Page 1 of The Billionaire's Runaway Bride

Chapter 1

Lauren

When I woke up this morning, I felt like it was the last day of my life. I’ve never had a chance to call my existence my own. Everything I do, all that I’ve ever done, has been preordained. My education. My attire. The way I should behave and please my parents.

I’ve never lived, except for my brief time in college.

And now, as I sit in this overly white room that reeks of too many roses and cloying perfumes, where the bridal party got dressed, I know I won’t be able to hold on to any hope. I’ll never get a semblance of “life” after the ceremony. In two hours, my father will be walking me down the aisle. I’ll be led down the petal-covered path at his prized vineyard to stand at the altar with the groom I can’t stand for even one second.

Mrs. Jeremy Klein.

A grimace twists my face, and with another burning sensation of acid in my stomach and throat, I swallow hard and rub my chest.

Or maybe that’s not reflux after all. Feeling this dreadful about the mere thought of the married name I’ll take so soon…that’s a sign of something worse. Something a lot like realizing I’m about to make a huge, huge mistake.

I can’t do this.

“Lauren!”

I sigh at the sound of my best friend calling for me. Aubrey is the only guest here I would’ve invited. All the other hundreds of people coming to witness my wedding are strangers. I don’t know them, and I don’t care to. They’ll only be the backdrop of this day of misery. Friends and acquaintances of my parents who wouldn’t miss this big event of the year.

My father and mother decided on the guest list. In fact, they decided all the details. Since the day Jeremy proposed—no—since the day I introduced him to my parents, they’d taken over every choice.

Aubrey is the only person I invited. If I hadn’t insisted that she be one of my bridesmaids, she likely wouldn’t have made the cut to be on the guestlist. This entire sham of a wedding is their show. My parents’ show. Jeremy’s.

I’m just…expected to follow, but the twisting clench in my stomach makes me wonder if I can. All my life, I’d fulfilled their wishes and bent to what they wanted. But this?

I swallow again as Aubrey rushes into the room.

“Oh, hey. Here you are. Why didn’t you reply?” She trounces in, tucking her long black waves behind her ear in her rush. “So many rooms down this hallway—” She finally turns to close the door, frowning at me. “What’s wrong?”

What isn’t wrong? Nothing feels right. Not a single thing.

“Lauren?” She winces as she comes closer. “I thought I’d check on you. See if you needed anything the twenty-some attendants and assistants can’t handle.”

I nod, acknowledging the way she looks out for me. She always has, but she won’t have a lifeline for this. She can’t save me from what I worry will be the end of my life as I know it.

“Rachel’s in the other room,” she adds with a dry expression. “Getting her hair done and talking. You know how she gets.”

Don’t I ever.

“She was telling the stylist that she’s going to Cabo with Jeremy next month.” Aubrey crosses her arms and raises her brows. My best friend from college has never approved of Rachel. She’s never liked her, but for so long, she’s realized that Rachel is just one part of the package I’ve got to put up with. While Rach was my childhood friend, we drifted apart in college—my only time of slight freedom. Later, when I realized she was sleeping with Jeremy, it should’ve been the rift that severed our friendship. But no. Her parents are friends with my parents and that is all that matters.

“That’s all?” Aubrey shakes her head. “One little shrug and that’s it?”

I swallow again, rubbing my stomach. “I can’t do anything about it.”

“That’s not true.”

I shoot her a look that’s likely a messy mix of desperation and irritation. She knows I’m expected to follow through with this wedding. She’s aware of how much I wish I could get out of it.

“You’re seriously going to marry him and look the other way when he sleeps with her?”

“Hey, at least I know—or can assume—she’s clean.” I smirk. “Better he has one girlfriend than sleeping with random skanks off the street, right?”

She shakes her head again, frowning. “This is not right.”

It isn’t. What’s even worse is that Aubrey seems to be the only person who cares on my behalf. It stings, knowing I’m committing to a cheater, but this wedding has been a production in the works for too long for my voice to matter now. I doubt my opinions will ever matter. They haven’t since I was a child, and with that pattern set in stone at a young age, it’ll be even harder now at twenty-five for me to dare to stand up for myself.

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