Chapter 4

"Who are you?" The man turned to Al with a sharp gaze. "Don't ever interfere; this is my business with my future wife!" he snapped angrily.

"He's not a stranger!" the woman said after turning to Al. "He's my lover, my future husband!" she shouted sassily.

Al was immediately dumbfounded when he heard the confession from the beautiful Chinese woman. Even the man who was her future husband was equally surprised.

"What do you mean, Alessandria Cassandra Lee?" the man asked. "I am your lover! I am your future husband! And today, we are getting married!" the man shouted.

This debate was witnessed by Cassandra's extended family and the man named Jerry. Even friends and work relatives were also here because they were also chasing the bride who suddenly ran away.

Cassandra took a deep breath; she smiled slyly at Jerry.

"Unfortunately, today I will only marry the man I love, and that man is not you, traitor!" Cassandra said.

Jerry looked angry. "Cassandra, you're crazy! What drama have you created, huh?" Jerry shouted.

Al was still silent; he was so confused that he didn't get a chance to speak.

Cassandra swatted away Jerry's hand that was gripping her wrist. She pulled Al's hand away and held it tightly.

"I have proof," she said, pulling out her cell phone and showing photos and videos that clearly showed him with another woman, who turned out to be Cassandra's secretary. "I've known this for a long time, Jerry!" Cassandra smiled and shook her head. "You've been secretly in a relationship with my secretary!"

Jerry looked nervous, his face deathly pale. "It's not what you think, Cassie. I can explain," he said, trying to maintain control.

Cassandra looked at him coldly. "There's no need for an explanation. I already know everything. And I'm not going to marry a traitor like you. Today, I will marry my true lover. Do you understand?"

Al was still shocked by what had happened. He scratched his temples, trying to make sense of this increasingly strange situation. "Wait, wait! I—"

However, before he could finish his sentence, Cassandra boldly pulled Al's face toward her and kissed him gently on the lips. Al's eyes widened in surprise, and he could barely react.

Jerry looked at the scene with emotions already exploding. "You're completely out of your mind, Cassandra!" he shouted. "You've totally humiliated me on our wedding day!" Jerry shouted, feeling humiliated.

Cassandra broke the kiss and looked at the man hatefully.

"How does it feel, Mr. Jerry? It hurts, doesn't it?" Cassandra laughed mockingly.

Not accepting Cassandra's insult, Jerry stepped forward to confront her. 

"You've gone too far, Cassandra! I'm not going to let you ruin my reputation!" he shouted, raising his hand to slap her across the face.

However, before Jerry's hand could touch Cassandra's face, Al quickly grabbed his wrist and pushed him roughly. "Don't touch my future wife, you stupid man!" snapped Al; he really didn't like it when he saw a man treat a woman roughly.

Jerry staggered back in anger. "Who do you think you are to stand up to me, huh?!" he shouted. Full of rage, he tried to attack Al, throwing punches toward his face.

However, Al quickly managed to dodge Jerry's attack and retaliated by landing several punches to Jerry's stomach.

A fierce fight ensued. Al, who had been trained in martial arts, was able to put up a strong fight. Punch after punch landed on Jerry's body, making him even more helpless.

"That's enough, baby! Stop it!" shouted Cassandra, pulling Al's arm as she tried to stop Al and Jerry's fight.

However, Al didn't care about Cassandra's shout; instead, he brushed off her hand and attacked Jerry mercilessly again.

Eventually, Al managed to make Jerry lie weakly on the ground. Jerry's face looked bruised, and blood was coming out of his mouth and nose. Jerry's family, who saw the incident, immediately ran over, helped Jerry up, and took him away.

Jerry's mother glanced sarcastically at Cassandra and Al but said nothing.

Then, Jerry's father and the rest of the family helped lift Jerry, who was badly injured, and left Cassandra and Al behind. The people who had gathered earlier also left the scene one by one.

After the atmosphere died down, Cassandra turned to Al, who looked a little tired, and there was a slight bruise on the corner of his lip.

"I... I'm sorry. Are you hurt?" asked Cassandra as she approached Al and checked the bruise on his lip. "By the way, what's your name?" she asked.

"My name is Al Vino Chandra, Miss. You can call me Al," Al replied, smiling. "Miss Cassie, there's no need to worry; I'm fine. It's just a small wound," he said as he looked around, making sure that there were no more people gathered.

Cassandra bit her lip; she was really ashamed of what she had done to Al earlier. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to drag you into my problems," she said, looking remorseful.

"Take it easy, Miss Cassie," Al said, smiling.

"We'd better get out of here. You should come to my mansion first. I'll treat your wound," Cassandra invited.

Al nodded in agreement. Then the two of them rushed to Cassandra's mansion.

***

Cassandra and Al were already in the living room. Deftly, Cassandra cleaned the bruise on the corner of Al's lip.

"Al, once again, I'm sorry!" Cassandra said while treating Al's wound. "I really don't know how else to deal with that traitorous man. He's so ambitious to control my wealth," Cassandra said without hesitation.

Al shrugged, feeling at a loss as to how to respond to her. "That's okay. But, actually, I don't like getting involved in other people's problems, let alone a problem of this magnitude," Al said; he just wanted to tell the truth.

Cassandra took a deep breath; she looked at Al with a look that could not be interpreted.

"I understand, Al. But can you help me just this once? I need someone who can pretend to be my partner for some time until that bastard gets away from me," Cassandra pleaded to Al. "Whatever you ask, I'll give it as a reward!"

Al paused for a moment, considering Cassandra's request.

"I'm sorry, Miss Cassie, but why should I? I'm just a poor man; I only work as a construction worker. Why doesn't Miss Cassie look for someone else?" he asked, trying to understand Cassandra's reasons for choosing him.

Cassandra sighed again. "Because you were the only one who dared to stand up to Jerry earlier. And because I trust that you won't take advantage of this situation," she answered honestly.

However, Al shook his head. "I'm sorry, Miss Cassie. I can't. I don't want to get involved. Once again, I apologize," he said firmly.

Cassandra looked disappointed, but she respected Al's decision. "Alright, I understand. But if one day you change your mind, just call me, okay?" he said with a weak smile. "Here's my business card!" Cassandra handed Al a business card.

Al nodded and took the business card from Cassandra's hand. "Okay, Miss Cassie. But now I have to go. I hope Miss Cassie can solve your problem well," he said before walking out of the mansion.

Cassandra nodded. If Al had agreed, she would have taken him to the registry to get married. But in fact, Al refused.

When Al was outside the mansion, he suddenly remembered something.

"Fool!" Al patted his forehead. "You're stupid, Al! So stupid, huh!"