Chapter 4
I shook my head and smiled. "I've been a bit under the weather lately. How about you take Dani with you instead?"
As soon as Luis heard I wouldn't be going, his eyes sparkled with excitement. Still he feigned concern and said, "Honey, take good care of yourself while I'm away. I'll be back soon."
*****
The next morning, I woke up alone. The whole apartment was unusually quiet.
There was a message from Luis on my phone, saying he'd taken Dani out shopping.
I deleted the message and blocked him.
After making sure there wasn't a single trace of me left in that apartment, I grabbed my luggage and boarded a flight to Leilaburgh with my mom.
As soon as we arrived in Leilaburgh, my mom and the Dawson family threw themselves into the wedding preparations for me and Jared.
My memories of Jared always circled back to those elementary school days. He was just a boy then, and would hold out two lollipops to me, his eyes sparkling as he asked, "Do you want one?"
When I saw him again, he was standing in the sunlight. His presence was cool and distant, yet his features carried a kind of carefree grace.
It felt like spring colliding with winter—strange, but somehow stirring.
For a moment, his figure overlapped with someone from my memories. So familiar, yet hazy, like something just out of reach.
Jared wasn't just dependable, he did everything himself—never passing things off to anyone else.
Every detail carried his thoughtfulness, as if he wanted to give me the best in the world.
I barely had to lift a finger, because whatever I thought of, he'd already taken care of it.
My mom was genuinely happy with Jared, and honestly, I felt the same way.
During all this, I didn't even bother to see what Luis was up to.
I only heard from some friends that he was tearing his hair out trying to track me down.
*****
The wedding day arrived, and the hall was filled with distinguished guests.
Gentle golden light poured over the lavish wedding hall, with rose petals scattered everywhere.
Jared stood waiting at the far end of the carpet, dressed flawlessly in his suit. His deep eyes clearly reflected my silhouette.
As the flower girl tossed petals in my path, every eye in the room turned to me with envy and admiration.
Right in the middle of all the blessings and cheers, a man's voice suddenly rang out starkly. "You can't do this, Gwen!"
I spun around to find Luis staring at me, totally stunned.
Beside him, Dani's glare was so vicious it was as if she wanted to devour me alive right then and there.
I turned away from Luis and Dani and moved forward.
Behind me, lights flickered out one by one, but the path ahead shone even brighter.
Luis stormed onto the stage, not caring about anything else, and yanked my wrist.
I looked at him, totally baffled. "What are you doing?"
Jared instantly caught on that something wasn't right and motioned for the security team to haul Luis off the stage.
I leaned closer to Jared, lowering my voice. "Sorry, I really have no clue what he's freaking out about."
Not a single trace of blame showed in Jared's eyes.
"Don't worry about it. Whatever he does has nothing to do with us. If he insists on trashing our wedding, I might just buy out his company for fun," Jared said.
His gaze was sincere and his voice was soft but unwavering.
A gentle warmth filled a long-hidden corner of my heart.
The wedding went off without a hitch.
When Jared pulled out a massive diamond ring, I felt like I was in a dream.
"I'm not the best with romance," Jared said quietly, "but to me, you're one of a kind. No one can ever take your place. Gwen, I love you."
As he slid the ring onto my finger gently, the crowd burst into cheers and the spotlight locked onto just the two of us.
In that moment, the whole world faded away.
Unable to hold myself back, I tiptoed up and kissed Jared. His fresh scent of pine washed over me, so clean and so soft.
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me even closer, deepening the kiss carefully.
When I kissed him back, he responded even more passionately.
*****
After the reception, I slipped away to the lounge.
I hadn't worn heels for this long in ages, and now my ankles were rubbed raw.
Jared must've picked up on my discomfort. Once he'd finished up with all the guests up front, he knocked at the lounge door.
"Sorry, I should've had some flats ready for you," he said.
He shot me a guilty look, then quickly turned, telling me to stay put while he ran out to buy some band-aids.
He was gone in a flash—I barely had time to react.
When the lounge door handle turned again, I looked up, expecting to see Jared. However, it was Luis, his face gloomy.
"So this is why you blocked me, Gwen," Luis snapped. "I went looking for you at your house and your whole place had been cleared out. Turns out you ran off to Leilaburgh to marry rich and enjoy your cushy new life, huh?"
He let out a contemptuous laugh. "I can't believe I never saw you for what you really are—a gold-digger."
I was about to call someone to come and throw him out, but he just locked the door behind him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I demanded. "This is Leilaburgh. You've no power here."
I stood up, but the blisters on my ankle hurt so much that I twisted my foot. I had no choice but to brace myself against the dressing table and straighten my back to face him.