“If You Can’t Bear My Mistress, We Can Swap Newtons”- So I Married His Worst Rival At the Wedding Chapter 05

“If You Can’t Bear My Mistress, We Can Swap Newtons”- So I Married His Worst Rival At the Wedding Chapter 05

“Does it hurt?”

Preston tried to touch my face. I pulled away.

His eyes flickered. He sighed.

“Sloane, you’re way too stubborn. You seriously need to get that under control.”

“Do you even realize that because of your post, everyone at your company is calling Tessa a snake? She almost slashed her wrists.”

“Tomorrow at the wedding, in front of the media, you’re going to apologize to her publicly. You tell them you were just jealous. That the photo was fake. That you made the whole thing up about her.”

I looked at him like he was a joke.

“Why would I do that?”

Preston’s face hardened. He leaned in close.

“Sloane, you think I don’t know where you hid your mother’s will?”

“Guess why your dad never dared move Loretta and her kid in all these years? And why he did it today?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

Right before my mom died, she left a will. It said that when I turned twenty-five, her shares would automatically transfer to me. Until then, a professional manager would handle them. My dad had no rights to them.

She jumped before the will could be notarized.

All these years, my dad tried everything to find out where I’d hidden it. I never gave it up.

To keep me calm, he never let Loretta move in.

Next week, I turned twenty-five.

But I’d hidden it so well. How…

“Tessa studied hypnosis. And when someone is exhausted from days of no sleep and working on a proposal? That’s when they’re most open to it.”

“Sloane, you’re too good. It scares me. I had to plan ahead.”

Preston took my curled fingers and pried them open one by one.

Not hard. But like he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Don’t worry. You apologize to Tessa tomorrow. Then you stay home and enjoy being Mrs. Hale. I’ll manage your shares for you. We’re a team, right?”

“Otherwise, I’ll hand the will over to your dad. Destroy it before it gets notarized. Come Monday, he’s first in line to claim everything. He’s been dreaming about giving those shares to his son.”

“Are you sure you want to lose the last thing your mother left you? End up with nothing?”

I looked quietly at the man I’d pulled out of the mud years ago.

And smiled.

“Fine. Deal.”

Preston kissed my forehead, satisfied.

“I knew my Sloane would never make a losing bet.”

“Tessa’s waiting for me. See you at the wedding tomorrow.”

The second he was out the door, I dropped the smile.

He wanted to force me to show up tomorrow? Fine. I’d give him exactly what he wanted.

I picked up my phone and dialed a number I knew by heart.

“Tomorrow at eleven. Rosewood Manor. Be there on time to marry me.”

“You’re even half a second late? I’m finding someone else.”

Preston thought he was my best option now.

He didn’t know that he’d been the losing bet all along.

The next afternoon, I sat in the dressing room at Rosewood Manor.

Outside, roses stretched for miles. The lawn wedding setup was enormous and luxurious.

The door opened. Tessa walked in.

She dropped the fragile act. Her eyes were full of jealousy as she stared at my dress.

“Sloane Ashford, you wanna know something? I hated you before I even met you. Because I come from nothing, I can’t help his career, so his family looks down on me. And I have to play nice and pretend I’m fine stepping aside for you.”

“So I figured out how to get close to you. Became your best friend. Every time I watched you being a total doormat to me, I had to stop myself from laughing in your face.”

“All that stuff in the lounge? We’ve done that plenty of times. Remember when he showed up late for your anniversary this year? He was with me. On your office couch. And last night? We slept in your wedding bed.”

“Don’t think marrying him means you win. Let me tell you something—the day the bidding ended, Preston and I already had our marriage license.”

“I’m his real wife. You’re just a shield so his family stays off his back. So much for being some rich heiress. I’m the one who won.”

I finally gave her a look. My voice was flat.

“Good for you.”

Tessa blinked, confused. She didn’t get the reaction she wanted.

Ten minutes before the wedding, I stood in front of a wall of media cameras.

“About last night’s post. I need to apologize to my former best friend, Tessa Vane.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t clear enough.”

“You’re not just Preston’s ex-girlfriend. You’re a backstabbing, lying snake and a cheap homewrecker.”

Tessa’s smug smile froze. She burst into tears and threw herself into Preston’s arms.

Preston’s face went dark.

“Sloane, you’ve really disappointed me. You asked for this.”

“Say goodbye to your mother’s last gift.”

He pulled out a yellowed document.

No one understood what it was. But my dad, standing closest, lit up.

He knew that handwriting. It was my mom’s will.

Preston raised a lighter, about to burn it right there.

Then someone grabbed his wrist. Hard.

Forced it to turn.

A tall man in a perfect suit. Intense as hell.

He had a cigarette hanging from his lips. Used Preston’s own lighter to spark it. Blew smoke right in his face.

His smile was pure sin. And pure menace.

“That belongs to my wife, Hale. Doesn’t seem right for an outsider to be holding it, does it?”