Chapter 2
"If you tear up one, I'll write ten. Tear up ten, I'll write a hundred," I said, not even bothering to look up, my pen scratching furiously across the paper. "If we run out of paper, I'll just order more—local delivery, half an hour tops."
"Elodie!" Hugo shot to his feet, the chair screeching across the floor.
I kept writing, jotting down each clause: splitting assets, who gets the house, company stock... After seven years, I knew exactly how tangled our lives were, and just how much needed to be cut loose.
"I said we're getting married tomorrow!" Hugo stormed around the desk and grabbed my wrist.
His grip was so strong, it felt like he might crush my bones.
I looked up at the man I'd loved for seven years.
From eighteen to twenty-five, from college days to wedding gowns, I'd spent over two thousand nights fooling myself—telling myself he'd finally see me, convincing myself that someday I'd beat Natalia's shadow in his heart.
"Seven years of love," Hugo's voice dropped, a tension barely audible. "Are you really willing to let it all go?"
I gently tried to pull my hand away.
He still wouldn't let go, and my wrist was already marked with a red ring.
"Hugo," I suddenly smiled, a smile so unfamiliar it felt strange even to me. "Guess what I saw on my way back?"
He frowned.
It was a rain-soaked midnight. After wrapping up the last wedding details at the planner's office, I was driving home and passed the jewelry studio Hugo frequented.
The lights were still on.
Through the window, I saw him at the counter, holding a diamond ring up to the light, inspecting it. Next to him was Natalia, grinning ear to ear, as she offered her slender fingers for him to slide the ring onto her ring finger.
It fit perfectly.
It was a full size smaller than my finger.
"You spent half the night with her," I said, my words slow and soft, as if I were telling someone else's story. "You stayed with her at the jewelry store, helping her pick out a wedding ring?"
Hugo's face went ghostly pale in an instant.
The air in the study froze for a few seconds.
The sound of rain outside faded into the background, leaving only the heavy breathing between Hugo and me—his, fast and ragged; mine, eerily calm.
"Were you following me?" Hugo let go of my hand and stepped back, panic flashing in his eyes before anger took over. "Elodie, when did you start acting so unreasonable?"
"Unreasonable," I echoed, gently rubbing my reddened wrist. "So it's 'reasonable' for a fiancé to custom-make a wedding ring for his ex-girlfriend the night before his own wedding, but the woman who finds out is the 'unreasonable' one?"
"It's not a wedding ring!" Hugo raised his voice, sounding like he was trying to convince me—or maybe himself. "Natalia's been a mess lately. I just... I just wanted to give her a gift to cheer her up."
"Oh." I nodded. "So it's just a normal gift? One you have to measure her finger for, put on her ring finger, and pick up at one in the morning the night before our wedding?"
Hugo opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Looking at him now, I couldn't help but laugh at how absurd it all was. For seven years, how many excuses had I made for him? When he came home in the middle of the night, I told myself he was just working late.
When he forgot my birthday, I blamed it on stress. When his phone was packed with hundreds of photos of Natalia, I convinced myself they were just old memories.
I was like a dutiful defense attorney, always covering up for every bit of his indifference and neglect.
But tonight, in the pouring rain, that sparkling ring felt like a slap right across my face, snapping me awake for good.
"Was that ring... meant for me?" I asked softly.
Hugo's Adam's apple bobbed.
"Answer me," I said, my voice quiet but carrying a strength I hadn't expected.
"Yes," he finally admitted, but quickly added, "But then I thought the style didn't suit you, so I got you a different one instead. Natalia liked that design, so I just..."
"So you gave it to her," I finished for him. "You used the ring you meant to propose to me with, just to make your ex-girlfriend happy."
"Elodie!" Hugo reached for me, but I pulled away, dodging his hand.
"Don't touch me," I said.
The moment those words left my lips, I felt something inside me break—not pain, but a collapse that felt more like relief. For the first time in seven years, I refused to let him touch me.
Hugo's hand hung in the air, shock flashing in his eyes before anger took over.
"What do you want from me?" His voice was cold. "I already bought you a new wedding ring. The wedding's tomorrow, all the invitations are out, the media's been notified.
"If you pull this stunt now, how are the Kennedy and Moore families supposed to hold their heads up?"