Chapter 4
My parents stared at her in shock. “Mallory, what are you talking about?”
“What happened to Riley? Why wouldn’t she come to her own wedding?”
“She’s always been punctual–she wouldn’t even be late for school once. Today is her wedding day! Where could she possibly have gone?”
Mallory’s face flickered with a barely concealed smile as she pulled out a letter from behind her back.
“Riley ran away. She left this note saying she’s eloped with a man she actually loves.”
“She doesn’t want to marry Rhys Valentine.”
My parents immediately flew into a panic, slapping their thighs in dismay. “That ungrateful girl! How could she run away at a time like this?”
“What are we going to do? If we offend the Valentine heir, he might take back the mansion! Our family could face disaster!”
My parents looked genuinely worried, but not for my safety–only for how my alleged disappearance might affect their luxurious lifestyle.
“Don’t worry,” Mallory said calmly. “I have a solution.”
She went to my room and returned with my wedding dress, which she had already changed into.
‘I can take Riley’s place at the altar.”
“After all, Rhys wants to marry a daughter from our family–it doesn’t really matter which one of us it is.”
“You’ll still be his in–laws, and you’ll still enjoy all the wealth and status that comes with it.”
Dad looked hesitant, but Mom nodded in agreement.
“Under the circumstances, this is our only option.”
“Mallory, I’m sorry you have to make this sacrifice.”
A flash of triumph crossed Mallory’s eyes.
Inwardly, she was thinking: Soon you’ll discover Riley’s body. I’ll have caused her death, yet you’ll still be grateful to me. How can parents be so foolish?
But outwardly, she maintained an expression of pure innocence. “It’s no sacrifice at all. I’m happy to help my parents and ensure my sister finds her true happiness. This is the least I can do.”
Although the Valentine family is one of America’s elite dynasties, their patriarch was a 19th century European nobleman who came to America and established a vast business empire.
Therefore, this wedding would follow European traditions–the bride would wear a heavy veil that would remain in place until the end of the ceremony,
04:21
Attempting to Steal My World? Easy! My Rebirth Comes with a Playbook
2.2%
Chapter
This arrangement perfectly suited both my and Mallory’s purposes.
With the vell covering her face, Mallory took my place as the bride and stepped into the Rolls Royce waiting outside the mansion to collect the bride
Before leaving, she lifted her veil and cast a contemptuous glance at my photograph on the table, followed by a cold smile.
“Goodbye, Buley, you can die in peace now. F’ll enjoy the wealth and status that should have been yours. I’ll be the society wife you were meant to be,”
She believed loan sharks would be coming after me for the debts she’d created in my name, She had even arranged for the rooftop railing screws to be loosened, hoping to stage my suicide as if I’d been driven to jump by debt collectors.
What she didn’t know I had no intention of going to the rooftop at all.
Rhys stood at the altar looking impossibly handsome in his tailored tuxedo–the dream groom of countless women.
His eyes were fixed tenderly on his bride as he reached out to take her hand.
“Haley, today’s finally our wedding day. Are you nervous?”
Mallory pretended to be shy, shaking her head slightly.
thys asked a few more questions, to which Mallory either remained silent or simply nodded or shook her head.
Though he found her behavior somewhat strange, he attributed it to wedding nerves and didn’t think much of it.
As the ceremony was about to begin, I discarded my chewing gum and walked confidently up the aisle,
Thys, how do you like your bride?”
dys whipped around at the sound of my voice, his eyebrows knitting together in disbelief.
‘Riley?”
He looked between me and the woman beside him in confusion.
As I appeared at the ceremony, guests who recognized me began to murmur among themselves.
Isn’t that Riley Brooks? The woman who saved Rhys Valentine’s life?”
“Yes, she’s supposed to be today’s bride! If she’s standing there, then who’s that woman next to Rhys?”
Rhys’s expression hardened as he reached over and lifted the veil of the woman beside him, revealing a pale face.
Alemding to steal My World! Igay! My Holdeth tunes with a Playbook