Enemy to Soulmate

On my wedding day, as Dennis waited at the altar, I did not run. Instead, I walked toward him arm in arm with his biggest rival, holding up a newly stamped document.

You can keep the wedding party, I said calmly. I already gave him the marriage license.

The night before, a hotel keycard had led me to the same suite where Dennis once proposed. But inside, I found him in bed with another woman. He barely flinched, lighting a cigarette as he explained he was tired of hiding the affair.

Youll still be my wife, he shrugged, claiming no one else would marry me after the ten years Id spent building his company. The wedding goes onjust not with her name on the license.

I didnt scream or cry. Silently, I slid off my engagement ring, set it down, and walked out.

The morning sun felt unnaturally bright.

"Here she comes. The bride is finally coming out."

A swarm of paparazzi crowded the entrance of my hotel. Camera flashes blinded me like strobe lights.

"Mona, how are you feeling on your big day?"

"What do you have to say about the multimillion-dollar wedding Dennis prepared for you?"

I ignored the microphones shoved in my face and stepped into the back of the waiting Maybach under the protection of my security detail.

The ceremony was set to take place at Trinity Cathedral on the Upper East Side.

Dennis was already standing on the stone steps of the church. He wore a pristine white tuxedo and a smile that screamed absolute control.

He had called me earlier that morning. He complained that he was exhausted from his extracurricular activities last night and needed to sleep in, which was his excuse for not picking me up from the hotel.

He was incredibly confident that I would still show up.

His best man, Carter, let out a loud whistle as my car pulled up.

He nudged Dennis in the ribs, flashing a sleazy grin. "She actually came."

"You have some serious game, man," Carter chuckled. "You play around all night, and your bride still shows up looking like an angel. That is what I call proper training."

Another groomsman, Nate, leaned in to join the joke. "No kidding. Any other guy would be dead on his feet after a night like that, but you are standing here looking like the groom of the year. Respect."

The group of men broke into a chorus of arrogant laughter.

The corner of Dennis's mouth twitched upward.

"Mona has been attached to me for a decade," he said, his voice dripping with condescension. "Who else would possibly want her?"

He glanced down at his pocket, likely thinking about the ring I had left behind. "Throwing a little temper tantrum is normal. But at the end of the day, she is still going to walk up those steps and hand her life over to me."

Carter gave him a thumbs-up.

The chauffeur opened my door. I stepped out onto the pavement, the layers of my custom silk gown catching the morning light.

A flash of genuine awe crossed Dennis's face.

"My wife looks absolutely stunning," he murmured.

Before he could step forward to take my hand, his phone buzzed violently in his pocket. He glanced at the screen, and his attention was completely stolen.

A fond, indulgent smile spread across his lips as he stepped away from the crowd to answer the call.

"What is wrong? I told you to call me later."

A sickeningly sweet, whiny voice filtered through the speaker, loud enough for me to hear.

"Dennis, I am flying out to Paris this afternoon. I booked an appointment at City Hall in ten minutes. Can you please come down here? I really want to get our paperwork signed before I leave."

"Ten minutes?" Dennis let out a low, teasing laugh. "Are you really in that much of a rush?"

He hung up the phone. Carter stepped closer, looking curious. "Who was that?"

"Brianna." Dennis slipped the phone back into his tailored pocket, his eyes shining with a fresh spark of excitement. "She is flying to Europe this afternoon and insists on signing the marriage license before she goes. She was whining so much I could not say no."

Carter raised his eyebrows. "What about your wedding?"

"What is the rush?" Dennis brushed off the concern entirely. "The ceremony takes at least two hours. I will run down to City Hall. It will only take ten minutes. You know how Brianna is. If I do not go coax her right now, she will actually throw a crying fit at the airport."

Carter knew better than to argue with him.

Dennis walked back over to me, casually wrapping an arm around my shoulders. He waved at the official wedding photographer.

"Take a quick picture of us for the memories."

The shutter clicked once, and Dennis immediately checked his luxury watch.

"Alright, that is enough for now. I have to leave, or I will miss my appointment."

He turned his back on me and started walking briskly toward his private SUV.

"Dennis."

I stood perfectly still on the pavement and called his name.

He paused, turning his head to look over his shoulder. His eyes still held that careless, arrogant certainty.

"If you leave right now," I said, enunciating every single word, "I am going to swap the groom."

He stared at me for a second before bursting into laughter. It was a mocking, dismissive sound.

"Swap the groom? Where exactly are you going to find one? Do you think we are living in a soap opera?"

"Everyone in this city knows you belong to me."

"But hey," he added, pulling his car door open, "if you actually have the skills to find a man brave enough to marry you today, I will gladly give you my blessing."

He threw one last patronizing look my way.

"Stop throwing tantrums, be a good girl, and wait for me inside. I know how to handle these girls on the side. I have limits."

The groomsmen standing behind him exchanged awkward glances.

Carter took a few steps forward. "Dennis, are you seriously leaving?"

"Just keep the guests entertained. It is not like I am disappearing forever."

Dennis slammed his car door shut. His voice was laced with impatience and eagerness. "That little girl is way too much trouble to pacify. I do not want a headache later."

The engine roared, and the SUV sped down the avenue, disappearing into the city traffic.

I stood completely alone on the church steps. The wind caught the long train of my veil, whipping it through the air.

The photographer lowered his camera, shifting his weight uncomfortably in the deafening silence. Nobody dared to speak.

I looked down at the empty space on my left ring finger, and a slow, genuine smile spread across my face.

Go ahead, Dennis.

Go sign your little piece of paper.

Because I am going to happily accept this multimillion-dollar wedding you left behind.

I gathered the heavy fabric of my skirt and walked gracefully into the cathedral.

