He Gave Her My Wedding—So I Married His Best Friend

“Sebastian, you can create the puzzle now.” Sebastian gave me an apologetic look before accepting the paper and pen Chloe handed him. It was a diagonal Sudoku puzzle at competition-level difficulty. He had barely finished writing it when Chloe began filling in numbers at lightning speed. In less than a minute, she completed the entire puzzle and handed it to Sebastian. “Did I get it right?” Before Sebastian could answer, I capped my pen and forced down the ache rising in my chest. Sebastian answered evenly, “Yes. You got it right.” I stared at him in disbelief. If he was willing to cheat this blatantly, he could’ve simply told me that Chloe was the woman he wanted to marry today. “Sebastian couldn’t have made it more obvious that he’d helped her.” “Chloe could’ve at least pretended. She hasn’t touched Sudoku in years.” “Am I the only one who thinks Chloe looks ready for blood? She honored the bet and left the country after losing back then. Maybe it’s Ivy’s turn now.” “Imagine getting married to Sebastian today, only to have another woman wear the ring and kiss him. How pathetic.” “It’s only a joke. Sebastian would never let Ivy be humiliated. He’s giving her company a multimillion-dollar investment.” “Outsiders don’t know the truth. Once word gets out that the national Sudoku champion and top instructor lost to an amateur...” The speaker trailed off when Chloe glanced over her shoulder. When she looked at me again, triumph filled her face. “You lost the bet, so you have to pay up. You’ll agree, won’t you?” “Honestly, I don’t really like this diamond ring. It’s too fussy. What’s with all these tiny diamonds?” “I’ll have to get them removed later. I prefer simple things.” I followed her gaze to the ring in my bridesmaid’s hand. I had designed it myself. After discarding more than a thousand sketches, this was the only design I had kept. A halo of pavé diamonds surrounded the center stone, while smaller diamonds followed a starry orbit along the band. My hands curled into fists as I looked at Sebastian. “Why?” Why had he helped her cheat? He understood what I was really asking. “You owe her,” he explained. “Losing once won’t hurt you. Everyone knows you’re the woman I’m marrying.” “No one helped me cheat five years ago. And we never made any kind of bet—” “You’re not backing out now, are you?” Chloe interrupted, glaring at me. Sebastian frowned and lowered his voice. “The five-million-dollar investment still hasn’t gone through, Ivy. Don’t push me.” He was threatening me. Then his expression softened again. “We’ve been together for years. You’re not going to throw a tantrum at the last second, are you?” “Let her have this, Ivy. I’m asking you.” I stared at him, swallowed my hurt and resentment, and nodded. “All right. I lost the bet, so I’ll honor it.” But I had lost twice in one day. I had lost my ring. I had also lost my marriage. A bet was a bet. I couldn’t marry Sebastian anymore. I lowered my head and texted my assistant, Megan. Forget the Kensington Group’s investment. Contact Nate Reid, the investor I spoke to before. Have the venue redone within thirty minutes. I want the new setup to match this ceremony exactly. I’m marrying someone else. Sebastian didn’t know another investor had already offered to fund my company. He was willing to invest twenty million dollars. I had turned down his offer only because Sebastian told me he wanted to invest in MindEdge. I’d wanted to reserve that equity stake for him. Now I finally realized Sebastian saw the investment as nothing more than leverage he could use against me. In that case, I didn’t want it.

Megan replied almost instantly. Ivy, are you sure? Should I notify Mr. Kensington about the new location? No. Tell Julian. And prepare the best suit you can find for him. The typing indicator remained on the screen for a long time. In the end, Megan sent only one word. Okay. Not long afterward, she sent another message. Mr. Ainsworth said he had already prepared the suit and the ring. He told me not to worry about either one. A photo of the suit and ring arrived with the message. I recognized the ring at a glance. It was my design. Julian had commissioned an identical one. The only difference was the center stone. He had used the diamond I’d always wanted—an eight-carat cushion-cut stone. Sebastian had thought it was too expensive and replaced it with a cheaper one. “Are you going to stand there and watch us exchange rings and kiss?” Chloe asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Wouldn’t that be too cruel?” I locked my phone, turned away from them, and started walking. “Ivy, go wait for me. You’re still the woman I’m marrying.” Sebastian grabbed my hand and spoke softly. Chloe suddenly stopped us again. “Wait. Sebastian bought that watch too, didn’t he? Aren’t you going to take it off?” “He bought it for today’s wedding, right?” “And that wedding dress is custom-made, isn’t it? You certainly have expensive taste, demanding a six-figure dress.” “If you’re leaving, give back everything Sebastian bought you.” Then she looked at Sebastian. “Since she lost the ring to me, I’m the one finishing the ceremony.” “Doesn’t that mean everything prepared for the wedding should belong to me too?” Gasps swept through the venue, followed by a flurry of whispers. “I heard Sebastian gave Ivy everything she has. I guess it’s true.” “She has to surrender her wedding dress to another woman on her wedding day. How humiliating.” “She really is a gold digger. She actually thought she could marry into a wealthy family.” My hands curled into fists at my sides as I stared at Sebastian. He knew the truth. From the day I founded my company, I had never relied on his money or connections. He had never helped me either. I’d even planned to turn down the investment he had offered. But Sebastian merely glanced at me. He didn’t explain a single thing. “Chloe has a point. You lost, so take it off.” I instinctively shot back, “What if I don’t?” “Then we won’t get married. Think carefully, Ivy. We’ve been together for five years, and haven’t you been waiting for this day the entire time?” I sucked in a sharp breath and laughed coldly. “Then marry Chloe. You have my blessing.” Chloe froze. A flash of delight crossed her eyes. But Sebastian strode toward me, grabbed my sleeve, and lowered his voice. “Ivy, don’t do this.” “You should’ve known this day would come when you used your Sudoku skills to bully Chloe back then.” “She suffered a lot in London over the past five years. Let her get it out of her system.” “Besides, you’re still the woman I’m marrying. You just won’t be taking part in the rest of the ceremony.” I explained again. “She challenged me to that match five years ago. I never went after her.” “There was no bet at any point, and I knew nothing about her decision to leave the country.” Sebastian froze. For a moment, something in his eyes softened. Then Chloe suddenly spoke. “Forget it. There’s no point talking about it now.” “I don’t want the ring anymore. Ivy, you’re more calculating than I thought.” “You saw how close Sebastian and I were, so you schemed to drive me away.” “I was young and foolish enough to fall for it. I just never knew anyone could be as shameless as you.” She turned to leave. As she pushed up her sleeve, the vicious scars on her wrist were exposed. Chloe had suffered those injuries during her years abroad. The sight filled Sebastian with guilt all over again. Without hesitation, he tore the watch from my wrist. The strap scraped my skin, leaving it burning. “She’s bleeding!” someone cried. Regret flickered across Sebastian’s face. “Go take care of the wound yourself.” Then he looked at Chloe, waiting for her approval. “She can keep the dress. Let Ivy leave with some dignity.” Chloe looked devastated. “Her dignity? What about mine?” Sebastian sighed before turning to me. “Ivy! We’ll have another wedding later, okay?” “Take off the dress too.” “If it weren’t for you, Chloe wouldn’t have suffered so much abroad or gotten hurt so badly.”