With butterflies fluttering in her stomach, Jane was all set to marry Victor, the man of her dreams, in a true fairytale wedding. However, everything shattered just moments before the ceremony when Victor learned that Jane wasn’t a virgin.
Jane gazed at herself in the floor-length mirror. After months of planning, everything had led to this day — her wedding day. She was a bundle of nerves, but she was more than pleased with how her vision had come to life. In just half an hour, she would marry the man of her dreams — Victor.
And although his temper terrified her, she had to admit that his charm had reached her heart.
Now, standing before her reflection, she smiled. She ran her fingers through her hair; it was freshly done, and she loved how polished she looked.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Jane turned around and saw Victor, her fiancé. The bride’s dressing room was usually forbidden territory before the ceremony, but there he was.
“Jane,” he whispered, his eyes wide with desire for her. “You look ravishing.”
“Victor!” Jane exclaimed. “You’re not supposed to be here! You know it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, my love. Now close your eyes and go! I’ll help you. Wait for me at the altar. I’ll be there soon.”
Victor stepped forward, the air between them charged with excitement.
“Don’t make me wait, Jane,” he said, breathing in her scent. “We’ll be husband and wife soon, but I can’t wait. I must have you now.”
Victor began to undo the buttons of his suit, his eyes lingering on Jane. She felt uneasy. They had decided to wait for their wedding night before being intimate — it wasn’t something that Jane believed in, but Victor was adamant about “doing things right,” so Jane couldn’t understand what had changed.
“What’s the big deal, Jane?” he purred against the neck. “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll show you what you’re in for tonight.”
Jane’s stomach turned.
“Darling,” she said. “We’ve waited so long. We can wait until the ceremony is over. And I don’t want to ruin my hair and makeup, not to mention the dress. We won’t have time to sort things out.”
“Stop it, Jane,” he hissed. “Don’t push me away. This is what I want. I know it’s your first time, but don’t worry, I’ll make it special…”
Jane kept pushing him away until she uttered the words that would change her life forever.
“Victor, you’re not my first,” she said.
Victor froze, his eyes searching her own, trying to decide whether she was telling the truth. He took her silence and quivering lower lip as the truth.
“What did you say?” he barked. “You’re not a virgin? You’re telling me that I was about to marry a woman who isn’t a virgin? How could you lie to me? How could you make me believe you were a pure woman worthy of marrying me — a powerful businessman? You are disgusting, Jane. You are damaged goods that have been used and thrown aside.”
Jane pleaded with him, retorting that she had never lied about it, just that it hadn’t come up before. That was the truth — Victor had assumed that she was the delicate flower her parents had presented her to be. And she knew that it was what his family wanted, too.
So, she let herself become a sweet little bakery owner while Victor controlled businesses.
Victor grabbed her arm and dragged her out onto the balcony where the guests were having their welcome drinks on the lawns down below.
“There is no wedding!” he bellowed for the crowd to hear. “My fiancée, Jane, had us all believe that she was a pure woman! But that’s a lie! She’s been with other men, and I refuse to marry a castaway toy.”
“Stop, please,” Jane pleaded in his ear. “Our parents will never look at us the same!”
“I don’t care,” he said, releasing her.
Jane fell to the ground, hiding herself behind a pillar. She watched as Victor ran down the stairs to the crowd below. She saw him taking a bottle of whiskey from the bartender and running off — Kira trailing his steps.
“Kira,” Jane sighed, knowing that Kira would use this to her advantage. She would sleep with Victor before the end of the day. Jane was sure of it. Kira had made it clear that she wanted Victor for herself.
Jane sighed, finally understanding that life as she knew it was over.
After what seemed like hours, Jane moved from the cold floor to a bench inside. She looked down at her hands and saw the remnants of her makeup. She had been crying since Victor had left. She wondered why her mother hadn’t come looking for her.
She’s probably just embarrassed to have me as a daughter, Jane thought.
“Excuse me, Miss,” Jane heard a man say.
She looked up and saw one of the bartenders from earlier.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “I’m Marcus. Let me sit with you.”
Jane collapsed back into her seat, her sobs renewed by the man’s politeness.
“I will never be okay again,” she cried, the pain in her voice raw and unfiltered.
“What happened? Why did the groom run away?” he asked.
“Because he left me,” Jane said simply. “He left me because I wasn’t a virgin.”
Marcus chuckled. “This isn’t the Middle Ages.”
Jane reluctantly told Marcus everything that had led to her crying down her wedding dress. She told him about Jake, the man she lost her virginity to — the first man she had loved, until her parents found out and put too much pressure on her, saying that Jake wasn’t good enough for her.
