Chapter 3

I won't deny it—Mandy had gotten under my skin.

But I knew that being angry wouldn't solve anything.

After I told my parents what had happened, they looked shocked.

They hurriedly apologized to the guests and came upstairs.

Seeing that I'd truly decided not to marry Ethan, my parents sighed, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Sweetheart, we had no idea the kid from the Hayes family was so unreliable!"

"We originally thought he was decent, worth investing in. Looks like that's no longer necessary!"

"Forget it. My daughter doesn't need to chase after Ethan Hayes!"

I breathed a sigh of relief.

I'd been worried my parents wouldn't agree.

After all, the guests were all important people.

I was also concerned that my sudden decision to call off the wedding would burden my parents.

Originally, my parents had planned to use the wedding as an opportunity to introduce Ethan to some connections.

Looks like that wouldn't be necessary anymore.

This hotel handled mid-to-high-end banquets. The deposit was paid in advance, but the balance was due after the wedding.

When our families discussed it, they'd decided the groom's family would pay the deposit.

The bride's family would pay the balance—$700,000.

Deposit: $30,000. Balance: $700,000.

For appearances, Ethan's mother had insisted that Ethan sign the contract with the hotel.

Though the contract noted that the bride's family would cover the balance, my name wasn't specified.

So now that the bride had become Mandy, Ethan's mother could only ask Mandy for the money.

Ethan called me, telling me to send the jewelry over to Mandy.

After all, Mandy's hair was already styled—she was just waiting for those accessories.

Hearing Mandy's triumphant laughter on the other end of the line, I hung up and blocked him.

Was he joking? My family paid for all this. Why would I let Mandy wear it?

When no one came to deliver the items, Ethan got somewhat angry with me.

He decided to teach me a lesson.

He had people take down the posters that were originally of us.

He had them rush to replace them with photos of him and Mandy.

The bride's name was also changed to Mandy.

He originally hadn't planned to change any of this—he'd just wanted Mandy to substitute for me at the wedding.

Now, this was his warning to me.

But he didn't know—this played right into my hands.

Now the bride had completely and officially become Mandy.

The debt collectors couldn't come after me.

I'd always been rational, so I chose to cut my losses.

Even though I'd admittedly developed some feelings for Ethan.

But sunk costs don't factor into major decisions.