The Wedding at His Lover's Castle Chapter 2

I tossed and turned all night.

Every time I closed my eyes, I was flooded with memories of the last ten years with Eric, of a love I thought was boundless. He used to be my staunchest defender. No matter who said I wasn’t good enough for him, he would stand by my side, unyielding.

My grandmother, in her final days, had taken his hand and told him she was entrusting me to him.

His gaze had been a fire, and he’d nodded solemnly. “Grandma, don’t worry. I love Ava more than I love myself. I will never let her suffer.”

“I promise you,” he’d sworn, “we’ll get married right here in your garden, so you can see her walk down the aisle with your own eyes.”

Those vows felt like granite then, unbreakable and eternal.

But I had forgotten that even stone can be worn away by water, that time erodes even the most sacred of promises.

The day before the wedding, I found a long purple dress laid out in the living room. It had a sweeping train and a giant, blood-red flower blooming on the chest.

Chloe rushed over, beaming. “Ava, look! I designed this wedding dress for you myself.”

“Eric said you liked a rustic, countryside style, so I did a lot of research on village weddings to get it just right!”

Even though I had already made my decision, the sight of this so-called “wedding dress” made me cringe.

“In my hometown, the bride wears a wedding dress,” I said coolly. “Not a bridesmaid’s gown.”

Chloe’s smile faltered, and she took a step back. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Ava. I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“I just thought… I thought you would like it… I’ll get rid of it right now!”

She grabbed a pair of scissors and moved toward the dress, but Eric, emerging from his study, snatched them from her hand. “How many times have I told you not to be careless with scissors? What if you hurt yourself?”

Tears welled in Chloe’s eyes, her voice trembling. “Eric, did I do something wrong? Ava is so angry with me…”

Before I could explain, Eric turned on me, his face dark. “Chloe spent four months designing this for you. She pulled all-nighters talking to the seamstress. Is this how you repay her?”

“If it weren’t for her, you wouldn’t even have a dress to wear.”

“Apologize!” he commanded.

I met his furious gaze, and the situation struck me as utterly ridiculous. When I had tried to discuss the dress with him weeks ago, he’d told me not to bother him while he was taking Chloe to Bali to cheer her up.

Yes, Chloe was so very important.

When Chloe was sad about her breakup, he stayed up all night talking to her.

On my birthday, he booked out a theater for Chloe so she could watch a romance movie.

When I was burning up with a fever from overwork, he told me to “drink more water” before rushing Chloe to a private clinic for a tiny scratch on her arm.

This was my wedding. I had done everything I was supposed to do.

But because Chloe had inserted herself, the narrative had become “she did everything for me.”

Eric’s relatives all saw me as lazy and ungrateful. They all despised me.

The truth was, my real wedding dress and his suit were hanging in the closet of my guest room right now. He hadn’t even bothered to look at them, yet here he was, demanding I apologize to her.

The disappointment settled deeper, and my expression hardened.

Eric sneered. “You’re not going to apologize? Fine. Then the wedding is off. We’ll get married when you decide to say you’re sorry to Chloe!”

Suddenly, my clenched fists relaxed. I looked at him, my voice clear and steady.

“Fine.”

With that, I went to my room to pack.

Noah had told me the bougainvillea at my grandmother’s house was in full bloom. I wanted to see it again. Grandma and I had planted it together before my parents moved me to the city.

In the living room, Eric was comforting Chloe, but a flicker of irritation crossed his face. He glanced at the guest room door and, turning away from her, discreetly texted his assistant.

The reply came quickly: “Mr. Levine, Ms. Quinn does have a record of a flight change with LevineAir, but I don’t have the clearance to see the final flight information. You’ll have to check it yourself.”

The tension in his face eased. He replied with a simple, “No need.”

As I finished packing, a text from Eric came through.

“If you’re going to be my wife, you need to work on that temper. Chloe was only trying to help. How could you hurt her feelings like that?”

“Anyway, there’s a family dinner this afternoon. I’ll take Chloe over first, and I’ll send a driver for you.”

“When you get there, just apologize to Chloe, and we can move past this. We’re getting married tomorrow. Let’s not ruin the mood.”

A Levine family dinner, and he was escorting Chloe.

When the driver knocked, I took one last look at my luggage.

Fine.

Eric had proposed to me in public. It was only fitting that I call it off in public, too.