Jake couldn’t handle the pressure, too, and found comfort in cheating on her. Leaving Jane to nurse her broken heart by herself.
She told Marcus about how she thought Victor loved her for who she was — but Victor wasn’t able to see through her past. Now, she was tainted. She damaged goods.
“Jane,” Marcus said. “Don’t waste your time feeling horrible for living your life. He couldn’t understand it because he’s not the right person for you. We all have pasts. And I can tell you, that groom of yours is anything but a virgin himself.”
Jane chuckled through her tears.
“Come, I know that you’ve been booked into the honeymoon suite of this villa — I was given the duty of arranging the champagne for your room. Let’s go and order you everything off the menu! Let’s teach that groom of yours a lesson. And, let’s give you a part of this day that you can still have.”
Jane reluctantly allowed herself to follow Marcus. She had nothing else to lose now.
They went to the honeymoon suite, where Jane’s clothing had already been hung in the closet, her shoes neatly lined against the wall. Marcus ordered every expensive meal on the menu and kicked off his shoes. He made Jane laugh more than she had since her wedding planning began. He had a sparkle in his eyes that reminded Jane of being with someone she loved.
After dinner and a pillow fight, Jane reached out and kissed Marcus.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” Jane said, turning away.
“I’m glad you did,” Marcus said, holding her in place.
“I won’t use you to mask my pain,” Jane said. “I cannot do that to someone who has made me feel more like myself in the past few hours than Victor has made me feel in months.”
Jane told herself she would ask Marcus to leave, take a long bath, and wallow in her misery. But then, Marcus called her ‘exquisite’ and kissed her along her neck, and Jane again fell into his arms.
The following day, Jane woke up with the soft kiss of the satin sheets around her. She reached out for Marcus with closed eyes, but her hands found only an empty bed.
“Marcus?” she called, thinking he was in the bathroom.
But he wasn’t there. She sat back, the tears streaming down her face again.
Of course, she thought. I’m damaged goods. Only good enough to be used once.
**
A few moments later, the door opened, and Jane saw Victor standing in the doorway.
“Well, you’ve made yourself at home,” he said. “Come on. Get dressed. We’re having an impromptu drink with the guests. Most of them were staying here, so I sent word that yesterday was a mistake. I will marry you after all. I don’t want to. I don’t even want to look at you. But I’d look like such a saint, taking you back.”
Jane could barely take in anything he was saying. After the act he pulled moments before their wedding, she didn’t want anything to do with him. But on the other hand, she didn’t have a choice. She thought of the magical night she had spent with Marcus — him teaching her how to love her body and her, enjoying every moment.
But Marcus had left her. And Victor was here, giving her a second chance at an easier life — a married woman’s life rather than a shunned one.
She did as she was told.
Jane walked around the ballroom where the cocktail party was waiting for her. She looked at every table, hoping to see Marcus, but he wasn’t around. Victor was stuck to her, but she knew that he was repulsed by her.
His comments were atrocious, and she couldn’t imagine being married to him the next day. But he was a persuasive man and had arranged to have their wedding moved.
Jane couldn’t see either of their parents at the cocktail party. But she did that Kira was stuck to Victor’s side. She was the shadow of him that she always wanted to be. And Jane knew that he had spent the night with her.
After tomorrow, Jane would be the mousy wife, and Kira, among others, would be Victor’s mistress. She was sure.
“Jane,” Marcus said, appearing out of the crowd. “What are you doing with him?”
Jane’s heart rose. He looked at her tenderly. And Jane noticed that he was dressed in an expensive suit.
“You left me,” she said. “After last night, you just left. And why are you dressed like that? Are you not a bartender?”
From the corner of her eye, Jane saw Victor’s jaw drop.
“You slept with the bartender?” Victor spat. “As if you couldn’t sink any lower.”
Marcus glared at Victor.
“One more word and I will have you thrown out.”
“You can’t do that. A bartender doesn’t have that power,” Victor said.
“No, but this villa belongs to my father. And I’m taking over. I was undercover as a bartender yesterday because I wanted to see how things were run from the other side.”
Marcus smiled at Jane, who refused to smile back.
“I didn’t leave you, Jane,” he said. “I mean, I did. But I had every intention of coming back.”
He pulled a velvet box out of his coat pocket.
“I know you just met me, Jane. But you’re magical, and I want to know everything about you. Your past and your present. I want a future with you. So, get to know me. But please, wear this on your finger while you do so. Marry me, Jane?”
Marcus knelt in front of Jane and held the ring to her.
Jane nodded, seeing a future with a man who would love and respect her for everything she was.
She squealed when Marcus lifted her up and kissed her.
Her fairytale was just beginning.
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