"You're married, Carlos! You need to learn to commit. That's what marriage comes with. Commitment!" Bailey yelled at him, as she stared up at him. She wouldn't be intimidated by him this time. She had been quiet for too long. "Sweetheart, do you know the meaning of my name? It means 'free man'. I'm free to do what I want and have sex with who I want to. So why don't you be a good little wife and shut up?" He replied, smirking as he patted her head. He looked down at the sexy nightie she had donned and his eyes blazed with pure lust. "You're tempting, Bailey. But don't ever forget; I will never want you. I will not stoop so low as to touch you again." He spat out venomously and left her standing, needy for him Bailey Whitney never believed in karma, so she was shocked when her past actions came back to bite her, in the form of her ex-lover; the hot, walking sex of a man. But she's disappointed when the only thing Carlos Aston wanted was nothing to do with her. But Bailey is determined to get him to fall for her again and most importantly sustain her marriage. But that seemed impossible when Carlos could not stay faithful to one woman. Will she be able to win his heart again? Can she tame the wild billionaire?
"Hello everyone! I apologize for the delay but we have gotten word from the groom. And, due to some personal, unforeseen circumstances, the wedding has been canceled. We are sorry for the inconvenience, everyone. Do have a nice day."
That was Miguel Santiago, Carlos's best friend.
If anyone had told Carlos Aston that he would be happy to hear Miguel's annoying voice any day, he would have punched the joker. But as Carlos heard the words he had been waiting so impatiently to hear, a slight smile found its way to his lips.
"That Ferrari better be hot and waiting for me because that was the scariest thing I've ever done in my life," Miguel warned in a stern voice as he quickly boarded the waiting vehicle Carlos came with.
Carlos didn't need to be told before he started the engine of his Audi and sped out of the event center. The last thing he needed was for his father to start a drama before everyone. So Carlos knew better than to waste any more time at the wedding venue.
"But seriously dude! I never knew you had it in you. You just gave me the best idea ever. Abandon my future wife at the altar haha!." Carlos began to say, dramatically clutching his heart.
"Remind me why I'm the getaway driver again!" he said as he shot his best friend a glare, and pressed his leg down on the clutch pedal.
"Anyway, since you jilted your hot bride..." Miguel began, but Carlos cut him short immediately and said.
"Impudent! That's the right word. She's an impudent woman, that one." Carlos corrected immediately, making Miguel roll his eyes.
"Well, whatever. Can I have her now that you've jilted her?" Miguel asked, smiling mischievously. The smirk on Miguel's face irritated Carlos and made his blood boil.
How dare Miguel want to take over his abandoned bride?
Angrily, Carlos pulled over and gave his friend his deadliest glare ever. He quickly unlocked the passenger door and tried to push him out, but Miguel wouldn't budge.
"Get lost!" Carlos growled.
"Nope. You know Carl, if your beautiful bride should see the way you are currently feeling me up because of her, she would know the reason for your dramatic rejection." Miguel advised, putting on a pitiful face. Carlos dropped his hands, as he ran his fingers through his hair angrily.
"Get out of this car now or I will blame you when Dad starts ranting." Carlos threatened. Before he could finish the sentence, Miguel was out of the car and hailing a cab.
"Good riddance," Carlos said as he drove to the family house.
Carlos was so satisfied with what he had done that he got himself a bottle of wine. He had disgraced the bitch most embarrassingly, he hadn't even shown up to his wedding and never planned to. His sweatshirt and sweatpants he's putting on confirmed it.
The only problem Carlos had now was explaining to his father why he decided to ditch the sloven. Not that he cared what his father thought. He had called off the wedding and that was all that mattered. He would celebrate later with Vivian; the only woman he could tolerate.
Carlos was still thinking about how he planned to celebrate his victory by going to his favorite club that night when the sight of his father's housekeeper, Mr Barnes interrupted him. Mr Barnes has been their butler and housekeeper even before Carlos was born and he was always uptight and grumpy.
