The day after the Crown Prince's wedding, the entire Yang residence had turned into a battlefield.
People were everywhere—maids rushing back and forth, aunties supervising like generals, servants carrying boxes, fabrics, jewelry, and what looked suspiciously like half the city's furniture. Apparently, all of this was for *my* wedding with Jin Wei.
Which was happening in **three days**.
Three.
Days.
The whole house buzzed with excitement, but me? I was standing in the middle of it all, frozen, goosebumps crawling all over my skin.
Somehow, I was panicking.
When I decided to marry Jin Wei, I really didn't think much of it. It felt impulsive, dramatic—very *main-character energy*. But now that it was actually happening? Reality had slapped me hard enough to leave fingerprints.
What the hell did I do?
My mother would *definitely* kill me.
I mean, I ask my mom for advice on everything—what to wear, what to eat, whether I should sleep or stay awake. In a desi household, you're given "freedom," yes—but it comes with invisible rules carved into stone.
And the biggest one?
**You do not get married without your parents' consent.**
Congratulations to me for breaking it like it was nothing.
Honestly, if I didn't die before the wedding, I was absolutely going to die *after* my mother found out. Either way, death was booked.
But—wait.
I wasn't really getting married… right?
This was a novel.
A hallucination.
A very long, very cruel dream.
So why the hell wasn't I waking up?
My throat tightened, my eyes burned, and I suddenly wanted to cry. Badly. Not the aesthetic kind—ugly crying, full desi drama included.
I stood in the main hall, staring at what I realized was… my dowry.
Yes.
*My dowry.*
Boxes upon boxes, arranged neatly like I had willingly signed up for this.
That's when one of the aunties came closer. She narrowed her eyes at me, scanning me from head to toe like she was judging vegetables at the market.
"So," she said slowly, lips curling,
"Ready to get married, huh?"
I stared at her, completely confused.
Do I know her? Is she my relative? Or just another auntie who appears magically during weddings?
Before I could answer, she leaned in again, lowering her voice like she was about to share forbidden wisdom.
"You know," she said,
"a lot of *things* happen after marriage. Are you ready for that?"
Her words hit me like lightning.
My soul left my body.
My brain blue-screened.
What. The. Hell.
I turned on my heel and started walking toward my room—fast. This was not happening. This could not be happening. I had never prepared for this conversation in *any* universe.
Dude.
I never even had a boyfriend before.
And now I was apparently jumping straight into marriage like it was an express bus.
This was absurd.
Ridiculous.
Illegal.
My panic mode officially activated.
My chest felt tight, my breathing uneven, and the noise around me blurred into chaos. My vision spun, the world tilted—
And with that overwhelming rush of terror, embarrassment, and existential crisis…
I fainted.