Savoring The Poison At Our Wedding Chapter 1

It took twelve years to get Gavin to say "I do."

Twelve years of playing the devoted shadow to a man who ruled the city’s underworld with an iron fist. But on the morning of our engagement gala, a single phone call from his "childhood friend" was all it took. Gavin abandoned me and a ballroom full of elite guests to chase her into the rainy night.

Twelve years of sacrifice, all rendered worthless by a girl’s whimpering voice on the line: "If you don't care about me, I'll just disappear."

Inside my head, the System let out a cold, metallic sigh. [Host, would you like to switch your target?]

I stood in front of the vanity, my fingers trembling as I tore the silk veil from my hair. The lace snagged on my skin, drawing a thin line of red.

[Switch him,] I whispered.

I cashed in every point I had earned over a decade to pivot to a new target: Dominic Cross, the enigmatic heir to the largest offshore criminal syndicate.

To my surprise, the progress was dizzying.

When I was cornered in a dark alley by Gavin’s enemies, Dominic deployed his entire security detail to pull me out. When I was hospitalized with a high fever, he stayed by my bed for three days, refusing to eat or sleep.

The day he had to fly back to London to handle family business, he pulled me into his arms, his voice thick with a promise that felt like a lifeline.

"Madeline, wait for me. When I get back, I’m giving you the wedding of the century."

I leaned into his chest, closing my eyes, truly believing that my long winter was finally over.

Then, the System’s notification pierced through the fantasy like a shard of ice:

[Target: Dominic Cross. Favorability Rating: -60.]

On this scale, a stranger starts at zero. A negative number... that means loathing.

I didn't want to believe it. Using the passcode he gave me, I let myself into his penthouse and searched every corner. Deep in the back of a mahogany cabinet in his study, I found a heavy iron box.

Inside were forty-four handwritten letters.

Each one was signed by Dominic. And each one was addressed to a single name: Melanie Frost.

* * *

It was her again.

A tear hit the parchment, blurring a dried, dark-red stain. It wasn't ink. It was blood.

I traced the jagged handwriting, and all I could think about was the blood I’d seen pouring from Dominic’s side when he took a knife for me. It was the same shade. At the time, I had pressed my hands against his wound, sobbing, while he whispered, "I’d bleed a thousand times over just to keep you safe."

But that -60 rating was a serrated blade cutting through the hallucination. The life-saving heroics, the tender whispers—it was all a performance.

Desperate for some other explanation, I dug to the bottom of the box. There, I found a photocopied letter in Gavin’s unmistakable, sharp script. I had spent twelve years memorizing his handwriting; it was etched into my marrow.

"Dominic, Madeline is stubborn. She’ll hate Melanie because I left her at the gala. She’s only using you to get back at me. I know you love Melanie, but for her sake, please make Madeline fall for you while she’s vulnerable. Keep her occupied so she doesn't use her family’s influence to hurt Melanie."

"Melanie is fragile. It’s hard for her to be with me, and I’m too busy to protect her from every angle. I’m counting on you to keep Madeline away from her."

Every word was earnest, stripped of Gavin’s usual coldness.

The alleyway ambush, the hospital vigil, the airport promise—it was all a scripted play. A grand conspiracy between two powerful men to safeguard their precious Melanie.

I put everything back, my mind a hollow shell. As I walked out of the building, I ran straight into Melanie. She was wearing a custom-made Dior dress—a gift from Gavin—and her smile was a venomous thing.

"Coming to bring Dominic more 'warmth'?" she asked, her voice sugary and sharp. "He flew back overseas last week. Didn't he tell you?"

I looked at her, my lips twitching into a ghost of a smile. "He only said goodbye to you, then? If he’s that devoted, why didn't you go with him?"

Melanie’s face paled, her eyes instantly welling with tears. "Dominic and I are just old friends. Why do you have to be so cruel? My heart belongs to Gavin."

Before she could finish, a black Bentley screeched to the curb.

Gavin stepped out, his strides long and aggressive as he shielded her behind him. He looked at me, his eyes freezing over.

"Madeline, that’s enough."

I watched him stand there like a knight protecting a princess, and I started to laugh until the tears came.

"One word of 'bullying' from her, and my twelve years of devotion become the joke of the town," I said, my voice cracking. "The night of the gala, when you left me to chase her, did it ever cross your mind that I was the victim?"

Gavin’s brow furrowed, a flicker of something—guilt, maybe—passing through his eyes, but his voice remained hard. "The past is the past. Stop clinging to it."

"You have Dominic now," he added, dismissively. "Be content with that."

Melanie peeked from behind his shoulder, her eyes shimmering. "Madeline, it’s all my fault. Please don't blame Gavin..."

My phone rang. An international number.

The moment I answered, Dominic’s voice came through the speaker, warm and honeyed.

"Madeline, I’ve just landed. As soon as I settle the family affairs, I’m coming back to marry you. Wait for me, okay?"