---- you now, aren't I? Who else would want to deal with that mess you've got?" "You're... willing to marry me?" I repeated, my voice distant, like it didn't quite belong to me. My mother, standing to the side, gave a heavy sigh and scolded me with thinly veiled exasperation. "Leah, can't you see? Nick's always liked you. Always. He just told me, all those times he clashed with Jayden-it was because he could tell Jayden was just using you. He wanted to stand up for you! " Nick looked even more uncomfortable. He cleared his throat. "You just never got it. That guy was only after your money, and you couldn't see it. Then you stopped talking to me altogether. What kind of friend does that?" "T was wrong," I said quickly, feeling a pang of guilt. "Jayden fooled me. I didn't see it. I'm sorry, Nick." He brushed it off with a wave, his tone unusually calm. "Forget it. I'm marrying you anyway." ---- With Nick and his family's full support, our engagement moved ahead swiftly. The details were finalized almost overnight. News spread fast. Everyone in the city with any kind of status heard about it. They called it a perfect match-two strong families, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, a textbook union. Jayden's parents came to find me the very next day. They looked haggard, hollow-eyed, standing at my door with none of the arrogance they'd shown. before. The moment I opened the door, they leaned in urgently. Jayden's mother spoke first, her voice timid. "Leah .. is it true? They're saying you're marrying the Parker heir. What's going on? Weren't you supposed to marry Jayden?"