1. A Crazy Wedding Invitation

“Marry?!” Beverley, the brunette woman, could hardly believe her ears. Both confusion and shock filled her sight.

 

“If I get married, how will I be able to work and raise money for Dad’s treatment?” she asked.

 

Her mother, Emma, was starting to get annoyed. The glamorous woman immediately replied, “That’s why I want you to marry the son of the Oliver family!”

 

“So, you want to use me to pay your debts?”

 

Beverley’s eyes turned red. Not because she wanted to cry, but because she felt so angry. How could Emma think such a thing? Was it because she was just a stepmother?

 

“That’s not what I meant. I just want you to live comfortably with a rich man. You can live peacefully without having to think about money. Am I wrong?” Emma asked without feeling guilty.

 

Beverley snorted in annoyance. “Who do you think you’re fooling? Emma, I’m not a child to be fooled. I will never agree to this,” she hissed sharply. She knew the situation she was in.

 

Emma, the money-loving stepmother, wanted to use her stepdaughter to pay off her debts to the Oliver family. By what means? By marrying Beverley off to Michael Oliver’s rumored gay son!

 

Beverley knew full well that the marriage was only being used to cover up the gay rumors. Of course, she didn’t want to. Marriage is a sacred thing. She didn’t want to get married carelessly. Especially with someone she didn’t know at all.

After all, the person in debt is Emma. Why was she sacrificed? Why not the money-loving mom who married Michael Oliver's gay son? She would be happy if her father divorced that crazy woman.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t like it, huh?” asked Emma. She sat with her legs crossed and stared at Beverley with her head raised.

 

“If you argue, then I’ll leave your house. I will leave your crippled father alone,” she continued softly. Although it sounded subtle, there was a real sense of threat.

 

“Emma!” Beverley immediately yelled. She clenched her palms so hard that her body trembled. Her eyes were closed, and she clenched her mouth tightly.

 

“You dare yell at me?” Emma furrowed her brows deeply. “Don’t think just because I’m a stepmother that you’re free to be disrespectful to me!” she continued in an elevated tone.

 

“Then just because I’m your step-daughter, you can have free rein over my life?!” Beverley shouted back.

 

She had had enough of Emma. That woman was not a good stepmother at all. If she knew her true character like that, she would not have allowed James to marry her in the past.

 

Yes. Beverley’s father, James, remarried after his first wife died. However, in the past year, James suffered a stroke that left him unable to work anymore.

 

Emma, who is very fond of extravagance, has a credit card bill of millions of dollars. It made her dizzy because she didn’t know how to pay it off. Finally, under the alibi of her sick husband, she borrowed millions of dollars to pay off the bank bills.

 

Then who loaned her the money? It was Michael Oliver, James’ boss. Perhaps because James was one of his confidants, Michael Oliver was willing to lend her that much money.

 

Sometimes Beverley really wanted to kick Emma out of her father’s house. However, that was impossible because James loved that woman so much.

 

James seemed to have been driven crazy by Emma. Could she be using a magic spell to seduce him?

 

“Bev, you’re an adult. If you marry a rich man, wouldn’t you benefit from it?” Emma said sarcastically. She blew on her long, bright red nails and stared at them proudly.

 

How sickening!

 

“You should know, Emma. I don’t know that man at all. I don’t know what he looks like, about his nature, about his character, and...”

 

“Why do you have to think about such things? What’s most important is a guaranteed life. Marriage isn’t always about love or any of that nonsense,” Emma retorted indifferently.

 

Beverley became even angrier. “What do you mean you’ve never loved James?”

 

“I didn’t say that.”

 

Beverley snorted coldly. She took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. “I will not marry the man of your choice. And your debts have nothing to do with me,” she said coldly.

 

“Well, you can refuse now. However, one thing is for sure... Whether you want to or not, you will go to the wedding altar.”

 

Suddenly, Emma stood up and carried her expensive bag. Then the woman waltzed away without caring about Beverley’s pale face.

 

Before completely closing the door, Emma turned to look at Beverley sharply. “Don’t even think about running away. I can abandon James at any time!” Having said that threat, only then did she actually leave.

 

The room became silent. Beverley’s breathing rose and fell irregularly. Her hands clenched tightly.

 

“Damn stepmother!” Her voice echoed throughout the room. Luckily, no one was within earshot.

 

The closed-door suddenly opened. A woman who looked about Beverley’s age stepped in. She was wearing a blazer suit that looked quite classy. Her high-tied hair swayed with her footsteps.

 

“What’s wrong, Bev? I just saw your mom come out of here. Did you guys have another fight?”

 

“Don’t call her my mom, Katy,” Beverley said quietly. She sat down in her work chair and rubbed her dizzy forehead.

 

Beverley’s friend, Katy, also sat down. “You look so upset. What’s wrong?”

 

Beverley let out a long breath. “Emma is trying to use me, Katy. She wants to use me to pay off her debts!”

 

“How is that possible?” Katy was a little confused. “How?”

 

“She’s going to marry me off to a man I don’t know at all. Oh my God! What am I supposed to do now?”

 

“What the hell! Has she lost her mind?!”

 

Katy became furious. She had long heard stories from Beverley about her stepmother’s bad nature and behavior. As her best friend, of course, she didn’t like Emma. That woman really was like a snake.

 

“I wouldn’t know what to do if she really did that.” Beverley bit her lip nervously.

 

“What if you ran away?” Katy suggested. Unfortunately, Beverley immediately rejected her proposal.

 

“I can’t leave my father. James is sick. I’m afraid Emma will also leave that man alone.” She shook her head several times.

 

“How much is that debt? Maybe I can lend you a hundred thousand dollars.”

 

Beverley sighed in frustration. “It’s more than that. Even if you sell this cafe, it won’t be enough. There’s no other way. If Emma really makes that deal, they’ll never let me go, Katy. My life is over....”

 

“What an outrage!” Katy pounded the table in front of her. “If I meet your mom—I mean Emma—I want to punch those thick lips of hers!”

 

Suddenly, Katy gave Beverley a serious look. “Are you sure she’s serious? Would she do this to you? I mean, you’re still her daughter, after all.”

 

Beverley just shook her head weakly. She didn’t know whether Emma would do that or not. However, what was certain was that this was all already making her feel scared.

 

At that moment, there was a sudden knock on the door from outside. A café waitress came in holding out an ivory-yellow invitation that looked elegant and classy. There was another folded piece of paper tied with a golden ribbon on top of the invitation.

 

“Miss Holmes, this is for you,” said the waitress.

 

Beverley’s brow immediately creased. She hesitantly picked up the invitation letter. The recipient’s name was indeed her, Beverley Holmes.

 

Who was getting married? She hadn’t heard any news about friends or colleagues getting married anytime soon.

 

Out of curiosity, she unwrapped the gold ribbon. Then she quickly opened the invitation letter. For a moment, she was silent while reading about who was getting married.

 

Her heart seemed to stop beating when she saw the name listed there. Her face turned pale. The name of the bride written on the invitation letter was none other than her own name, Beverley Holmes!

 

“No way,” Beverley muttered as she lowered her gaze. She quickly read the groom’s name.

 

Brent Oliver.

 

Her hands immediately shook. The invitation slid unceremoniously to the floor.

 

“What’s wrong, Bev? Who’s getting married?” Katy picked up the invitation. And after she read the names of the bride and groom, her reaction wasn’t much different from Beverley’s.

 

“The date... when is the date?” Beverley quickly snatched the invitation from Katy’s hand.

 

“The seventeenth....”

 

Her body went limp instantly. It was already the sixteenth. That meant the wedding was tomorrow!