My Childhood Sweetheart Breaks the Engagement, and I Marry His Family’s Bastard Instead
Everyone knew I was the woman Mr. Sterling, the family patriarch, had personally chosen for an arranged marriage. He’d decreed that whoever I married would be the one to inherit the vast Hayes fortune.
At the engagement party, I wore my custom–made gown, ready to step onto the stage and announce the union between the Hayes and Peterson families.
But my fiancé, Derek Hayes, had Tiffany Peterson, my adopted sister, clasped firmly by the hand. He pulled her into the center of the crowd, standing shoulder to shoulder with her.
“Tiffany and I are deeply in love; she’s the only woman I’ll ever marry.”
“Scarlett is too headstrong, too unruly–she’s simply not fit to be a Hayes.”
My engagement was suddenly switched to my adopted sister, and everyone’s eyes on me were a mix of pity and mockery.
What they didn’t know was that Mr. Sterling had chosen me because my mother was the heiress to the formidable Vance family, a discreet yet incredibly powerful lineage. Someday, I would return to the Vance family and inherit its empire.
Since Derek had made his choice, the Hayes heir would naturally have to be someone else.
Derek tightly clutched Tiffany Peterson’s hand, pulling her to stand before the gathered crowd. Tiffany gasped, trying to pull her hand back.
“Bro–Derek, you can’t do this! Grandpa Sterling himself arranged your marriage to Scarlett.”
“You’re the one I love, Tiffany. I won’t marry anyone else.”
He held her hand firmly, his fingers intertwined with hers, as he looked up at Mr. Sterling, who sat on a raised platform.
“Grandpa, I’ve always loved Tiffany. I will only marry her.”
The guests looked on with a mix of sympathy and ridicule. Everyone knew that Derek and I had grown up together, childhood friends, and that I was Mr. Sterling’s chosen future granddaughter–in–law.
Yet here, in front of everyone in our social circle, Derek had just publicly humiliated me.
Derek’s voice was firm, leaving no room for argument.
“While Scarlett and I grew up together, I’ve always seen her as a sister, nothing more.”
“Tiffany and I are deeply in love; we’ve been together for a while now. In my heart, she’s the only woman I’ll ever marry. No other woman compares.”
Mr. and Mrs. Hayes’s faces fell as they nervously glanced at the patriarch’s expression.
Derek put an arm around Tiffany’s waist and looked at me, a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.
“Scarlett, you know I don’t have romantic feelings for you. You wouldn’t want to waste your life marrying a man who
“Besides, Tiffany and I are already together. You can’t just rely on Grandpa Sterling’s favor and try to muscle in and break us up, can you?”
I glanced at the two of them, then bowed to Mr. Sterling.
“Grandpa Sterling, since they’re so clearly in love, how could I possibly come between them? Let’s just let them be together.”
“Wishing my sister and Mr. Hayes Jr. a lifetime of happiness and everlasting love.”
Derek’s face flashed with annoyance at my words, but Tiffany cautiously slipped her arm through his.
“Bro–Derek, Grandpa Sterling arranged your marriage to Scarlett. Won’t he be upset about this?”
Derek gently patted Tiffany’s hand, soothing her softly.
“No, he won’t. Grandpa spoils me rotten. Why would he get mad at me over *her*?”
“Besides, you’re the Peterson family’s true daughter, their heiress. This was always meant to be an alliance between our two families. Why would he care about an outsider?”
An outsider?
Only my father, Mr. Peterson, and Mr. Sterling knew my true identity.
My mother is the heiress to the formidable Vance family. My father and mother’s marriage was merely a strategic alliance disguised as a union, and I would inherit the Vance family fortune, so I took my mother’s surname.
Moreover, he thought Tiffany was my father’s biological daughter?
Mr. Sterling frowned at Derek’s words.
“Derek, don’t be foolish. Are you certain you want to marry Miss Peterson?”
Derek firmly slipped the ring onto Tiffany’s finger, then kissed it with devotion.
“Grandpa, I’ve thought it through. I will only marry Tiffany.”
Mr. Sterling looked at Derek with disappointment. If it was just a change of fiancée, he wouldn’t have had much of an opinion. But Derek had deliberately chosen today to humiliate me in front of so many people, proving he was unreliable.
“Fine, have it your way.”
