He Mocked My Choice, I Married The Guard

At my birthday party, my mother told me to draw from a mystery box to choose my husband. Liam had swapped every slip inside for the name of a penniless neighborhood security guard, just to stand up for my twin sister. Everyone watched eagerly, waiting to see a good show. Liam spoke down to me with supreme arrogance, giving me a choice... become his mistress, or marry that neighborhood security guard. "You may have the same face as Gwyneth, but you are cruel and fake. The only reason I'm even offering you a chance to be my mistress is out of consideration for Gwyneth..." he said. I curled my lip and cut him off. "I chose to marry the neighborhood security guard." "Yvonne, what did you say?" A look of genuine shock crossed Liam's face, something I had never seen before. But I had no energy left to care about him. I stepped past the crowd and looked toward the man standing by the door, the security guard. He wore his official uniform, he was probably only here tonight for a side job. Our eyes met from across the room. Ignoring all the stares around me, I walked straight up to him. "My name is Yvonne Arden," I said. "What's yours?" "Zayden Rhodes." "That's a nice name," I said. "Will you marry me?" Even though I had already announced my choice, I still wanted to hear what he thought. Zayden did not get overly excited or pleased as I had half-expected. Instead, he nodded calmly and steadily. "Yes." I waved over a banquet server. "Take him to get changed... buy him a few proper new outfits." Zayden was mine now, he deserved to look his best. Liam watched the whole scene, his brows furrowed so tight they looked like they could pinch a fly in half. "Yvonne, have you lost your mind? You're actually going to marry this security guard? You're a wealthy heiress, are you really willing to be the wife of someone from the lowest rung of society?" His voice dripped with nothing but scorn for Zayden. Gwyneth, who had stayed quiet all evening, stepped forward with a soft smile. "I don't think my sister truly wants to marry him. This is just... playing hard to get. She's loved Liam for years... she'd never fall for someone else. She's only doing this to make him jealous." The moment Gwyneth spoke, every flicker of regret in Liam's eyes vanished completely. "Yvonne, you've gotten so much better at these games over the years," he said. "You used your position as the older sister to treat Gwyneth terribly time and again. Now you'd pull a stunt like this, humiliating me in front of everyone, just to force your way into marrying me? You make me sick." He glanced at me once more, then turned to my mother. "Mrs. Arden, it's clear she's quite fond of this man, and they seem perfectly matched. Let's go ahead and finalize this match." A sharp, stinging pain pricked at my chest, like a thousand tiny needles. I had always been quiet and withdrawn as a child, and other kids in the neighborhood often picked on me. I remembered one heavy downpour... they made me stand in the middle of the road in the rain, throwing trash at me over and over. That was when Liam showed up. He held an umbrella over my head and chased all the bullies away. At that moment, I looked up to him like he was a god. After that, I followed him everywhere we went. Everyone said we were childhood sweethearts, and that we would end up married one day. Liam never argued with them. He would just smile and pat the top of my head. I grew up believing that, naturally, I would become Liam's wife. Then he met my twin sister Gwyneth. We looked exactly alike, but we were nothing alike in every other way. I was insecure, timid, and kept to myself. Gwyneth was bright, warm, and full of cheer. Everyone praised her with every kind word they could think of, while I was always cast as the dark, unpleasant contrast beside her. She was like a little sun, and everyone adored her. But even that was not enough for her. Gwyneth used everyone's favor to turn things against me, again and again lying that I was bullying or picking on her. Even when I had done nothing wrong, everyone still believed her. And Liam was Gwyneth's biggest defender of all. He always forced me to apologize to her. I would not admit to wrongs I had never committed. So Liam shoved me straight into the path of an oncoming car. That accident left me with permanent damage... every winter, my leg aches so badly it feels like it's burning through to the bone. That was when I knew for certain, Liam was in love with Gwyneth. But I never imagined he could be so cold, so full of disgust for me. He had gone so far as to tamper with the mystery box, just to humiliate me. If he wanted to marry Gwyneth, then fine. If I wanted to marry the security guard, that was my choice too. My mother gave her approval, and our wedding was set for one month from then. Later, she pulled me aside and apologized quietly, saying she was sorry, and gave me a very generous dowry. But I knew in her heart, she was still on Gwyneth's side. She just wanted to make sure I would not stand in the way of Gwyneth's happiness.