Part 1His Favorite Enemy

At my wedding to Liam, his nemesis, Sadie, crashed the ceremony.

She made a scene, shoved me to the floor in the process, and then pointed a perfectly manicured finger at Liam.

“You sabotaged my pitch meeting, so I’m sabotaging your wedding!” she shrieked, her voice echoing in the suddenly silent ballroom.

A flash of familiar fire lit Liam’s eyes. He shot back, his voice rising to match hers. “That was payback for you getting my car towed during my client dinner!”

“And what about the Henderson account? You poached them, and you know it!”

They were off, lost in their own toxic orbit right there at the altar. A trickle of warmth ran down my temple, and I realized I was bleeding. I called his name, but my voice was a whisper drowned out by their shouting.

My hand trembled as I stared at the two of them, their faces flushed, their bodies bristling with an energy that was far too intimate for a public fight. It was a dance I knew all too well.

My fingers brushed against the microphone that had tumbled from the officiant’s stand. I picked it up, the cool metal a shock against my skin. The feedback squealed for a second, finally slicing through their argument.

“Liam,” I said, my voice amplified and shaking. “The wedding is off.”

* * *

He froze, his mouth half-open. It took him a few seconds to even turn his head. When his gaze finally landed on the blood matting my hair, he stumbled toward me.

“Chloe? Oh god, Chloe, are you okay?”

I turned away from him, my eyes scanning the wreckage of what should have been the happiest day of my life. Most of the guests had fled. Only a few close friends lingered in the corners, looking horrified.

I clenched my fists. The wedding I had dreamed of for years, reduced to this.

“It’s all my fault,” Liam stammered, his hands hovering uselessly around me. “I never should have let that psycho in here. Don’t be angry. We’ll reschedule, we’ll do it again in a few weeks…”

“Who are you calling a psycho?” Sadie’s voice cut in, sharp as glass. “This is what you get, Liam! You plan another wedding, and I’ll ruin that one, too!”

“You…” Liam’s anger surged again, and he spun around to face her.

I grabbed the corner of his tuxedo jacket, my grip desperate. I squeezed all the pain and exhaustion into five words.

“If you argue with her, we’re done.”

The fight drained out of him instantly. He deflated, turning to the venue’s security guards and simply telling them to get her out. We could still hear Sadie’s furious curses echoing from the lobby.

“I’m not done with you, Liam! I’ll never let you be happy!”

He finally ignored her, scooping me into his arms. “Chloe, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I’m taking you to the ER, just to make sure you’re okay.”

After a few stitches and a clean bill of health, I fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep in a quiet hospital room. I was woken up by the sound of a familiar argument. Liam was in the doorway, his back to me, hissing into his phone.

“Sadie, if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I swear to God I will make you regret it… What do you mean, I started it? You’re threatening me now? You just wait!”

He hung up, ready to storm out, but I shot a hand out and grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t,” I whispered. “If you go after her, she’ll just come back with something worse. It will never end. You two will be doing this for the rest of your lives.” My voice was flat. “Just… let it go. For today, just let it be over.”

I don’t know what part of my soul I had to scrape out to say those words. In the three years I’d been with Liam, I had been the collateral damage in their endless war. The expensive perfume he bought for my birthday, mysteriously replaced with a gag-gift bottle of hot sauce. The time he was supposed to pick me up from work, only to leave me waiting for two hours in the freezing rain because he got into a screaming match with her over a parking spot.

I had tried to be patient. I had tried to understand the decade of baggage they shared. But this was my wedding. And for the first time, watching them fight, I saw something else flicker between them—an old, curdled intimacy that had nothing to do with hatred.

So I was afraid. I was terrified that if he retaliated this time, I would be chained to their drama forever.

He sighed, his shoulders slumping. He covered my hand with his. “Okay,” he said softly. “You’re right. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here with you.”

On the way home from the hospital, Liam held my hand, his words a constant stream of gentle apologies and promises. But as we reached my apartment door, I stopped.

It was slightly ajar.

A chaotic, violated energy seemed to pour from the crack. The moment I pushed the door open, my breath hitched in my chest.