Note: I am floored with the response for the prologue. I certainly didn't expect it. Thank you all, and I'm looking forward to sharing this new story.

New York City

Four Years Later…

Lucas was staring at his laptop when he heard footsteps. He glanced away for only a moment as he saw his fiancée stroll into the room. She pretended to look annoyed when she saw him at his laptop. "Don't tell me you've been up all night with writing."

Lucas smiled. "Hey, I took a break from writing this morning to watch my mom's show."

Karen's Café was his mother's successful morning talk show and he tried not to miss an episode. It made him feel closer to her since she lived across the country in Los Angeles.

Peyton went over to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup of coffee. "Oh really? I'm sorry I missed it. Who did she have on this time?" she asked.

"One of the guests was Mia," Lucas said as he turned back to his laptop and began writing again. "That girl is really going places."

Peyton nodded. "Yeah, she is. Now don't forget we're going to get our marriage license this afternoon," she reminded him as she took a sip of her coffee.

Lucas frowned. "I thought we were waiting until after the wedding to do it."

Peyton began walking over to him. "No, we were going to do it today. We wanted to get everything done this week including your final draft so we could just celebrate being husband and wife while we're on our honeymoon."

Lucas smiled as they shared a kiss. It almost lead to a make out session until they heard a knock at the door.

"Oh, that's Haley," Peyton said as she pulled away from Lucas. She went to answer it as he tried not to look too disappointed for the interruption.

Lucas smiled at his best friend as she walked into the foyer. "Hey Hales."

Haley smiled in return. "Hey Luke. How's the writing going?"

"It's going good," Lucas said as he closed his laptop. He didn't want anyone to see the final story until he was ready to share it. "I think I will be able to finish it in time for the wedding."

Haley pretended to make a sad face. "I still can't believe my best friend is getting married in a week. Are you sure you can't stay a little longer? I don't want you two move to Savannah. That's so far away from New York."

"I know," Lucas said. He didn't want to admit it, but he didn't want to leave Haley or his brother Nathan either. "But Peyton is starting a new job and you know me. I can work anywhere. Besides, a change of scenery might help me with my next book."

"Oh sure. Put the blame on me," Peyton teased him before she turned to Haley. "Give me five minutes and I'll be ready to go, Haley."

"Where are you guys going again?" Lucas asked.

Before Peyton could answer, Haley beat her to it. "There's another bridal expo downtown and Peyton wants to check it out one last time before the wedding," she said.

Lucas gave his fiancée a look. He should have known that it was more wedding stuff. "Peyton, I thought everything was set for the wedding. What more do you need?"

He was tired of hearing about the details of the wedding. The dress that Peyton would wear or the color of the bridesmaids dresses. The flowers that would decorate the church aisle. The food that they would be serving along with the wedding cake. Who to invite. It was enough to drive anybody nuts.

"We're just going to window shop. I promise," Peyton defended before she disappeared into the master bedroom.

Lucas gave Haley a pleading look. "Please don't let her arrange anything else. This wedding is expensive enough. Why couldn't it be a small wedding like yours?"

Haley gave him a gentle smile. "Because Dan and Deb felt cheated out of ours so they want to make it up by helping Peyton with yours."

Lucas let out a heavy sigh. "I can't wait until I can finally walk down the aisle to my bride. Just six more days. Or maybe we can just elope."

Haley pretended to give him a stern look. "Don't you dare! Your mom would kill you if she missed your wedding. Hell, I would kill you if I wasn't a witness to see my best friend get married."

"Who said I wouldn't invite you to my wedding, even if it is in secret," Lucas said with a smile.

Peyton reappeared with her purse. "Okay. I'm ready. Let's go see what we can find at the bridal expo."

"What time do we need to get down there?" Lucas asked, glancing at the time.

"Why don't we meet at 1:45?" Peyton asked. "That will give you plenty of time to finish that book."

