Marry Me. I'll Spoil You Rotten.

The night before our wedding, my boyfriend left to take care of his childhood sweetheart. I called Marcus Cole, my nemesis. "I'm short a groom today. You want to step in? ". Sophie's really sick, high fever. She's been like this since we were kids. And every time I was there for her. I can't just leave her. It used to hurt to hear it; it didn't anymore. My birthday, Sophie scraped her knee on set. He drove four hours to her. Our anniversary, Sophie got a death threat from a troll. He left me at the restaurant and spent the entire night at her apartment. And now, the night before our wedding, he booked a flight without telling me and flew out to be with her. Ryan. I'm asking one more time. Can you make it back for the 11 o'clock ceremony. Lily? There's no way. Can we just push it back one day, please? Push it back! Every single guest is either already at the venue or on their way, and you're asking me to postpone the wedding on what bounces Lily because you're a jerk or Sophie's just that good at playing the victim Lily. I'm telling you, there's nothing going on between me and Sophie. You two should just marry each other. Why drag me into this for four years? If you're not back today, we're done. I told you, I literally cannot make it. If you don't want to lose me, you'll postpone the wedding. I turned around, grabbed a chair and threw it directly at the engagement photo on the wall. Lily, what did that jerk say? It's okay, baby. It's okay not to get married. I looked at her. I forced a smile. Who said I'm not getting married? I called Marcus Cole, my nemesis. Freshman year, I have a good relationship with the class monitor. Marcus appeared out of nowhere and drank the whole thing. The class president never talked to me again after that. I'd always suspected that was when he decided to make my life difficult. After graduation, I thought I was done with him. No such luck. His family's business competed directly with mine. We kept ending up at the same table, bidding on the same projects. Lilly? A few months back, when he found out I was getting married, he'd laughed and said. You should have married me. We are a powerful alliance. Yeah, it's me. I'm short of groom today. You want to step in? One second, two seconds, three... My heart was going too fast. Lily, is this a joke? If you don't want to forget, I... I'm in.

You're actually saying yes. yeah. But one condition, I'm not a prop. What does that mean. When I get married, I want a real wife Someone who will actually be there You understand? Deal. So what do I need to do right now? Get to the Grand Hotel by 11. You won't be disappointed. We hung up; everyone around me looked stunned. Marcus? The Marcus Cole you're always talking about, your business rival? Yes. but how is that okay? He's your enemy. What if he uses this against you? Marcus is gorgeous. He built his company from scratch. He is so much better than Ryan. I'm actually excited for you. Marcus and I were using each other, but it didn't matter. I needed this wedding to happen. Ryan's parents called, trying to talk me down on his behalf. Be reasonable, push it to tomorrow if you want to be one of us. Lilly, you need to learn to soften up a little. I hung up. Marry into their family, keep dreaming.

What are you doing. I'm getting married You, I told you to meet me at the venue I'm going to the venue I'm picking up my bride first. What, you're upset if I just show up at the venue, what does that look like, what does everyone around me think? Marcus, how did you manage to get all this done in such a short time? Compared to you, that's nothing what nothing. Shouldn't we be heading out? We're gonna be cutting it close. My face went warm, but I nodded. Yeah, let's go. I never imagined my husband would be Marcus Cole. In my head, he'd always been the guy with the sharpest tongue in any room. The person I once thought of beating up turned out to be my husband.

My parents had one kid, so they'd bought a townhouse two doors down from our family home and set it up as our wedding house. After the ceremony, once we signed everything, it would transfer to our names. By 9:30, I was in the dress. I knew I'd called Marcellin as a lastminute standin. I knew I was going to have to carry most of this myself; however bad it got, I was going to make it look perfect. When we were getting ready to leave, fireworks went off downstairs. The whole street smelled like a celebration. My other bridesmaid, Jessica, ran back into the room. Lily, Marcus is here! You have to see this motor trade! Come on, we have to go down and meet him! A long, perfect row of white cars lined the street. I didn't expect him to show up at my door. No one does that. Amber, shoes now let's go. My parents have already gone downstairs to pick him up I had no idea what Marcus was up. to Lily Hello Mrs. Cole Mom dial it back a little you're gonna scare her. Marcus, what are you doing?

11 o'clock, the wedding began. When we walked onto the stage, the room erupted. Wait, that's not Ryan. I thought the groom was Ryan Kellman. What is going on? Whoever this guy is, he's way taller, way better looking. Has anyone noticed the Kellibird family isn't here? Did she switch grooves? I was about to reach for the MC's mic to say something. Marcus got there first. I glanced at him, "You've got some nerve. " But I had underestimated him. Hi everyone, I'm Marcus Cole, Lilac's husband. Thank you all for being here to celebrate with us today. This is a love story that took some serious detours to get here. but we made it. He had apparently already briefed the MC because the entire script had been rewritten. The MC launched into a story about two evenly matched rivals, seven years of tension that turned out to be something else entirely. The right person has always been there. Everyone else is just there for the sake of it. Then the MC moved us forward, and we started exchanging rings. I was going to use the rings I'd bought for Ryan, but when the rings came out, I stopped. That wasn't the same box. I looked at Marcus; he was already opening it. A diamond caught the light and practically blinded the front row. Oh my God, is that 10 carats? At least she is so lucky. Why does stuff like this never happen to me? Marcus put the ring on my finger; it fit perfectly. At the same time, Marcus leaned down and kissed me mouth to mouth.

I was already running on fumes, but the reception wasn't the end of it. After dinner, a handful of guests—some out of curiosity and some probably hoping to watch us fail—said they wanted to see the place. Marcus had done everything else; he couldn't have had time to set up a whole house. I was about to make excuses for us. Come on, everyone, follow the cars! I thought he'd lost his mind the whole ride over I was tense, I didn't want to walk into an empty house and have everyone stare Marcus reached over and took my hand. Hey, stop worrying. When we got there, I understood why he told me not to worry. He had set everything upwhite roses and red roses shaped into archways at every doorway. The decorators just left. Marcus leaned in close, and then I saw the photos—my engagement photos from the shoot I'd done with Ryan, except Ryan was gone. In his place, a photo of Marcus in a suit. How? Money. By the end of the day, I was completely exhausted. I showered, changed into pajamas, climbed into the kingsized bed, and didn't move. Marcus came out after his shower. I sat up. The photos... how did you actually have those? What if I told you Ryan gave them to me? Ryan gave them to you? Why would Ryan give you our engagement photos? Guess. fine. forget it, he walked toward the bed, I looked away fast, cleared my throat. I want to sleep alone tonight.