Fiancé's Affair Ends Wedding

I had just completed a special assignment when I received a call from my aunt, Ivanna.

She informed me that she had found me a potential match—a hardworking, self-made individual who had overcome many hardships. Feeling a shared sense of struggle and understanding, I agreed without hesitation.

When my colleagues learned about my upcoming wedding, they showered me with gifts, and my boss, Rishi, even arranged for a designer wedding dress. I asked Ivanna for the hotel’s address and had Rishi send the dress there.

On an impulse, I decided to try on the dress. To my horror, I found my fiancé's widowed sister-in-law, Jaylani Diaz, altering my dress. She had attached black sleeves and added a huge swath of black fabric across the front.

Outraged, I confronted her, but she merely smirked and lectured me condescendingly, "You don’t understand, do you? Amari is like the sky, and you should wear black, like a bride without status, so he can always keep you in check."

“Women taking charge of the household only bring ruin! You’re lucky to have Amari; did you think you’d wear white and outshine him?” she continued.

I swallowed my anger. "I don't like black."

She sneered, "As the elder sister-in-law, I'm akin to his mother. You must listen to me!"

I immediately called Amari. "Get this sister-in-law of yours out of here. I can’t wear this dreadful dress!"

...

When I arrived and saw the transformed dress, I blurted out in shock, "What happened here?"

The woman holding the scissors turned to look at me, her eyes filled with hostility.

"You must be Malaya Freeman," she said icily, introducing herself as Jaylani Diaz, Amari’s sister-in-law.

I nodded politely and asked again about the dress. She ignored me, continuing her sabotage.

Seeing the dress in shambles, I quickly intervened to stop her. "This is my wedding dress. Why are you doing this?"

But her strength was more than I could handle, and I couldn’t stop her. I urgently called Amari, trying to understand what was happening, but only got a busy signal.

Jaylani scoffed, continuing her destruction. As she picked up another piece of black fabric, I grabbed her arm, trying to stay composed. "Sister-in-law, the dress looks fine as it is. No need for more changes."

She glared at me, clearly annoyed. "Who are you calling sister-in-law? Stop pretending to be part of the family!"

Breaking free of my grip, she resumed altering the dress. I couldn't hold back any longer.

"This dress costs a fortune. Touch it again, and you’ll pay full price!"

Jaylani paused, her eyes filled with disdain. "Can you afford such an expensive dress? Aren’t you spending our family’s money?"

“Do you just like showing off in front of men? Our family won’t tolerate that sort of behavior.”

Her words puzzled me. What did she mean by that?

But if Jaylani wanted to cause trouble, I wouldn't make it easy for her. Coldly, I watched as she stitched black sleeves and a large black patch onto the dress.

Satisfied with her work, she said, "Now it looks right."

Remembering she was Amari’s sister-in-law, I tried to keep my anger in check. “Sister-in-law, black wedding dresses are considered bad luck here…”

I left it at that, assuming Jaylani, having been married, knew what a black wedding dress symbolized.

Jaylani snorted, "Of course, I know that, but you’re so eager to marry in. Do you still care?"

She scrutinized me with disdain, clicking her tongue twice. “A woman marrying into a family like ours has to wear black to know her place, treating Amari like the sky.”

So, she did it on purpose! I saw no reason to stay silent.

I snatched the scissors and shredded a nearby suit. Jaylani screamed in outrage.

"Malaya Freeman, what are you doing?" she screeched, yelling for help.

Before I could react, a group of bodyguards pinned me to the ground.

Jaylani slapped me across the face. "Not even married yet, and this arrogant? You need discipline!”

At her signal, the bodyguards beat me. As I dodged, I heard Jaylani on the phone.

“Amari, hurry over here. Your new wife is causing trouble!”

“If she doesn’t wear this dress, she’ll never respect you.”

Beaten until I was barely conscious, Jaylani finally ordered the guards to stop.

My eyes pleaded with the hotel staff, but they did nothing, ignoring my plight.

Grinding my teeth, I glared at Jaylani. I had never suffered such humiliation. But until the mission was officially over, I couldn’t reveal my true identity, or everyone’s efforts would be in vain.

She met my gaze, raising an eyebrow. “Still defiant?”

Before she could finish, she ground her stiletto heel into my fingers.

Pain shot through me, but I remained silent. Only when I heard footsteps nearing the hotel door did I breathe a sigh of relief—Amari had finally arrived.

Jaylani released me, quickly running over to him in a tearful show of distress.

“Amari, if you hadn’t come back, your wife would have bullied me to death.”

Amari's cold gaze fell on me, his words devoid of warmth. "You dared to touch Jaylani?"

Lying on the ground, I struggled to catch my breath, still reeling from the pain. Hearing Amari's words, I looked up at him. He was indeed as impressive as Ivanna had described.

Yet, he was standing there with his arm around Jaylani's waist, as if they were a couple. Alarm bells went off in my mind—this wasn't how in-laws should behave. No wonder she was hostile and gave me a black dress. She thought I was taking her place.

Gritting my teeth through the pain, I stood unsteadily. "Amari, I'm your fiancée..."

But he cut me off sharply. "I don't have a fiancée who disrespects family!"

Family? I looked at him in disbelief. Was he referring to the tearful Jaylani as family?

"If you're marrying me, you wear what the family tells you to wear!"

"What century is this, still holding onto such superstitions? Haven’t you learned anything?"

I couldn’t help but retort, "If you’re so educated, why make me wear black to be controlled?"

Amari’s icy stare lingered on me, laced with sarcasm. “Jaylani was right. You're so unruly, without black, you’d be uncontrollable.”

I locked eyes with Amari, repeating Jaylani’s words. “Sister-in-law as mother?”

He nodded seriously, not seeing the absurdity.

I chuckled derisively, "When did you suddenly gain another mother?"

"If you’d told me sooner, I wouldn’t have agreed to this marriage."

Amari's face flushed with anger, but before he could speak, Jaylani began her tirade.

"How dare someone of your status say such things?"

Status? In this day and age, those words still left her lips. And they believed black could control someone. Were they from the Dark Ages?

I was about to respond, but Jaylani cut me off.

"You, an orphan, are lucky to marry into the Freeman family."

"Your poor relatives can't ever visit us, including that aunt of yours who begged Amari to marry you."

She gave me a withering look. "What was his uncle thinking, setting Amari up with someone like you?"

"If you want to marry Amari, you must wear black!”

Someone like me? I laughed in disbelief.

“The Freemans recently secured a multimillion-dollar sponsorship, right?”

Amari looked at me in shock. “How do you know?”

Of course, because the sponsorship was arranged by his uncle through my aunt, Ivanna, who agreed only after his uncle promised Amari would be good to me.

Jaylani sneered, “She’s a gold digger; she must have found out beforehand.”

Amari's eyes filled with growing contempt. “Malaya, I should have known you were that type of woman. I wouldn’t have agreed to marry you!”

I laughed bitterly, glancing pointedly at his hand on Jaylani’s waist. “What kind of woman do you want? Someone like Jaylani?”

Without a second thought, Amari nodded.

“Of course!”

Jaylani shot him a coy glance, her eyes revealing her feelings.

Amari threw me a reluctant look, his tone grudging. "If you wear the black dress, I might still marry you."

I gazed at the two of them, so clearly aligned, and nodded decisively.

“Sorry, I won’t wear black. And I won’t marry you either!”