Chapter 2

I stood in the elevator, watching in silence as it all played out before me, my legs turning to ice, numb and weak beneath me.

Not even once in seven years had Edward let me in on the office code.

Evelyn pretended she'd only just noticed me, giving Edward's arm a playful shake and putting on her best innocent act. "Edward, who is this lady?"

The warmth in Edward's eyes vanished instantly, and he suddenly looked uneasy.

My fingers twisted together, but my face stayed calm. "I'm his fiancée. And you are?"

"I'm Evelyn White. Edward and I grew up together," she said, her smile dazzling and almost blinding. "Thanks for taking care of Edward all these years."

"Just last night, I was video chatting with Edward in his room, and I didn't see you anywhere," she said, batting her innocent eyes.

"I heard you two have been engaged forever. Why don't you share one bedroom? I've video called Edward so many times, but I've never seen you."

My whole body went numb with cold. I finally got it. Edward stayed in the guest room every night so Evelyn wouldn't see me when they video chatted.

"Alright," Edward cleared his throat, cutting in. "Let's get down to business. No more chit-chat."

With a cold glare, I stepped forward and pulled their arms apart.

"Evelyn, let's get real. I'm Edward's rightful fiancée. You're just a friend. You're way out of line," I said.

Evelyn's face went ghostly pale. Tears instantly brimmed in her eyes as she darted behind Edward, and her voice trembled with wounded innocence.

"Edward, did I do something wrong to make her mad? I'm sorry, but I only see you as a really good friend. Just because you're engaged, am I not even allowed to talk to you like before?

"She's not even officially your wife, and she's already trying to boss you around. Isn't that going a little too far?"

"Elena." Edward shot me a cold look, stepping in front of Evelyn with that commanding presence only someone like him could have. "Evelyn doesn't mean any harm. You're getting it all wrong."

He gestured toward the thick stack of contracts on his desk. "Sign these, and I'll have the driver drop you off at the bridal shop."

I reached for the documents, but after flipping through just a couple of pages, the thick stack slipped from my hands and scattered across the floor. My mind went completely blank, and hot tears streamed down my face, unstoppable.

"You want me to hand over Starlight Gallery—the gallery my mother poured her heart and soul into?" I asked.

Edward's voice was calm, almost emotionless. "Elena, you don't have the experience or background for the art world. Putting the gallery in your hands would be a waste of its potential.

"Evelyn's got a degree from a top art school. She's the one who can actually make the gallery thrive. The price in this contract is above market value, so you'll get a generous compensation. Evelyn takes over the gallery, and everyone wins."

"But that gallery is everything my mother put her heart and soul into," I said, my voice trembling, barely able to hold myself together.

Evelyn was startled by how upset I was and quickly hid behind Edward again.

Edward glanced at my breakdown, looking genuinely puzzled, and then sighed in exasperation. "Stop, will you? I don't have time for this."

I bit down hard on my lower lip, summoning every ounce of strength just to stand tall and meet his eyes without flinching. "I will never sign this contract. Not ever."

I couldn't even remember how I managed to get out of the heavily guarded Sterling Holdings building. My chest felt hollow, the pain so sharp that it was hard to breathe.

When I finally snapped back to reality, my phone was blowing up with calls—all from Philip Mason, my deputy.

"Ms. Carter, the art exhibition is about to start! Why aren't you here yet? Please, hurry up! Where are you? Just tell me you're safe, and I'll come get you right away!"

I wiped the tears from my face and called him back. "Just give me twenty minutes. I'll be at the gallery soon."

By the time I got to the gallery, the show had already started. The place was packed, cars lined up outside, people coming and going. Philip hurried over, arms full of white roses, and his eyes immediately landed on my red, swollen ones.

I shook my head and whispered, "I'm fine."

"You don't have to force yourself to hold it all in," Philip said after a pause. "The bridal studio noticed you weren't coming, so they delivered your custom wedding dress right to the exhibition hall."

I forced a bitter smile. "You figured it out long ago, didn't you? I wanted to show up in my wedding dress and give him a big surprise. Isn't it just pathetic when I think about it now?"

Philip shook his head with conviction. "Put on that wedding dress, Elena. You don't need to tie your happiness to any man. Marry your passion. Propose to your dreams, not to someone else. Ms. Carter, I'll always be by your side, rooting for you."

His words soothed the ache in my heart, if only a little. At last, I saw the wedding dress that had taken six months of painstaking craftsmanship—pure, delicate silk, every stitch carrying seven years' worth of dreams and longing.

I slipped into the wedding dress, bouquet in hand, and was about to make my entrance into the main hall.

Philip had already turned off the lights, and we'd agreed that when they came back on, I'd be standing in front of my painting, right where all eyes would be on me.

But just as I bent down to fix my suddenly loose heel, the entire hall lit up all at once.

A woman, caught in the spotlight, stood in the center of the hall in a white wedding dress, bouquet in hand, and spoke.

"Thank you all for being here tonight, for witnessing the dream I've chased for so long.

"There's something I've kept hidden deep inside me for seven years. Seven years ago, I messed up and let it slip away. I've regretted it every single day since."

A tall, handsome man pushed through the crowd, walked up to the woman, took the bouquet from her hands, and pulled her into a tight embrace. The guests erupted into thunderous applause.

And there I was, standing motionless in a dark corner of the exhibition hall.

Not far away, my fiancé Edward was clinging tightly to Evelyn, the woman in the wedding dress, in his arms.

He looked at Evelyn with a light in his eyes, that soft, devoted tenderness—the kind of attention I'd never once received in all my seven years by his side.

My vision blurred. I clapped a hand over my mouth, tears spilling out as I finally broke down.

I left the gallery a wreck, too drained to even answer Philip's messages. Seven years of love pressed down on me, suffocating. All I wanted was to escape this heartbreak.