million in emotional damages."

At that, the servers gawking by the door widened their eyes in disbelief.

Even Philip couldn't help giving a low cough.

"Mom, I just wanted to teach her a lesson. There's no need for a hundred million, is there? She's dirt-poor. How could she ever pay it?"

Mrs. Winfield planted both hands on her hips at once.

"Son, it isn't only your face she's cost us."

"It's the whole Winfield family's face! Once a scandal like this gets out, the Winfield stock price is bound to fall. Do I really need to spell out the losses?"

"Making her pay only a hundred million is us being merciful."

The moment she finished, Philip decided it made perfect sense, his eyes lighting up.

I folded my arms and smiled.

"A hundred million? Fine. But then..."

### Chapter 4

For a second every face turned to me like I was an idiot, all of them thinking the same thing: A hundred million? Does she think that's just a string of digits? Wait until she can't produce the money, then watch her cry and beg.

But I only lifted the corner of my mouth and changed direction.

"Philip Winfield, now let's tally up what you owe me."

"First, my gown was custom-made by my superior, and your mistress ruined it so it can't be worn. Second, your mother just now"

Philip cut me off, rough about it.

He looked down at me, sneering.

"Dirty? Dirtier than you?"

"Rose is a pure white jasmine. What's wrong with her adoring me? Not like you, loose in private, filthy from head to toe. And you've got the nerve to ask me for compensation?"

Laughter broke out around us.

Rose pointed at me with contempt. "Are you brain-damaged, you slut? It's one crappy gown. Fine, I'll just buy it."

My gaze swept slowly across the room, and I spoke coldly.

"This gown has been registered on the record. Did you really think anyone could wear it?"

"I'd like to see who ends up crying over it in the end."

"You want to die, threatening the Winfield family?" Rose shrieked like a rabid dog jumping up and down. "All that talk, you tramp, you're not trying to weasel out of paying, are you?"

"Shut up!"

I whipped my hand hard across her left cheek.

Years in a classified unit had taught me to hold back, but that slap couldn't wait.

Rose clutched the five-finger mark, pointing at me in disbelief. "Youyou dare hit me?!"

Philip rushed forward and pulled her into his arms, aching over her.

"Are you out of your fucking mind? You dare touch my woman! Kneel and apologize or I promise you won't live through today."

"Young Mr. Winfield, remember what you just said."

In all my years I'd never met anyone who provoked me like this. I couldn't be bothered with more words. I pulled out my phone and dialed.

"Lawyer James, the wedding's off. Void the partnership agreement immediately."

Then I dialed that classified number.

The line connected, and my superior's warm, easy laugh came through.

"So, the wedding went off without a hitch? If the honeymoon isn't long enough, I'll get you a few more days approved."

I looked at Philip, still swaggering, and said flatly, "Sorry, sir. There's no wedding. The gown you had made for me was ruined by the groom and his mistress."

"What?!" A furious slam of a palm on a desk came down the line. "The sash sewn into that gown was awarded by the president himself. I'd say they've decided they don't want to live."

"They've also smeared my name, and even threatened to make our unit disappear"

Before I could finish, Philip snatched the phone, put it on speaker, arrogant to the last.

"You her superior? I'm Philip Winfield, from Chicago. Today she pays me a hundred million in emotional damages and kneels to apologize, or you can come collect her body."

My superior went silent for a few seconds. His tone was oddly calm.

"All right. I'll send the money over right now. You wait."

Philip hung up, smug, not sensing anything wrong at all.

Mrs. Winfield gloated beside him. "Doesn't matter who they are. One mention of the Winfield name and they're scared stupid."

Rose covered her face, her eyes full of venom. "If I don't slap her a hundred times today, I'll never swallow this."

One look from Philip, and the bodyguards behind me stepped up at once, wrenching both my arms back behind me.

"However she bullied you, give it back to her!"

Rose walked up to me smiling, and raised her hand high.

The bodyguard was too strong. I struggled a few times and couldn't break free, and I stared her down coldly. "You dare hit me, and you think the Winfield family will still exist tomorrow? Try it if you're not afraid to die."

Rose faltered for a moment under the vicious look in my eyes.

She glanced at Philip, and Philip gave her a nod of assurance.

At once she turned smug again and lifted her palm high.

"Cut the fucking bluffing! Here in Chicago the Winfields are royalty. Today I'll hit you until your own mother won't know you!"

Her palm came down at me with a rush of wind, and I shut my eyes tight.

Just then the door was kicked in with a crash.

A squad of armed special forces filed in, bearing down hard, hemming everyone in with no way out.