"Hey Mr Barnes! How's the arthritis coming along?" He asked the housekeeper, with a dazzling smile on his lips.
Mr Barnes turned to face Carlos with his signature stoic face and bowed.
"Hello, Mr Aston. I regret to inform you that I do not experience any pain in my joints." He answered in his monotonous voice.
"Well, grow older, man! I have been fantasizing about seeing you wobbling. Wanna see how you do that with that stick up your backside." Carlos whined as he took out the bottle of Pinot Grigio he got for himself.
"I shall see to that, Sir." Mr Barnes retorted and was about to leave when he stopped abruptly. He peered at Carlos, his face creased in a frown.
"Forgive my forwardness, Sir, but aren't you supposed to be getting married today? Or, is the wedding over?" Mr Barnes asked.
"Oh, John, the wedding is over," Carlos replied as he swirled his wine.
He heard the roar of car engines and he knew his time of momentary peace was over. His father, Henry Aston was back and from the slamming of the car door, he was mad.
"Carlos Alexander Aston! You have just one second to explain yourself!" Mr Henry's angry voice preceded him. Seconds later, a very livid man stormed into the sitting room nearly breaking down the door.
Mr. Henry Aston was so angry that his veins were popping out and his face so red that a tomato would be shy of the intimidating color. He was tall, but not as tall as his son. And he walked up to Carlos and knocked off the glass from his hand.
"Woah! Chill man! That was my favorite glass! What crawled up your shriveled backside?" Carlos said, smiling widely. He loved to rile up his father and he didn't hesitate to do that at any opportunity.
"One word, Carlos. Just tell me in a single word, why?" Henry asked, sounding defeated. He had a stony relationship with his son and he had been trying to amend it but Carlos was just too stubborn and hotheaded to handle.
"Well, in a single word. It's my favorite glass because..."
"Not that, you idiot! Why did you not show up at your wedding? Why did you cancel it? Why did you abandon that young girl at the altar like that, Carlos? Just why?" Henry yelled. He was almost at the breaking point.
His son had made a lot of money for Aston Realtors and he was dedicated to his job, but that was the only good quality he had. Apart from his physical appearance of course. Carlos was an utter pain in the butt, but he was his only child and Henry Aston loved him so much.
"Did you think you could make me marry whoever you want? That you can arrange a marriage without my consent and suddenly drop the bomb a day before the wedding? Newsflash Dad, that was a gross move." Carlos said, returning to his grumpy self.
Twenty-four hours ago, his father suddenly told him he was getting married. And that he didn't have a choice in the matter.
"I'm sorry I only told you about the wedding yesterday, but I didn't want you to refuse. The board is getting worried. Every day the tabloids have bad news about your habits and I'm really surprised that you aren't with a woman right now." Henry said calmly. He was guilty of springing up the marriage on Carlos the day before the wedding, but he was scared his son would do something disastrous.
"Trust me, I will have the board under control. I know enough to keep them on their toes. Just find out their weaknesses." Carlos retorted heartlessly.
"You need to surround yourself with people who trust you, Carlos. If that's your way of handling things, then I guess they were right." Henry said with an air of finality.
"Right about what? Whatever. The main issue is that if it's a wife that's going to get you out of my hair, then Vivian is available." Carlos said as he walked towards the door.
He was done with this conversation. He wasn't marrying that tramp, Bailey Whitney, no matter what his father said.
"Vivian?" Henry asked, laughing. He would rather die than let his son marry the leech.
"Yes, Viv. She's way better than that loosed woman, Bailey or whatever her name is." Carlos spat out, not looking back.
"Loosed? Who said Bailey's a loosed woman? Have you heard the news lately? You're the greatest manwhore in New York!" Henry said. This was a pure case of hypocrisy.
"Trust me, Dad. She's not the angel you think she is." Carlos said as he turned to break the sweet news to his father. He wondered how Henry would react on hearing it.
