Chapter 3

"Come on, sleepyhead. It's practically noon," Andrew teased.

He cuddled Julia closer, his voice full of affection as he playfully pinched her nose. "Julia, have you been overworking? Why are you sleeping so much lately?"

Julia blinked awake and instinctively glanced at her belly, where a tiny life was beginning to grow.

Andrew, oblivious to the shadow of sadness in her eyes, nudged her again. "Come on, get up. Breakfast is waiting. Did you forget? We're trying on the wedding dress today."

"Wedding dresses..." Julia echoed softly, the words feeling strange in her mouth.

They really had made that appointment.

That dress was the one they had sketched together back in high school, hunched over their desks, dreaming of their future when they first fell in love.

Back then, with her heart full of pure love, she had drawn every curve of that dress, thinking, "I want to marry Andrew Holden."

When Andrew proposed, pulling that yellowed sketch from his suit pocket, she burst into tears.

He had kept it for seven years.

With her eyes brimming with tears in that moment, she had never wanted anything more in her life than to marry him.

A year ago, Andrew had sent the design to a top studio in Europe. It had taken them thirteen months to perfect. He wanted her to have a dress that was truly one of a kind.

But now, there was no future for them.

After a long silence, Julia forced a shallow smile and nodded.

If she couldn't marry him, then this fitting would be her farewell to their seven years together.

She had to see, just once, if standing beside him in the dress she had designed herself would look anything like what she had dreamed.

When they arrived at the boutique, Julia immediately spotted Emily on the couch, with Mason Linwood beside her making silly faces.

Suddenly, Julia was rooted to the spot, completely numb.

Andrew wrapped an arm around her shoulders from behind, keeping his tone casual. "Emily's here to give us a second opinion. She studied design, so she can see if anything needs to be changed."

Emily had a degree in design, but after having a child so young, she had never worked a day in her field.

Emily looked up with a soft smile. "Julia, I'm so sorry about missing your mom's funeral. Mason got sick suddenly. I couldn't pay my respects."

Julia just stared at her silently, unable to force out a single word.

"Alright, Julia, go get changed," Andrew said, gently pushing Julia toward the fitting room.

As she was changing, Julia realized her back was damp with a cold sweat.

She put down the dress to look for a tissue and glanced back. Mason was playing by himself on the sofa. Emily was gone.

Her heart leaped into her throat. As if pulled by an invisible string, she found herself walking toward the closed fitting room next to hers.

The moment her hand touched the cold doorknob, she heard Emily's voice from inside, choked with tears. "Drew, I miss you so much. Can you just hold me, please?"

"Emily, calm down!" Andrew said.

His voice was firm, but there was an undercurrent of indulgence. "I told you I'll always look after you and Mason. But we can only be siblings. Don't worry about the marriage. I said you don't have to marry, and you won't."

"I never wanted to come between you and Julia..."

Emily's voice dropped lower. "I don't want anything. I just want to stay by your side forever. I don't care about marriage or dating. Drew, you said you'd never leave me."

"Don't worry, I always keep my word," Andrew reassured her.

"Drew, your arms feel so warm."

Emily's voice turned syrupy sweet. The room suddenly went silent. Julia's hand on the doorknob turned icy, her fingertips trembling.

After a moment, she yanked her hand back and retreated to her own fitting room.

When she emerged in the wedding dress, she stared at her reflection. She looked fragilely innocent.

She forced a stiff smile.

The dress was stunningly perfect, exactly as she had dreamed it would be.

But wearing it now, she clearly understood the love that had inspired this dress was already rotten to the core.

And the man she had dreamed of no longer deserved such pure love.

Lost in her reflection, Julia didn't hear the rushing footsteps behind her.

Thud!

Mason charged out of nowhere, slamming hard into her lower back.

Instantly, a sharp, twisting pain ripped through her belly. She staggered back, her hands flying to her stomach as her back hit the wall, barely keeping her upright.

Before she could even process the pain, a wail erupted from the floor.

Mason sat sprawled on the carpet, face scrunched up, howling at the top of his lungs.