BLAKE'S POV
"What the hell are you doing with my fiancée?" I shouted at my father, my phone shaking in my hand.
The photo Sienna's friend sent me was clear as day—Dad sitting close to Melissa, looking at her like she was something precious. They looked intimate. Way too intimate for two people who'd just met.
Dad stood up slowly, his face completely calm. That was the scariest thing about my father—he never yelled, never lost control. He just got cold and quiet, and that's when you knew you were screwed.
"Your fiancée?" Dad repeated, his voice dangerously soft. "That's interesting, Blake. Because thirty minutes ago, I caught you having sex with her best friend in the honeymoon suite. So tell me—how exactly is Melissa still your fiancée?"
My face burned. "That's different—"
"Different how?" Dad took a step toward me, and I actually backed up. "Different because you're a man and you can do whatever you want? Different because Melissa doesn't matter?"
"She doesn't!" The words burst out of me before I could stop them. "Okay? Melissa doesn't matter. She's boring and clingy and—"
Dad's hand shot out and grabbed my shirt collar, yanking me close. I'd never seen him this angry. Ever.
"You will not speak about her that way," Dad said, his voice like ice. "Not in front of me. Not in front of her. Not ever again."
"Why do you even care?" I tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong. "You've never cared about any woman I dated before. You didn't even bother to meet Melissa until today!"
"Because every other woman you dated was as shallow and worthless as you are," Dad said. "But Melissa is different. Melissa deserves better than a spoiled, cheating coward for a husband."
The words hit me like a slap. "I'm not a coward—"
"Then what do you call sleeping with her best friend an hour before your wedding?" Dad released me with a shove. "What do you call letting Sienna send Melissa that photo? What do you call running away instead of facing what you did?"
I straightened my shirt, trying to get my anger back. But the truth was, I felt sick. Not guilty—I didn't regret Sienna. But seeing the look on my father's face, the disappointment and disgust, made something twist in my stomach.
"I was going to tell Melissa eventually," I muttered. "After the honeymoon. I just needed time to—"
"To what? Enjoy your wedding night with a woman you don't love while planning to dump her afterward?" Dad shook his head. "You're worse than I thought."
"At least I'm honest about who I am!" I shot back. "You're standing here defending Melissa like some kind of hero, but where were you for the last year? Where were you when she needed someone to walk her down the aisle because her parents are dead? You didn't care about her until five minutes ago!"
Something flickered in Dad's eyes. Something that looked almost like guilt.
"You're right," he said quietly. "I should have been here sooner. I should have met Melissa months ago. If I had, maybe I could have saved her from making the biggest mistake of her life—marrying you."
That hurt worse than anything else he'd said.
"Fine," I spat. "You want her? Take her. Melissa's all yours, Dad. Maybe you two can bond over how terrible I am."
I meant it as an insult, but Dad's expression didn't change.
"Maybe we will," he said.
The words hung in the air between us like a bomb about to explode.
Sienna grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin. "Blake, baby, we should go. This is getting messy."
But I couldn't move. I stared at my father, at the way he was looking at Melissa—protective and possessive and something else I couldn't name.
"You can't be serious," I said, my voice cracking. "She's twenty-six years old. You're almost fifty. You're my father!"
"And you're the man who destroyed her," Dad replied. "So tell me, Blake—why shouldn't I give her everything you couldn't?"
Melissa was standing behind Dad, her face pale and shocked. She looked between us like she couldn't believe what was happening.
"This is insane," I said, but my voice sounded weak even to my own ears.
"What's insane is thinking you could treat someone like garbage and face no consequences," Dad said. He turned to Melissa, his voice softening. "You have a choice to make. You can let Blake and Sienna walk away laughing, knowing they destroyed you and got away with it. Or you can let me help you make them regret ever betraying you."
"Dad, what are you doing?" I felt panic rising in my chest. "You can't just—"
"I can do whatever I want," Dad interrupted. "I'm Dominic Romano. I own half this city. And right now, I'm offering Melissa something you never gave her—respect."
Melissa's eyes were filling with tears, but she wasn't crying. She was staring at my father like he was some kind of savior.
"What do you want from me?" she asked him, her voice barely a whisper.
Dad smiled, and it was the scariest smile I'd ever seen on his face.
"I want you to marry me instead."
The world stopped.
Sienna gasped. Melissa's eyes went wide. And I felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach.
"What?" I croaked.
"You heard me," Dad said, never taking his eyes off Melissa. "Marry me, Melissa. Today. Right now. Two hundred guests are downstairs waiting for a wedding. Let's give them one. Just not the one they expected."
"You're crazy," I said, my heart pounding. "You're both crazy. Melissa would never—"
"Actually," Melissa said, and her voice was stronger now, clearer. She looked at me, and I saw something in her eyes I'd never seen before—rage. Pure, burning rage. "Actually, Blake, I think that's the best idea I've heard all day."
My blood ran cold. "Melissa, you can't be serious—"
"Why not?" She took a step toward me, and I actually backed up. "You screwed my best friend an hour before our wedding. You humiliated me. You broke my heart. So yes, Blake—I'm going to marry your father. And you're going to watch."
"This is revenge," I said desperately. "This is just revenge. You don't actually want to marry him—"
"Maybe it started as revenge," Melissa said. "But right now? Right now it feels like the smartest decision I've ever made."
She turned to my father and held out her hand.
"I'll marry you, Dominic Romano. On one condition."
Dad took her hand, and something passed between them that made my stomach turn.
"Name it," he said.
"Blake has to be there," Melissa said, her eyes locked on mine. "He has to watch me become his stepmother. He has to stand there while I marry the better man. And then he has to live with it for the rest of his life."
Dad's smile widened. "Done."
"No!" I shouted. "Melissa, please, you don't understand what you're doing—"
"I understand perfectly," she said coldly. "Betray me? I'm ready to make you pay."
And that's when Sienna started laughing.
Not nervous laughter. Not uncomfortable laughter. Real, genuine laughter that made everyone turn to stare at her.
"Oh, this is perfect," Sienna said, wiping tears from her eyes. "This is absolutely perfect."
"What's so funny?" Melissa demanded.
Sienna pulled out her phone and showed us the screen. It was a video—a recording of this entire conversation.
"I've been recording everything," Sienna said, her smile vicious. "Every word. And in about thirty seconds, this video is going to be sent to every major news outlet in New York. Dominic Romano proposes to his son's ex-fiancée on their wedding day. It's going to be the scandal of the century."
Dad's face went white. "You wouldn't dare—"
"Already sent," Sienna said, pressing a button. "Congratulations, you two. You're about to become the most hated couple in America."