- 5.
Julian Thorne and Maya Hayes’s wedding was set for a month later, deliberately a day earlier than in my previous life.
In the Blackwood family’s sensational wedding press releases, that reality show seemed to have never existed.
My marriage to Liam Blackwood went unmentioned.
I deliberately avoided all occasions where I might run into them, even moving out of the Hayes‘ house.
But fate always loves to play tricks.
I stepped out of the fitting room, holding up my wedding dress, only to meet Julian Thorne’s eyes in the mirror as he entered the shop.
A fleeting look of distraction and awe crossed his face, but Maya’s voice snapped him out of it. “Sister? You’re not actually going to marry that cripple, are you??”
Hearing that, Julian Thorne grabbed my wrist, his grip so painfully tight. “You actually dare…”
At that moment, even he couldn’t tell if this furious possessiveness was for the face identical to Maya’s, or because I was wearing a wedding dress for another man.
“No one cares about that show anymore. Liam Blackwood probably won’t marry you either. Sister, are you still fantasizing about becoming Mrs. Blackwood?” Maya sneered, walking up to me.
The words “Mrs. Blackwood” triggered something in Julian Thorne. He suddenly scrutinized me. “Dressed like this…”
He leaned close to my ear, his voice low and tinged with dangerous pleasure. “Are you trying to fulfill that dream you’ll never achieve? Are you really that desperate to marry me?”
Maya chuckled, oblivious, and linked arms with Julian Thorne. “But sister can be a bridesmaid!”
She clearly just wanted to humiliate me, but Julian Thorne suddenly narrowed his eyes. “Good idea. Sisters side–by–side, it’ll be quite a spectacle.””
Maya’s expression instantly stiffened, her face twisting.
9.09 PM
<
“I’m busy.” I turned to leave, but he pulled me back.
“You don’t have a choice,” he said coldly to the shop assistant. “Wrap up the most expensive bridesmaid dress. Make
sure she’s on time, otherwise…”
His unfinished words were full of threats.
I watched his retreating back as Maya dragged him away, slowly wiping the spot he’d touched.
The wedding day was extravagantly luxurious. Julian Thorne pushed open the dressing room door for the third time.
“Julian~” Maya Hayes purred, turning around. “Can’t you bear to be away from me?”
But he swept his gaze straight across the room. “Where’s Anya Hayes?”
The bridesmaids exchanged confused glances. “Miss Hayes never arrived…”
Julian Thorne suddenly loosened his tie, feeling an inexplicable irritation.
The MC was already rushing them, but he stood at the end of the red carpet, constantly looking back.
The woman who should have been wearing the bridesmaid dress he personally chose, who should have been witnessing his happiness with that face identical to Maya’s, dared not to show up.
Marrying Maya should have been the most perfect moment of his life, yet he suddenly felt an emptiness.
After the wedding, he and Maya were seeing guests out of the banquet hall.
But his gaze suddenly froze.
On the enormous wedding photo in the opposite banquet hall, that face identical to Maya’s was happily nestled in Liam Blackwood’s arms.
He shoved Maya away from his embrace and rushed across the corridor like a madman.
The moment his fingertips touched the doorknob of the opposite hall, the MC’s voice clearly echoed:
“Now, the groom may kiss the bride…”
The deafening crash of the door being violently kicked open startled everyone.
Inside the banquet hall, Mr. Blackwood, who had just excused himself earlier, stood smiling at the officiant’s position.
Liam and I, our hands clasped, wearing matching wedding rings, looked up in surprise at him bursting through the door.
“Stop!”
