I Married the Fake Bride

At the wedding, I immediately recognized that the woman under the veil wasn't Selene, but an impostor. But I still went through with the ceremony as if nothing was wrong.

In my previous life, Selene had been forced to return and complete the wedding with me after I exposed the fake bride in front of everyone. That very night, however, her childhood sweetheart was rushed to the ICU with acute alcohol poisoning.

When Selene heard the news, she didn't shed a tear. Instead, she cursed him, saying he got what he deserved.

…

After we married, Selene and I appeared to be a loving couple on the surface. I kept funneling money from my family to save her family business from collapse. But on our first anniversary, my wife—with not even a sliver of warmth in her eyes—tied me to a helicopter with her own hands.

"If you hadn't forced me to come back and marry you that day, Chase wouldn't have ended up like that," she snarled. "What right do you have to live so happily? I'll make sure you feel the pain he went through before he died."

She threw me from ten thousand yards up, and I hit the ground as nothing more than a broken heap of flesh.

So, this time, I pretended to know nothing and went through with the wedding alongside the fake bride. I wanted to see just how Selene would manage to save the crumbling Liraine Co. without the Schreiber family's support.

The Bride Under the Veil

"Do you, the bride, take this handsome man beside you to be your lawfully wedded husband, for richer or poorer…"

"I… do." The woman's voice came through the veil, muffled and uncertain.

The guests all murmured in admiration, praising how deeply Selene Liraine, the Liraine heiress, must love me—to insist on completing the wedding even with a heavy cold, afraid I might feel wronged otherwise.

"Wait a second."

The woman beneath the veil averted her gaze, a fine sheen of sweat forming on her forehead.

"Selene, you don't look too well. Are you tired?" I asked with a gentle smile.

She cleared her throat nervously. "Yes, I…"

I gestured for the officiant to pause the ceremony and led the bride into the lounge. Just then, my phone on the table vibrated. More than a dozen unread messages lit up the screen—all from Chase Riverton.

'You've figured out the bride's a fake, haven't you? Surprised? Selene and I are watching your wedding live right now.'

There was a photo attached—Selene resting her head affectionately on Chase's shoulder, relaxed and smiling.

'Oh, forgot to mention—this was my idea. The wedding's just her little game to amuse me.'

I quickly typed out a reply. 'Is that so? Want to bet that with one call from me, she'll drop you and come crawling back?'

As expected, there was no response for a long while.

Perfect, I thought. The fish had taken the bait.

I put the phone away and