The Billionaire's Rental Wife Is A Hot Shot

Evelyn’s heart pounded against her ribs, sweat trickling down her spine as Nicholas tightened his grip on her arm, his nails digging into her flesh. His other hand held a broken bottle menacingly close to her neck—one press and it could leave a permanent mark.

"Answer me, Evelyn!" Nicholas’s voice echoed through the balcony again, causing Evelyn to flinch and clutch her gown tightly. She swallowed hard, struggling to speak as panic threatened to overwhelm her.

"Answer me, dammit!" Nicholas demanded again, his voice raw with rage. Everyone around looked equally terrified. Overwhelmed with rage and alcohol, Nicholas seemed unstoppable. Not even Zevian could save Evelyn if he wanted to see her alive.

Sophia smirked in triumph, savoring Evelyn’s struggle. Annabelle, who had seen her master move, patted her shoulder, amused to be working for such a psychopath.

Evelyn bit her lower lip, her mind racing with possible ways of escaping this trap. Then, her eyes met Zevian’s, standing a few feet away. His gaze flickered with concern, taking her back to their first judo class where he had flipped her so many times she could feel the back pain just recalling it.

Taking a deep breath, she mouthed clearly to him, ’I will flip him!’ hoping that if she failed, Nicholas would be distracted enough for Zevian to act.

Zevian’s eyes widened in realization, terror filling his earlier concern at her wild idea. If she failed, the glass shard would pierce her neck.

Evelyn didn’t even give him time to refuse and steadied herself, focusing on the techniques he had taught her. As Nicholas turned to curse at Avery, she quickly grabbed his wrist, surprising everyone. In the next split second, she twisted it sharply. Nicholas yelped in pain, his grip loosening just enough for the bottle to slip from his grasp and clatter to the floor.

With the bottle out of the way, Evelyn seized the moment. She twisted his arm further, leveraging his own weight against him. Nicholas stumbled, his balance thrown off. In a swift, fluid motion, Evelyn flipped Nicholas over her shoulder. He landed on the ground with a heavy thud.

"Whoa!" The whole balcony boomed in shock. Even Zevian’s men, hiding in the building and ready for his orders, couldn’t help but be awed by the bride’s skills. They mentally declared Evelyn their lady boss, admitting Zevian had made the right choice.

"Ah, you ruined my hair!" Evelyn grumbled, shaking her head to undo her messy bun. Taking a step back, she ran a hand through her hair as Nicholas groaned, his earlier bravado replaced by shock and pain.

"Oh my god! She was so freaking cool!" A few guests couldn’t help but flatter, replaying the way Evelyn had knocked the wind out of Nicholas.

"You bitch!" Nicholas grumbled, getting up with his aching shoulder. But before he could grab her, Zevian stepped between them and punched Nicholas in the face. Blood started to trickle down Nicholas’s nose, causing him to stumble back and look at his hand in shock.

Evelyn quickly stepped back as Avery rushed to her, wrapping her in a side hug while Zevian’s men swiftly took over the scene.

"N-no no no!" Nicholas nearly wet himself when he saw John, the hulk who had given him enough ’love’ in the boutique. John scowled and grabbed Nicholas by his collar as the drunkard tried to run.

"Keep him alive," Zevian ordered, sensing John’s rage through his expression. John huffed in response, and as Nicholas kept throwing tantrums and kicking, John simply picked him up princess-style and walked out of the venue.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as the chaos came to an unexpected yet thrilling end. Guests started whispering among themselves, their earlier panic giving way to awe at Evelyn’s bravery. Many men couldn’t help but have a fan-boy moment, recalling how she had handled Nicholas all alone.

Zevian returned to Evelyn and Avery after sending the pastor for medical care. He glared at Evelyn and scolded, "Were you planning to murder yourself?! How could you pull such a stupid stunt and risk your life?"

Evelyn’s smile wavered into a pout, not expecting him to grumble instead of praising her. "Well, blame yourself for teaching me such stupid stunts," she bickered back, causing Avery to shake her head.

"Ah, no god! I didn’t sign up for this again!" Avery murmured, feeling their fight was a little too nostalgic. Clapping her hands, she stopped the argument from escalating further. "Alright! You can fight after the wedding. The sun is setting, and we need to hurry!"

When the couple didn’t break their glaring competition, she heaved a sigh and pushed Evelyn forward. "Let’s go! We need to do some touch-up!"

———

An hour later, everyone was seated back in their seats, with major guests having left after witnessing the main drama. It mainly included the Blake family and a few others who lived under its name. Sophia sat stiffly in her seat, while William tried to maintain a natural expression, not wanting to make headlines in the newspaper.

Annabelle held back her urge to sip the wine in front of her, feeling it might just open up Sophia’s rage. With a small smile, she just waited for this wedding to get over and to see her sweet mother breaking the house later.

"Since the pastor isn’t here, I will be filling his place," Avery declared on the mic, grabbing everyone’s attention to the center stage. With a smile, she gestured to the end of the aisle, and announced, "Now, let’s welcome our beautiful bride." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The lights focused on Evelyn, and taking a deep breath, she walked down the aisle alone. Suddenly, rose petals were showered on her way, and with every step she took toward Zevian, heart-shaped red lamps started lighting up one by one on either side of the white platform.

A gasp left her mouth, finding the setup all too familiar to what she had once babbled to Zevian on one of their dates. She looked up at him, and his calm expression shook off all such delusions. There was no way he still remembered it and planned everything. She thought, shaking her head and smiling as her best friend warmly welcomed her.

"I will skip to the main part since it’s getting dark," Avery apologetically mumbled, as she stood in front of Zevian.

Now that they were face to face, Zevian couldn’t help but admire his Eva. The gown enveloped her like a cloud of spun silk, its ivory hue accentuating her delicate features. With a messy bun and minimal makeup, even the word "beautiful" felt like an understatement. He felt like the luckiest man on this earth today, for getting another chance to be with this angel inside and out.

Evelyn couldn’t focus on Avery’s words, all her attention centered on her annoyingly handsome groom. He wore a tailored black suit that highlighted his broad shoulders and strong physique, making him look every bit the powerful, confident man she wouldn’t mind falling for again.

’This is just an act! Behave, Evelyn!’ she scolded herself, her heart melting away in his intense yet gentle gaze.

Avery quickly finished helping them exchange their vows, handing over the rings. Evelyn missed noticing that they were custom-made, though they looked like regular couples’ rings. And it was the very reason they arrived late today as Zevian insisted on getting these rings even though the wedding was fake.

As they finished exchanging the rings, Avery grinned mischievously and with an evil smile, said, "Now I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Evelyn’s breath hitched, her eyes widening in realization. She was so busy worrying about everything else that she missed such an important detail—they had to freaking kiss!