Lucas nodded. "I'll see you there." They shared another kiss before Peyton pulled away. "Bye. Have fun."

"Bye," they chorused before they went out the front door.

Lucas waited a few minutes to make sure they were really gone before he opened up his laptop again. His creativity came easier when he had complete and total privacy.

However, there was no creative juice flowing. He tried different methods to start writing, but there was nothing.

Instead, his focus was all on his upcoming wedding. He really couldn't wait until he could marry Peyton.

He still could remember the day they met.

It was three-and-a-half years ago when he was in California for the Christmas holidays with his parents, stepparents and Haley. Haley had brought a friend home for Christmas since she really didn't have anybody else to spend the holidays with.

Peyton's adoptive parents weren't around anymore, and she was still working on connecting with her birth mother Ellie Harp.

At first, Lucas wasn't quite interested in Peyton. He just wanted to focus on his writing. The launch of his second book during that previous summer went well, despite the incident in Las Vegas.

Lucas still felt embarrassed every time someone brought that particular trip. He couldn't believe he did something that dumb, and slept with someone the night before his book signing and ended up in the wrong hotel. His editor Lindsey had been pissed when she finally found him. There was even some confusion at the front desk, but Lindsey said she would sort it out. He wouldn't even have to worry about it and he never did question it.

Lucas always wondered what happened to that beautiful woman with the brunette hair and hazel eyes. He didn't remember much about her, but he did remember she said her name was Brooke.

Just like the name of his main character in the book he was working on.

Lucas didn't want to tell anybody that that was where he got the name from. Although, there was no reason for Peyton to be jealous. It was just a character's name. It wasn't like he was in love with her. He just loved the name.

He finally realized he wasn't getting anything accomplished and decided to take an official break.

It was the perfect day for a walk through Central Park.

Lucas made sure to grab his phone to check the time. He didn't want to miss meeting Peyton at the county clerk's office.

It didn't take him any time at all to reach his destination. His penthouse suite overlooked the beautiful landscape of Central Park.

As he walked through the park, he started to realize that his time of seeing all the busy activity within the city was drawing to a close. Soon, he was going to be in a completely different environment.

Lucas didn't mind the city, but he felt it was also time for a change.

He sat down on a bench and just people watched for a while. His mind was already spinning with ideas for his next book. Or two.

There were a few times where Lucas was recognized, and his loyal readers wished they had one of his books with them.

Lucas smiled proudly. "Well, I always appreciate a fan."

"Is it possible to get a photo with you?" the young girl asked.

Lucas nodded. "Sure. I'd love to."

He got up from the bench and went in between the two fans as one of them held up her phone. They smiled at the camera, and there were a few clicks.

As the two friends gushed over the photo, Lucas was distracted by someone across the way. He couldn't stop staring at the woman. Was he hallucinating? The stranger had a striking resemblance to Brooke, but it couldn't possibly be her.

He shook his head. It was just a coincidence that the woman looked like Brooke. He was thinking about her too much, and he had to get his head in the game.

Lucas glanced at the time, and let out a groan. "It was very nice to meet you girls, but I have to go."

"Bye Mr. Scott," the girls chorused.

Lucas waved goodbye before he hurried to the busy street to hail a cab.

To his relief, he was able to make it right on time.

Peyton was there waiting for him. She looked just as relieved as he was. "Hey, you made it," she said with a smile.

"Of course I did. I know how important this is," Lucas said as he took her hand in his, and they walked into the building.

The line was a little long, but they were willing to wait their turn.

"So how was the bridal expo? Did you set anything else up?" Lucas asked. "Did you change the venue on me? Or what about the wedding dress?"

Peyton gently nudged him. "Would you stop? I didn't change a thing. I just went to check it out. It was really fun. It really felt like I was at a wedding. There were even a couple of small businesses there."

"Oh really? That's cool," Lucas said.

They managed to make a few steps closer to the desk clerk.

