Page 2 of Three Billionaire Grooms and Not the Right Bride

“Now you listen here, Ms. Young. I don’t know what happened to make my daughter swell like an inflated pool toy on her wedding day, but nothing is going to stop this marriage from happening. Do you hear me? I didn’t spend three years of my life on this union for it to all go up in flames.”

I have no idea what Mrs. Neal has in mind, but it’s not her daughter’s marriage, not today anyway.

Chapter Two

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Hadley

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With her nails still digging into my arms, Mrs. Neal lays out her very diabolical plan, and I’m at the center of it all.

“Now my daughter is strong. She’ll be fine. You, on the other hand, not so much.”

Oh great, they’re going to sue me. Just fantastic. My first time as a wedding event planner, and it’s over before it began. Aunt Heather, as sweet as she is, is probably going to kill me for ruining her very carefully curated reputation. Really, I’m screwed all ways.

“If...” Mrs. Neal continues, “If you don’t want me to sue you to oblivion for nearly killing my daughter, you better do as I say.”

“But she signed the allergy form.” Surely that would stand up in court. She’s going to take me for all I have. Well, take a ticket, Mrs. Neal. Before I get to her, I have to pay off Jimmy Big Back and Mars Florentine. Both deadly gangster guys I inherited from my dad.

After my mom died, my dad created a very extraordinary kind of debt. Yes, he got in with the sharks. Loan after loan to keep his pet project floating. A high-end restaurant on a yacht, no less. And when he passed away, that debt became mine.

Also, it’s not like I have my life together either. I still don’t know what I want to be. Between half a business degree and half a culinary course, I still don’t know if I want to be a chef or a full-time book reviewer.

“Do you know who I am?” Mrs. Neal asks with such a deathly threat that I nod yes in reply. Clearly, she’s just not the mother of the bride as I thought previously. She’s much worse.

“I’m going to say this once and only once. You will help me get my daughter out of her wedding dress. You will then put the wedding dress on, go down to the ballroom, and marry those men.”

I start to laugh, then I swallow instead when I realize the woman is serious.

“But... I look nothing like Tatiana,” I squeal. Really? That’s what I came up with as a rebuttal to her insane plan? Still, we might be around the same height and weight, maybe, but in another universe I’m her ugly, ugly, ugly stepsister.

“Of course I know that. My daughter is the most beautiful girl in the world. That’s why she’s marrying the heirs of Skycrest, you stupid girl.”

“Of course,” I say meekly.

“Pay attention. This is what you’re going to do. You will keep your veil on at all times. I’ll insist the marriage license be signed in Italy so all you have to do is show up for the formalities.”

I mean, if Tatiana did the same and kept her veil on...

“You’re just a body double for her ring since my daughter cannot show up to her wedding, looking like that.”

Yes, I see that now. Tatiana’s hands are monstrous on their own as she frantically moans a lot of harsh, incoherent sounds. She kicks off her shoes, and oh heck, even her toes are swelling. This is just fabulous. No, not in the least.

And I’m sure I’m not actually hearing what I think I’m hearing; surely not.

“But what about the kiss the bride part?” I squeak out my second question. Also, what the hell? Why am I entertaining this? Because Mrs. Neal is freaking terrifying.

“Oh, you stupid girl. This is a marriage of convenience, not stupid fools falling in love. Tatiana doesn’t love them and they don’t love her. It’s simple. Rich people run their families like empires. A union between the Neal empire and the heirs of Skycrest will be the strongest, most prestigious alliance of all time. Of all time.

“So to answer your question, you will politely and shyly decline. That will be the end of it. You will feign a headache, then come back here. I will let them know Tatiana is looking forward to seeing them at their villa in Sardinia in a few days' time for their honeymoon. By that time, Tatiana should be back to normal.”

The older woman opens her purse which costs more than one month’s rent for my apartment, which I can’t downgrade anymore, or I’ll be living on the street, and pulls out her phone.

Yes, my life is an insane mess right now, but thanks to Aunt Heather who offered me this job which would put me partially back in the black again with both Jimmy and Mars. Still a very long way to go, but I’m buying time and that’s as good.

Just my luck, the bride is probably allergic to champagne or chocolate, or what if it’s my perfume? I self-consciously sniff myself and sigh in relief. Yup, forgot perfume this morning, as all I can smell on me is my soap and roll-on.