Runaway Bride: Tipping The Billionaire CEO

"Janell, after today, you are Mrs. Alvarado. Stop overthinking."

Judd Alvarado stepped half a pace forward on the Rockefeller Center altar. A light brown mole sat beneath his right earlobe under the crystal chandeliers as he reached for Janell Scott's lace-gloved fingers.

Janell gripped her white rose bouquet. Beneath the silk glove, the calluses on her right palm from years of kickboxing pressed hard against the stems, her knuckles turning white. Across the top-floor ballroom, hundreds of Manhattan elites raised champagne flutes while the symphony orchestra played the Wedding March.

The officiant's voice echoed through the hall.

"Now, please look at each other and prepare to exchange the rings of eternal loyalty."

Before Judd's fingers touched hers, the four-hundred-inch LED screen above the altar let out a screeching burst of static. The Ivy League college montage vanished into black.

A dark, shaky hotel suite video blasted onto the screen. Judd's heavy panting and a woman's shrill giggles roared through the surround-sound speakers.

Dead silence dropped over the ballroom. A society matron in the front row lost her grip on her glass, and it thudded onto the red carpet. Murmurs rippled through the crowd as guests recognized the groom who had spent months using this marriage to secure commercial loans for the struggling Alvarado family.

The camera panned across a bare collarbone to the face of Carma Cabrera, Manhattan's most notorious socialite.

Then Judd's voice boomed from the speakers.

"What does a stiff woman like Janell know? If I didn't need Scott Group's shares and credit lines, I wouldn't even look at her twice."

All color drained from Judd's face. He spun toward the audio booth and roared.

"Cut the power! Pull the damn breaker right now!"

In the front row, Janell's stepmother, Kandace Osborn, stood up and pressed her manicured fingers to her chest, her eyes gleaming with poorly hidden glee.

"Goodness, isn't there some misunderstanding? Today is a crucial day for both families' public listings!"

Beside her, stepsister Aubrie Osborn stood in a pale pink bridesmaid dress, a faint red birthmark peeking from her inner left wrist. A vicious smirk flashed across her lips before she forced a sob.

"Janell, Judd must have been framed! Don't do anything rash!"

Janell's father, Richard Scott, slammed his hand on his chair armrest and stood up, his face livid.

"Enough! Security! Block all the press cameras! Who let them record this?"

The technician yanked the cable out, turning the giant screen blue.

Judd swallowed hard, his chest heaving, and lunged toward Janell to shove the diamond ring onto her finger.

"It's a malicious deepfake from our competitors! Janell, look at me. You have to believe me. Finish the ceremony first!"

Janell stepped back. Her dark eyes held zero tears, cold and sharp as she dodged his hand.

Richard strode up the altar steps and leaned in, his voice a low, venomous hiss.

"Listen to me, Janell. The Alvarado bridge loan clears next week. Even if the sky falls today, you will swallow this marriage! Don't humiliate the family!"

Janell turned her head and looked straight into the contorted face of the father who had suppressed her ever since her mother died.

"Is the humiliation coming from me, from that piece of trash who can't keep his pants zipped, or from you selling your daughter for a few hundred million?"

Judd stepped in to block the guests' view and lunged for her wrists with both hands.

"Don't push your luck! Aside from me, which family in New York would want a daughter treated worse than an illegitimate child?"

Janell swung her right arm. She smashed the heavy white rose bouquet straight into Judd's oiled, styled face.

Petals and snapped stems exploded across his tuxedo lapels. Sharp thorns raked his cheek, and Judd yelped, stumbling two steps back.

Gasps tore through the crowd. Camera shutters clicked like hailstones, blinding flashes lighting up the stage.

Janell reached up, ripped the ten-foot embroidered veil from her hair, and threw it to the floor. She ground her crystal heel straight into the lace and spoke into the officiant's lapel microphone.

"I, Janell Scott, officially cancel my engagement to Judd Alvarado."

Red rimmed Judd's eyes as he steadied himself.

"Are you crazy? Walk out that door and I swear you won't find a foothold anywhere on the East Coast!"

Aubrie hurried forward, her eyes shining with malice.

"Janell! Dad's blood pressure can't take this, apologize to Judd right now!"

Ignoring her, Janell yanked up her heavy skirt with her right hand and shifted into a kickboxing stance, sidestepping an oncoming hotel guard.

Richard barked into his earpiece.

"Stop her! Lock the main doors! Don't let her run onto Fifth Avenue in a wedding dress!"

Two burly guards closed in from both sides to grab her shoulders.

Janell ducked under the left guard's arm and drove a sharp elbow straight into his diaphragm. He doubled over with a groan. While the second guard froze, Janell tore off the restrictive outer tulle of her skirt, exposing her toned legs, and sprinted for the fire exit.

Screams and crashing chairs erupted behind her. Judd balled his fists until the veins bulged on the backs of his hands, shoving a groomsman aside to chase her with two bodyguards.

"Catch her! Tie her up if you have to, just drag her to the courthouse!"

Janell threw her weight against the heavy fire door and burst into the freezing Manhattan autumn night as the security alarm shrieked down the back alley.