"But this is it, right?" Lucas asked hopefully. "No more bridal expos. No more planning. We're just going to prepare for our wedding guests for them to come next weekend?"

Peyton nodded. "Yes, I'm done with the planning."

It took a few more minutes before they were at the front of the line.

Peyton handed over the information the desk clerk needed and they waited for a response.

"Mr. Lucas Scott and Ms. Peyton Sawyer?" she asked.

The two nodded their heads, wondering what the clerk was waiting for. "Is there something wrong?" Peyton asked.

"I need proof of divorce from Mr. Scott," the clerk said.

Both Lucas and Peyton were extremely confused.

"I'm sorry. You must be mistaken. Neither of us has been married before," Peyton said. "Could you check again?"

The desk clerk nodded before she turned back to her computer. "No, I'm afraid there is no mistake. Your fiancé was and still is married."

Lucas couldn't believe his ears. He was married to another woman. How could this be? When did this happen? And who the hell could his bride be?

Before he could ask, the clerk answered for him. "Your wife's name is Brooke Davis. Ring any bells?"

"Brooke Davis?" Lucas asked in a whisper.

Lucas's mind went back to the Las Vegas trip. The memories of the night he met Brooke were still a mystery. He remembered buying Brooke a couple of drinks and then they headed off for a night out in the city. Did that really include getting married at a wedding chapel?

"Brooke Davis? Who the hell is Brooke Davis?" Peyton demanded, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Lucas could hear the anger in her voice and he didn't want her to cause a scene. He gently pulled her out of the line, and away from the crowd.

Peyton just kept glaring at him, but she did lower her voice. "Who the hell is Brooke Davis? And why did I not know about her?"

Lucas let out a heavy sigh. There was no easy way to tell her. "Because it was four years ago. I only had one night with her and I thought I would never see her again."

Peyton knew there was more to the story than what he was telling her. She crossed her arms. "That still doesn't explain how you ended up marrying her."

Lucas made a face, ready for the fireworks. "We were in Las Vegas at the time."

"Las Vegas?" Peyton exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? That's the last place you want to meet someone."

Lucas tried to calm her down. "I know. I can't tell you how sorry I am. If I had known I had gotten married, I would have asked for an annulment right away. We barely knew each other and didn't have any right in getting married when we did. I was drunk and I was stupid."

Peyton couldn't disagree with him.

Lucas locked his eyes with hers. "Brooke doesn't mean anything to me, okay?" he said. "You're the one I love, and nothing will stop me from marrying you."

Peyton wished they could just put the whole nightmare behind them, but there was still doubt the nightmare would end after they found this Brooke. "I want to know everything you do remember about that night. That way, I can collaborate your story with hers when I meet her."

"What? You want to do what? Meet her?" Lucas asked. "Why? I'm not even going to see her. I'm going to hire a private investigator. He will find her and give her the annulment papers to sign. She will sign them and that will be that. There's no reason why we can't resolve this before our wedding. I'll take care of it, okay?"

Peyton finally nodded her head before she went back to the counter to get their paperwork back. They clearly didn't need it right then.

Lucas took that time to call his mother, and told her the short version of the story. He wanted to explain himself, but his mother stopped him before he got too far.

"Lucas, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I know you wouldn't have kept your marriage a secret and date Peyton at the same time. That isn't the son Keith and I raised."

Lucas was glad his mother was on his side.

"Don't worry. We're going to hire the best private investigator there is to find this woman."

"I really appreciate it," Lucas said.

"Of course. I love you and I want to see you happy. And if that means you want to be with Peyton instead of this Brooke, I'm all for it. I'm just sad that you're going to break this poor girl's heart."

Lucas didn't even think of that. He felt a little guilty he was coming after her with the demand of an annulment. She might be just as surprised as he was to find out they were married. Then again, she probably found out somehow and that's probably why she left him without saying good-bye. She was too scared to face him and talk to him.

"Well, it's time for her to face the music," he replied.