Too Ugly for My Fiancé, Perfect for His Rival

Eliza's POV

To get out of an engagement my family had set up years ago, I sent the Carringtons a doctored photo of myself, my face covered in freckles and my skin dull and sallow.

The Carringtons were the richest family in New York, and everyone knew their only heir, Damian Carrington, was picky to the point of obsession.

If he didn't like the way you looked, you weren't getting within ten feet of him.

So I wore that ugly makeup for years. Then I met Owen Holloway.

When he proposed, he told me he loved me for who I was, and that my looks had nothing to do with it.

I believed him, and nothing was going to stop me from marrying him.

But right as we were about to exchange rings, he looked straight past me at his first love, the girl who'd had work done on her face.

Then he dropped my hand and walked out.

Every guest in the room was waiting for me to cry.

Instead, I laughed.

Turns out one wedding is all it takes to see a man for who he really is.

Fine, then. No more hiding. I might as well go home and marry into the Carringtons like I was always supposed to.

"Told you. No way the Holloway heir was actually gonna marry a girl who looks like that."

"I'd run too. Imagine waking up next to that face every morning. You'd have a heart attack."

"Groom bails halfway through his own wedding. People are gonna be talking about this for weeks."

The music had stopped, and the guests weren't even bothering to keep their voices down anymore.

Owen was staring at his phone, the color slowly draining from his face.

On the screen was Tessa's last text: [Owen, I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry.] Right below it were two missed calls from the hospital.

He looked up at me, frantic.

"Eliza, Tessa slit her wrists. The hospital says they're still working on her."

"I have to go. Wait here for me. I swear I'll explain everything when I get back."

For a moment the chapel went so quiet all you could hear was people breathing.

"Owen, if you walk out that door today, we're done."

He stopped and turned back to look at me.

"Eliza..."

His best friend, one of the groomsmen, was the first to yell.

"Go, man! Eliza's crazy about you. She's not going anywhere."

"Seriously. When the priest asks if anyone objects, trust me, nobody's jumping up to steal her!"

The whole room burst out laughing.

I ignored them, kept my eyes on Owen, and said it slowly so he wouldn't miss a single word.

"You walk out, and I'll marry someone else."

Owen froze for a second, then laughed.

"Come on, Eliza. Who else is gonna marry you besides me?"

"I'll make it up to you when I get back."

This time he didn't hesitate. He turned, pushed through the door, and was gone.

The moment the door shut, I thought back to the first time we met.

Someone at a cocktail party had dumped champagne all over me, and a crowd had gathered around to make fun of my face.

Owen was the one who came over, wrapped his jacket around me while I shook, and wiped the champagne off my face with his handkerchief.

He said, "Ignore them. You're not ugly. Not even close."

Back then, the way he looked at me seemed so sincere. I never once doubted him.

Now I finally got it. He'd counted on me being ugly. He'd counted on me having nowhere else to go. That's why he had no problem leaving me alone at our own wedding.

I pulled off my veil, dropped it on the aisle runner, and went back to the bridal suite.

Sitting at the mirror, I slowly worked a makeup wipe over my cheeks. The freckles faded, and clean skin showed underneath.

Then my dad opened the door and walked in.

"Someone from the Carringtons just came by. Walter, Damian's dad, is bringing up the engagement again..."

Before he could finish, my phone lit up.

It was a text from Owen: [Tessa's gonna be okay. She's really scared right now, so I need to stay with her tonight. Can we just do the wedding another day?]

A few seconds later, Tessa posted an update. In the photo, Owen was sitting by her hospital bed, tucking the blanket around her with the gentlest look on his face.

The caption said: [Someone was willing to drop everything for me. That's all I need.]

I was about to block them both when Owen called.

"Eliza, can you do me a favor and post something? Just say you got sick out of nowhere and that's why we called off the wedding."

"Tessa can't handle any more stress right now. I can't have people saying she wrecked the wedding. And it's not like you go out much anyway."

It's not like you go out much.

So that's what I was to him. I was ugly, so it didn't matter what anyone said about me.

I didn't say a word. I just hung up.

Then I faced the mirror, picked up a cotton pad, and wiped everything off: the foundation, the freckles, the shadows I'd painted around my eyes on purpose.

Looking back at me from the mirror was a face so gorgeous it was startling.