My Runaway Bride Made Me Her Sister's Groom

On my wedding day to Chloe, she ran off with her first love. Every single guest in the chapel was waiting to watch me become the biggest laughingstock in high society. Instead, I stayed calm and walked over to Chloe's older sister. Under the stunned stares of the entire crowd, I walked straight up to Elena, who was standing quietly in the corner. Elena Sterling—Chloe's older sister, and the real power behind the Sterling empire. "Elena, my bride just ran away. Would you marry me instead?" A faint smile touched Elena's lips. She reached out, took my hand, and replied with absolute certainty, "I do." Afterward, Chloe cornered me with tear-stained eyes, choking on her words as she pleaded: "Julian, I made a mistake. Please, just give me one more chance..." I looked at her cold and unbothered, letting out a soft sneer. "You should be calling me your brother-in-law now." I had pursued Chloe for three whole years, and we were finally supposed to get our happy ending. When the priest asked if I took her to be my lawful wife, I answered without a shred of hesitation, "I do." I never expected a single text message would completely shatter Chloe's composure. I caught a glimpse of the sender's name: Liam. Her first love. I saw the hesitation in her eyes and grabbed her wrist, practically begging her. "Today is our wedding day." No matter how much she still cared about him, at least today—at least right now—she couldn't walk away. Chloe wrenched her hand from my grip. "I'm sorry," she whispered, and then walked out without ever looking back. I did everything I could to maintain my dignity, but my eyes still burned with tears. Chloe and I had gone to college together. I watched her and Liam fall in love, fight, and break up. I used to think my feelings for her would forever stay buried in my heart. Until one day, Chloe threw her arms around me, sobbing, and asked if I wanted to be with her. Faced with the girl of my dreams suddenly falling into my lap, I naturally said yes. We actually became a couple. Yet it all turned out to be nothing more than Chloe's impulsive rebound. Once she cooled off, she got tangled up with Liam again. They broke up and got back together repeatedly, while I became her most convenient backup plan. I never believed she and Liam would last, so I waited. I kept waiting for the day Chloe would truly let Liam go. And yet— I looked down at my empty hands and laughed self-deprecatingly. Some people are just never going to be yours. The one who needed to let go was me. Ignoring the mocking, curious, and sympathetic gazes around the room, I turned toward the stunning woman standing off to the side and walked over. Meeting her surprised, searching gaze, I smiled calmly. "My bride just abandoned me. Miss Sterling, would you do me the honor of marrying me?" I held out my hand. Only I knew how badly my palm was sweating. If she rejected me right now, my life would truly become a joke. I was gambling. I gambled that the Sterling family would never let this high-profile wedding collapse into total chaos. I gambled that to the Sterling heiress, the alliance between our two families was far more important than her own romantic whims. And deep down, I gambled that she had at least a shred of goodwill toward me. Elena Sterling was not only gorgeous, but she had also been brilliant from childhood—always the top of our social circle, the golden child every parent compared their kids to. To someone like her, sheer beauty was the least of her many strengths. Would a woman like that truly agree to my proposal? Doubt quickly crept in. I looked down and started pulling my hand back, ready to tell everyone it had just been a bad joke. Suddenly, a warm, slender hand caught mine before I could retract it. "Of course. It would be my honor." She smiled. Her smile was so radiant and warm that for a second, I actually believed she was genuinely happy to marry me. Her hand was delicate, yet her grip was firm enough to leave no room for regret. By chance, she was already wearing an elegant gown today. It wasn't as extravagant as Chloe's bridal gown, but for an impromptu ceremony, it was more than enough. The sudden twist left the entire venue dead silent. Even our parents were completely frozen. It took them quite a while to snap out of it, and faced with the public spectacle, all they could do was put on polite smiles. I was smiling too, though with plenty of bitter helplessness underneath. Watching Elena handle the situation with effortless grace, I found myself in a daze again. That strange sense of unreality hit me once more.After an exhausting day of playing the part, we finally saw off the last of the guests. Looking at Elena sitting on the plush king-sized bed in our honeymoon suite, I pressed my lips together nervously. "I'm sorry. I made that decision today without consulting you first. If you regret it, we can quietly get a divorce as soon as the media buzz dies down." A flash of surprise flickered through Elena's eyes. Her left hand unconsciously twirled the wedding band on her ring finger, and she suddenly let out a soft chuckle. "Don't worry about it. Chloe acted completely out of line today. Consider it me cleaning up my sister's mess." Hearing her laugh made me breathe a sigh of relief, though I still managed a bitter smile. "Chloe doesn't love me, and I can't force her. But our families' marriage impacts our business partnership. If things had blown up into a scandal today, I wouldn't have known how to face my parents." Elena nodded understandingly. "I thought the same thing. Our companies are in the middle of closing a critical joint venture. If anything went sideways, our rivals would take full advantage." I nodded repeatedly in agreement. "Well... I'll take the guest room next door tonight." Glancing at the single bed in the room, I smiled awkwardly. Since she clearly had no real romantic feelings for me, lingering in the room would just make me look like a creep. "Stop right there," she said. "If you walk out that door tonight, I become the joke. Do you want everyone to know our marriage is a sham?" I froze in my tracks, my ears heating up. "Then... I won't leave." She raised an eyebrow with an amused smirk. "Why so nervous? I'm not going to bite." I wanted to say I wasn't nervous, but the heat rising up my neck made me feel completely exposed. Apart from Chloe, I had never shared a bedroom with another woman like this—let alone one who was now legally my wife. Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself together, grabbed an extra blanket from the closet, and sat down on the sofa. "I'll sleep on the couch!" This time, she didn't object. After washing up, she lay down in bed to rest. The suite fell dead silent. My eyes unconsciously drifted toward the bed, only to lock straight onto Elena's bright, piercing gaze. I flusteredly looked away. Her voice drifted over through the dim light. "Even though this is just a marriage of convenience, no one else can know that for now." I nodded. I understood that much. She continued, "In front of outsiders, you must play the devoted husband flawlessly. You follow my lead. In return, I will play the perfect wife until this arrangement ends." "Understood." "Also, I will not tolerate any lingering drama with Chloe. If you drag the Sterling name into a tabloid scandal because of her, I won't hesitate to tear up our business contracts." At the mention of Chloe, my chest felt heavy again. If she hadn't run off today, none of this would have happened, and Elena wouldn't be dragged into acting out this charade with me. "You have a problem with that?" Her tone sharpened slightly, as if displeased. I answered quickly, "Not at all. I give you my word." Since I had already decided to let go, drawing a clear line was the bare minimum. I didn't sleep well that night and woke up at the crack of dawn. Knowing there was someone else in the room, I tiptoed around, luckily without waking her. The moment I clicked the front door shut, I let out a long breath. Looking at the sunrise outside, the knot in my chest loosened a bit. Things didn't seem as bad as I had feared. At the very least, Elena was an exceptional partner to work with. "Julian." Chloe suddenly appeared in front of me, her face pale with exhaustion. Catching the faint scent of another man's cologne on her, my stomach churned, and I instinctively took a step back, pushing past her."Julian!" Her eyes widened in disbelief, her brows furrowing. "I'm sorry about yesterday, okay? But it was an emergency. I didn't have time to explain. Liam collapsed and had to go to the hospital. I couldn't just abandon him!" Liam. Liam. It was always Liam. Over the past few years, how many times had she abandoned me in the dust for Liam? Did she really think I would wait around for her forever? That all she had to do was crook her finger and I'd come running back like a loyal puppy? I stepped back half a pace and let out a cold laugh. "If he's sick, he should see a doctor. What does that have to do with you?" "Julian Vance! Since when did you become so heartless? You know he doesn't have any family or friends in this city! Isn't it normal for him to call me for help?" Chloe glared at me impatiently, acting as if I was throwing another childish tantrum. I smirked bitterly. "Then why did you come back? Shouldn't you still be by his bedside holding his hand?" "Enough! What are you still whining about? I already apologized and explained! If you're going to keep throwing a fit like this, then let's just break up!" She was utterly convinced I would never agree to a breakup. She thought I was completely hooked on her. And honestly, why wouldn't she? Whenever I asked her to cut ties with Liam in the past, she would brush me off with irritation and warn me not to make a scene. Like on my birthday last year. I had rushed home early from the office, waiting eagerly to celebrate with her. All I got was her phone switched off for the entire night. I sat in the dark waiting for hours, watching the birthday cake melt into a puddle, and she never showed up. Outside my window, fireworks burst across the night sky, making me feel utterly pathetic and lonely. Even then, I made excuses for her, convincing myself she was just swamped with work. But when she walked through the door the next morning, the fresh hickey on her neck told no lies. She had spent the entire night with Liam and simply erased me from her mind. Time and time again, I compromised. Time and time again, I lied to myself. But my heart is made of flesh and blood. It bleeds, and it breaks. I couldn't keep watching the woman I loved give her heart to another man. I steadied my breath, my voice dead calm. "Fine. Let's break up." "You'd better—Wait, what did you just say?" Chloe froze, her voice suddenly screeching. "What did you say?!" I repeated every word slowly and clearly: "I said, we're done. And there's one more thing you should know, Miss Sterling. I got married yesterday." "That's impossible! You promised to marry me! For the past three years, you've never looked at another woman! Who could you possibly marry overnight?” “Stop playing these pathetic games just to make me beg for you back!" She glared at me, her chin raised in stubborn pride. I laughed at myself. How low had I sunk in the past to make Chloe this arrogant? "Believe it or not, I'm married. That's a cold, hard fact." She crossed her arms, sneering with pure disdain. "Fine! Call her out here right now! Let me see what kind of trash you managed to scrounge up overnight!" From the top of the stairs, a smooth, amused voice drifted down: "Were you looking for me?"