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Marcus practically crawled to my feet.

"Vera, he was the one who came after me first. I lost my head for a moment. In my heart, you've always been the one."

"Will you forgive me?"

Marcus had always assumed I was unaware of Reid's real identity.

He'd thought he could play the victim.

He thought I didn't know.

I stepped back. I looked down at him.

"Really. You genuinely got swept away. Reid came after you."

Marcus saw me hesitating. He nodded furiously.

"Yes, exactly — he wouldn't leave me alone. You heard him at the party, right? He said it in front of everyone."

"Whatever he said in public, imagine what he was saying in private."

"If you take me back, I'll call the venue coordinator and the MC right now. I'll give you an even bigger reception tonight than the one this afternoon."

The shamelessness of it made my palm itch.

I slapped him across the face.

"What exactly do you think I am? Someone you can summon and dismiss whenever it suits you?"

"Every man on earth could disappear and I still wouldn't go back to you."

In that moment I understood Marcus completely, for perhaps the first time. He'd been hiding behind a polished surface for years.

His mother had barely regained consciousness before she came stumbling toward me.

I braced myself.

But Patricia Kingsley, who had never once given me a kind look, was suddenly all smiles.

"You were right to slap him. This was entirely his fault."

"His father and I tried to talk him out of it so many times. He wouldn't listen."

"If you're still willing to marry him, you can slap him as much as it takes to make him see sense."

My eye twitched.

That family really could bend any direction the wind was blowing.

Most of the Kingsley relatives still sided with Marcus. Having vented amongst themselves, they turned to work on me.

"I think Marcus knows he was wrong. He'll treasure you going forward."

"You've been together for years. Everyone knows. It'd be a shame to throw that away now."

"And honestly — wasn't it partly because your demands were so difficult that Marcus got tempted in the first place? He's learned his lesson now."

Marcus watched me with wide, desperate eyes.

I looked back at him steadily.

"Let me ask you one more time. You're completely certain Reid was the one who pursued you."

Marcus nodded like his life depended on it.

"I swear on my life. If anything I've said is a lie, lightning can strike me down."

"You can check our messages — he's the one who asked for my contact first. He pushed things forward. He initiated everything."

He said it all without flinching.

Even if every word were true — a man who could be swayed that easily was worth nothing.

I tilted my head.

"A lightning strike seems a bit abstract. How about this: if I find out you're the one who went after him — you strip down and run three laps around the hotel. While shouting that you're a faithless rat who isn't fit to call himself a man."

Marcus thought I was just building myself a reason to forgive him.

He agreed immediately.

"Fine. Whatever you want. Yes."

I looked around at the room.

"We have a full house today. Everyone heard that. I'm going to need witnesses."