Chapter 1
My husband grabbed the back of my head and shoved my face into our wedding cake while three hundred guests watched.
The impact knocked the breath out of me.
Cold frosting covered my eyes.
Something sharp from the cake decorations scratched my cheek.
My veil slipped sideways, and the beautiful white roses surrounding the cake scattered across the table.
For one terrible second, I couldn't understand what had happened.
Then I heard Marcus laughing.
Not a nervous laugh.
Not the embarrassed laugh of someone who had made a mistake.
He was laughing so hard that he had to hold his stomach.
"Come on, Nia! It was just a joke!"
I slowly lifted my head.
Thick white frosting dripped from my eyelashes onto the lace bodice of my wedding gown.
My makeup was ruined.
My carefully styled hair was tangled beneath my veil.
And every person in the ballroom was staring at me.
I had imagined this moment a thousand times.
The enormous wedding cake.
The crystal chandeliers.
The white roses.
The music.
The man I loved standing beside me as we celebrated the beginning of our marriage.
Instead, my new husband had turned me into entertainment.
"Marcus," I whispered.
He grinned.
"What?"
"Why would you do that?"
He laughed again.
"Baby, relax. Everybody does cake pranks."
I looked around.
Nobody was laughing anymore.
My best friend, Camille, stood near the bridal table with both hands covering her mouth.
My aunt Denise looked horrified.
Several guests had their phones raised.
I could see my humiliation reflected on their screens.
Marcus leaned toward me.
"You should see your face."
My heart shattered.
"Marcus, please stop."
He reached toward my cheek, scooped up some frosting with his finger, and laughed.
"You're being dramatic."
Something inside me went cold.
I had spent eighteen months planning this wedding.
I had worked overtime at my architecture firm to pay for the ballroom.
I had chosen every flower, every centerpiece, and every song.
My mother had died before she could see me walk down the aisle.
I carried a small photograph of her inside my bouquet because I wanted her with me.
And now, on what was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, my husband was laughing while I cried.
I glanced toward the front table.
My older brother, Isaiah, was already standing.
He wore a dark emerald suit.
At thirty-five, he was tall, broad-shouldered, and usually the calmest person in our family.
But I had never seen that expression on his face.
His jaw was tight.
His eyes were fixed on Marcus.
The guests moved aside as he approached.
"Isaiah," I whispered.
He didn't look away from Marcus.
My husband finally noticed him.
His smile weakened.
"Hey, man. Don't tell me you're upset, too."
Isaiah stopped beside me.
He looked at my ruined dress.
Then at the scratch on my cheek.
His expression became frighteningly calm.
"You humiliated my sister in front of everyone."
Marcus rolled his eyes.
"Relax, man. It was a joke."
Isaiah stepped between us.
"Did she look like she was laughing?"
Marcus shrugged.
"She'll get over it."
Isaiah stared at him.
Then he slowly reached inside his suit jacket.
For one instant, Marcus looked nervous.
But Isaiah only removed his phone.
He unlocked the screen and held it inches from Marcus's face.
"Want me to play what you said about her last night?"
Marcus stopped breathing.
I saw the change immediately.
His smile vanished.
His eyes widened.
And his face went pale.
"What are you talking about?" Marcus whispered.
Isaiah turned the phone slightly.
On the screen was a saved video.
BEFORE THE WEDDING.
I stared at it.
"Isaiah?"
He looked at me.
There was pain in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Nia."
My stomach tightened.
"Sorry for what?"
Marcus reached toward the phone.
"Give me that."
Isaiah moved it away.
"Don't touch me."
Marcus lowered his voice.
"Whatever you think you heard, you misunderstood."
I looked between them.
"What is happening?"
Isaiah swallowed.
"Last night, Marcus was talking to his best man."
My heart began pounding.
"About what?"
Marcus stepped closer.
"Nia, don't listen to him."
Isaiah ignored him.
"He was talking about your family's company."
I felt confused.
Bellamy Hospitality had belonged to my mother before she died.
Isaiah and I inherited controlling shares.
Our company owned several restaurants, event spaces, and two boutique hotels.
I worked outside the family business as an architect, but I attended shareholder meetings and helped oversee major property decisions.
Marcus knew all of that.
He had been asking questions about the company for months.
I thought he was interested in my work.
Now I wasn't so sure.
"Isaiah," I whispered, "play the video."
Marcus grabbed my arm.
"Nia, please."
I pulled away.
"Don't touch me."
His expression changed.
For the first time that day, he looked genuinely afraid.
Isaiah held up the phone.
The video began with Marcus sitting in a private hotel lounge beside his best man, Devin Carter.
They were drinking champagne.
Marcus leaned backward and laughed.
"Once we're married, she'll do whatever I ask."
I felt my knees weaken.
Devin laughed.
"What about her brother?"
Marcus waved dismissively.
"Isaiah doesn't matter. Nia controls the shares we need."
My breath caught.
The video continued.
Marcus grinned.
"She's been dreaming about this wedding since her mother died. She won't throw away her marriage over anything."
Devin said something I couldn't hear.
Then Marcus laughed again.
"Watch tomorrow. I'll shove her face into that ridiculous cake, and she'll still smile for the photographs."
A horrible silence filled the ballroom.
I stared at my husband.
Marcus lunged toward Isaiah.
"Turn that off!"
Isaiah stepped back.
But the video continued playing.
Marcus's next words made my blood turn cold.
"After the honeymoon, she'll sign the Harbor Point deal. Then Devin and I get our money."
I stopped breathing.
Harbor Point.
That was the redevelopment proposal Isaiah and I had been reviewing for months.
A deal worth millions.
A deal Marcus had repeatedly encouraged me to approve.
I looked at him.
"Marcus?"
He shook his head.
"Baby, it's not what you think."
But I had heard enough.
He hadn't married me because he loved me.
He had married me because he believed he could use me.
And the humiliation at the wedding hadn't been an accident.
He had planned it.
I looked down at my destroyed gown.
Then at the enormous cake.
Then at the man who had promised to love and protect me less than three hours earlier.
"Was any of it real?" I whispered.
Marcus opened his mouth.
Before he could answer, Isaiah played the final seconds.
Devin asked, "And what happens when Nia finds out?"
Marcus smiled directly into the camera.
"By then, she'll have given me everything I came for."
The room fell completely silent.
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And I realized the man standing beside me wasn't the husband I thought I had married.
He was a stranger wearing my husband's face.