The guests were seated, the priest was waiting at the altar, and the string quartet was already playing the bridal chorus. Everything was absolutely flawless. The only thing missing was the groom.

Carter rushed up beside me, forcing a stiff, awkward smile onto his face.

"Mona, Dennis had a tiny emergency. He will be right back. Why do you not just take a seat in the bridal suite for a bit?"

Nate hurried over to back him up. "Exactly. You know Dennis always has his priorities straight. It is your big day. He will be here any minute."

"Yeah, Dennis never drops the ball when it matters."

They talked over each other, desperately trying to spin a runaway groom into a minor scheduling delay.

I glanced up at the massive vintage clock near the stained glass window. It was twenty minutes to eleven.

"Okay. I will wait for him."

I dismissed them with a calm nod. Carter let out a massive sigh of relief and immediately started ordering the catering staff to bring me water and appetizers.

I was willing to wait.

But nobody needed to know exactly who I was waiting for.

This wedding had been hyped up in the media for three solid months. Every important relative and business partner from Dennis's side was sitting in those pews.

I let my eyes wander over the breathtaking details of the room. A cascading waterfall of white roses framed the massive windows. Curtains of crystal beads hung from the vaulted ceiling. Even the elegant calligraphy on the seating cards was custom-designed by an artist he hired from Paris.

That was just who Dennis was. When he wanted to do something, he executed it to absolute perfection.

He pursued me with that same intensity. He planned this wedding with that same intensity.

And unfortunately, he committed treason with that exact same intensity.

He left absolutely zero room for negotiation and zero room for an explanation. In his twisted mind, showering a woman with luxury and deeply betraying her were two completely separate things.

He firmly believed that my only option was to accept whatever crumbs he handed me.

Inside the bridal suite, my best friend Harper was pacing the floor in a blind rage. She had flown all the way from Monaco just to be my maid of honor.

"Is Dennis completely out of his mind? Leaving his own wedding to sign papers with another woman? Did he suffer a traumatic brain injury?"

She dropped onto the velvet sofa, violently tugging at the tulle of her bridesmaid dress.

"I thought he was just making empty threats yesterday. Who actually does something this vile on the day of their wedding?"

Her voice shook with a fiery mix of anger and heartbreak on my behalf.

"When you two were planning this, he drove across the entire state just to find the exact species of flower you wanted for your bouquet. When you tried on your dress, he started crying before you even stepped off the pedestal."

"I was so jealous of the way he looked at you that I literally picked a fight with my own boyfriend."

Her voice cracked slightly. "Who could have ever predicted he would turn around and do something like this?"

I stayed silent, casually scrolling through my phone.

Brianna had just posted a new update on her social media feed.

The photo showed a messy hotel floor littered with a man's discarded dress shirt and a pile of sheer lingerie.

The caption read: Someone promised he would only stay for ten minutes, but now he refuses to leave my bed.

She made sure to tag her location. She was nowhere near City Hall.

One of our mutual acquaintances left a comment: Brianna, who are you trying to piss off today?

Brianna replied publicly: Whoever is standing around in a wedding dress waiting for a man who is never coming.

I stared at the screen, completely devoid of emotion, and took a screenshot.

"Mona, stop waiting for him." Harper snatched the phone out of my hand. "Look at this garbage. Look at the kind of people they are."

"You gave up your life in London after graduation just to move back here for him. Do you know how furious your parents were?"

"Dennis was an absolute nobody back then. You bet your entire future and ten years of your life against your parents, and now you have lost everything."

"You stayed up for countless nights drafting business proposals for him. You secretly used your status as a shipping magnate's daughter to secure his funding. He would be nothing without you pushing his company to the top."

"And he repays you by sleeping with the daughter of one of his investors."

"He is a psychopath. He played the perfect, loving fianc right up until the night before the wedding, just so he could blindside you in a hotel room."

Harper was crying now, wiping angry tears from her face. "Mona, please. Stop waiting for him. It is time you finally live for yourself."

"Harper, thank you for flying out today. As soon as this ceremony is over, I am going to go home and tell my parents that they won."

I was willing to accept the consequences of my lost bet. Today was the day I paid the price for my own blindness.

After calming my best friend down, and finally making peace with myself, I walked out of the suite and headed toward the balcony at the end of the hall for some fresh air.

Just as I reached for the brass handle, I heard men talking on the other side of the door.

It was the groomsmen, hiding outside to smoke.

"Is Dennis seriously not coming back?"

"He said Brianna is practically glued to him. He cannot get away. He told us to just keep stalling."

Carter exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. "How much longer do you think Mona is going to tolerate this?"

"Look at her today. She put on the dress, she walked the press line, her groom abandoned her, and she has not shed a single tear."

"A wife with that much patience is a rare find," Nate sighed. "Dennis really does not know how lucky he is."

"Dennis does not care about luck right now. That little succubus has him completely mesmerized. The man has lost his mind."

The group erupted into quiet chuckles.

Then, someone initiated a video call. "Dennis, you finally picked up. Mona is still waiting in the bridal suite. It is getting really ugly over here. You need to come back."

A heavy, suggestive rustling sound came through the phone's speaker.

"Can you not see that I am busy?" Dennis's voice was rough, thick with impatience and the unmistakable gravel of lust. "I am not coming back. Just buy everyone a round of drinks and keep them seated."

"Alright, whatever you say, boss," Carter chuckled nervously. "At least your bride is easy to manipulate."

Before he could finish his sentence, I pushed the heavy balcony door wide open.

The smirks on their faces vanished instantly.

Carter aggressively hid his phone behind his back. "Mona."

I looked at the group of men. "The wedding starts in exactly three minutes."