She Took My Groom, I Got the Dragon King

Meredith's POV

This is a world where humans and fantasy races exist side by side. Werewolves move through city streets between glass towers, and every now and then, a pair of massive wings cuts through the clouds overhead. Twenty years ago, to secure the family's standing, the main house signed a contract with the Dragon Clan.

As the least favored daughter of a branch family, I was chosen to be the Dragon King's mate. The terms were spelled out plainly: if I couldn't get married within five years of coming of age, I'd have to go to Dragon territory and go through with the marriage.

For five years, every wedding I've planned has been blown up by my younger sister, Hannah.

This is year five. I'm finally in a wedding dress, about to marry Derek, the boy I grew up with.

What I didn't expect was that one hour before the ceremony, Hannah collapsed in the dressing room coughing up blood. She grabbed Derek's hand, crying, saying she wouldn't make it through the month.

And my parents are on either side of me, hands pressed down hard on my shoulders.

"Just let Hannah have the wedding. She's dying!"

What they don't know is that if I don't get married today, the Dragon envoys will come for me on the spot.

And I won't be coming back.

One moment I'm standing in front of the mirror, staring at the white dress on my body, wondering what look Derek will have on his face when I walk toward him.

The next, the door flies open and my parents rush in, one on each side, hands clamped down on my shoulders.

My mother's voice leaves no room for argument. "Hannah is in bad shape. Give her the wedding. She's had it hard her whole life and all she wants is one day where she actually feels like a bride. You've got everything going for you. You'll get another shot at this."

My father adds, "She won't make it past this month. Just let her have this one thing."

I open my mouth. I want to tell them this is the fifth time we've tried to do this.

My mother cuts me off before I can get a word out. "Derek already said yes."

I freeze. I turn toward Derek standing in the doorway. His eyes are full of guilt, but his voice doesn't waver. "I'm sorry. Let Hannah have this one. It means everything to her. Once she's gone, I'll give you an even bigger wedding, I promise."

In that moment, I just don't have anything left to say.

The second I go quiet, they're all smiles again, walking Hannah out and leaving me alone in the room.

My veil lies on the floor where I dropped it. The woman staring back at me from the mirror looks like a joke.

My phone buzzes. I look down. It's Mr. Aldridge.

I answer.

"Meredith, I heard your fiancé chose to marry Hannah." Mr. Aldridge's voice is calm. "This is year five. You didn't get married, so the contract takes effect."

I grip the phone. "I know."

"So you agree?"

I close my eyes. Everything comes flooding back.

Derek and I grew up together. He used to say all the time that he'd marry me when we got older. Once we were old enough, we started planning the wedding. Everyone was waiting for us to finally go through with it.

But every single time, Hannah found a way to wreck it.

Year one, the night before the wedding, she cut her wrists. The whole family dropped everything and ran to the hospital. Wedding off.

Year two, halfway through the ceremony, she sent a video saying she was on the roof about to jump. Derek and my parents bolted out like the building was on fire, leaving me standing alone in an empty hall.

Year three, year four. Every time, she had something new. A car accident, going missing, getting kidnapped. Every time, my family chose her without blinking.

And this year, she's pulling the terminal illness card.

I've told them over and over that this year is the deadline. I have to get married, or I go to Dragon territory and I don't come back.

But they never believed the Aldridge main house would actually pick a girl from a branch family like the Langfords. They thought the contract was just for show. That the Dragon Clan would never actually follow through.

They were wrong.

"I agree." I open my eyes. My voice comes out steadier than I expected. "Send someone to come get me."

The call ends.

Noise floats in through the window.

I walk over and look down. The courtyard is all set up for the ceremony below.

Hannah stands under a floral arch in my dress, her arm looped through Derek's. Her face is pale, but she's smiling like she's never been happier in her life.

Guests crowd around on all sides, phones out, snapping away.

As the eldest son of the Whitman family, Derek's wedding is being livestreamed. I pick up my phone and pull up the stream. Comments and gift animations flood across the screen.

"Oh my god, the bride is gorgeous!"

"Sending all my love to Hannah, hope she gets more time!"

"Derek is such a good man for doing this."

Then the officiant's voice drifts up from the courtyard below. "You may now kiss the bride."

My fingers tighten around the curtain.

Derek hesitates for just a second. Then he leans down, cups Hannah's face in his hands, and kisses her.

Memories flash through my mind. The good ones, the painful ones, the ones filled with anger.

Something inside me that's been pulled tight for years finally snaps.

The comments scroll faster. Gift animations fire off one after another.

Then one comment cuts through the noise: "Wait, doesn't Hannah have an older sister? Why isn't she here for her own sister's wedding?"

"Oh, her? Word is some woman has been clinging to Derek for five years straight. Now that Derek's with Hannah, gotta be the sister."

"God, that's pathetic. Can't get anything on her own, so she makes it everybody else's problem."

All these years, whatever Hannah wanted, they figured out how to make me hand it over.

My academic trophies went to Hannah, to "help with her confidence." The money I saved from part-time jobs got "borrowed" by my parents to buy her gifts. My bedroom was given away because Hannah "needed the sunlight for her health."

And now Derek.

I put the phone down.

From now on, I'm done giving.

Because I have nothing left to lose.