Her fiance and her best friend worked together and set her up. She lost everything and died in the street. However, she was reborn. The moment she opened her eyes, her husband was trying to strangle her. Luckily, she survived that. She signed the divorce agreement without hesitation and was ready for her miserable life. To her surprise, her mother in this life left her a great deal of money. She turned the tables and avenged herself. Everything went well in her career and love when her ex-husband came to her.
Everyone was shocked to the bones when the news of Rupert Benton's engagement broke out. It was surprising because the lucky girl was said to be a plain Jane, who grew up in the countryside and had nothing to her name. One evening, she showed up at a banquet, stunning everyone present. "Wow, she's so beautiful!" All the men drooled, and the women got so jealous. What they didn't know was that this so-called country girl was actually an heiress to a billion-dollar empire. It wasn't long before her secrets came to light one after the other. The elites couldn't stop talking about her. "Holy smokes! So, her father is the richest man in the world?" "She's also that excellent, but mysterious designer who many people adore! Who would have guessed?" Nonetheless, people thought that Rupert didn't love her. But they were in for another surprise. Rupert released a statement, silencing all the naysayers. "I'm very much in love with my beautiful fiancee. We will be getting married soon." Two questions were on everyone's minds: "Why did she hide her identity? And why was Rupert in love with her all of a sudden?"
Two years ago, Ricky found himself coerced into marrying Emma to protect the woman he cherished. From Ricky's perspective, Emma was despicable, resorting to underhanded schemes to ensure their marriage. He maintained a distant and cold attitude toward her, reserving his warmth for another. Yet, Emma remained wholeheartedly dedicated to Ricky for more than ten years. As she grew weary and considered relinquishing her efforts, Ricky was seized by a sudden fear. Only when Emma's life teetered on the edge, pregnant with Ricky's child, did he recognize-the love of his life had always been Emma.
Cathryn, an orphan with no family ties to Grayson, regarded him only as family. He, however, valued her as a precious jewel. From their very first encounter, Cathryn's destiny was intertwined with his. Once lonely and desiring affection, she was ensnared by his love, unable to break free. Eventually, she managed to escape his emotional clutches. Shockingly, she had fallen for someone else. Grayson confronted her sharply. "How could you feel for another?" Unable to meet his eyes, she whispered, "You're family. I can't..." Looking down, he pressed further. "You can't, or you wouldn’t dare?"
Rena got into an entanglement with a big shot when she was drunk one night. She needed Waylen's help while he was drawn to her youthful beauty. As such, what was supposed to be a one-night stand progressed into something serious. All was well until Rena discovered that Waylen's heart belonged to another woman. When his first love returned, he stopped coming home, leaving Rena all alone for many nights. She put up with it until she received a check and farewell note one day. Contrary to how Waylen expected her to react, Rena had a smile on her face as she bid him farewell. "It was fun while it lasted, Waylen. May our paths never cross. Have a nice life." But as fate would have it, their paths crossed again. This time, Rena had another man by her side. Waylen's eyes burned with jealousy. He spat, "How the hell did you move on? I thought you loved only me!" "Keyword, loved!" Rena flipped her hair back and retorted, "There are plenty of fish in the sea, Waylen. Besides, you were the one who asked for a breakup. Now, if you want to date me, you have to wait in line." The next day, Rena received a credit alert of billions and a diamond ring. Waylen appeared again, got down on one knee, and uttered, "May I cut in line, Rena? I still want you."
Rumors claimed that Fernanda, newly back with her family, was nothing more than a violent country bumpkin. Fernanda just flashed a casual, dismissive grin in response. Another rumor suggested that the usually rational Cristian had lost all sense, madly in love with Fernanda. This frustrated her. She could tolerate gossip about herself, but slander against her beloved crossed the line! Gradually, as Fernanda's multiple identities as a celebrated designer, a savvy gamer, an acclaimed painter, and a successful business magnate came to light, everyone realized they were the ones who had been fooled.