Chapter 1
We were standing at the altar, seconds away from exchanging rings, when Arthur Hastings stopped.
“Hold on. I need to-
I nodded before he could finish. “Go. She needs you.”
He blinked, clearly caught off guard. “Don’t be upset. I’ll be right back.”
I said nothing. I didn’t reach for his arm or beg him to stay while he murmured reassurances into the phone.
The first time I went through this, he got Sophie Miller’s call and tried to postpone the ceremony again. I grabbed his wrist and said through clenched teeth, “Walk out that door and the wedding’s off. I’m not keeping the baby.”
His eyes
went red, his jaw clenched so hard I could see the muscle jump. But he stayed. He stepped back to my side, and
we finished the ceremony.
Afterward, we found out Sophie had slit her wrists.
He never mentioned her name again. He threw himself into taking care of me and our unborn child.
Then my water broke, and I was on the floor begging him to drive me to the hospital. All I got was the ice in his voice.
“Sophie finally woke up, and you pushed her over the edge again. You don’t deserve to carry my child.”
I bled out on the basement floor from labor complications. So this time, I decided to let them have each other
***
Arthur clearly hadn’t expected me to agree so easily. He probably thought I was just trying to make a point. because by added, “This is the last time.”
“No. You are not walking out of here.” My mother stepped forward and blocked his path.
“You’re leaving in the middle of your own wedding. What about Chloe? You’d abandon your bride to some stor
Whispers rippled through the guests.
“Is this the eighth time they’ve called it off?”
“That girl heard he was getting married and nearly killed herself in a car wreck If you ask he he was never rally this. But Chloe keeps chasing him anyway”
Before, those words would have made me lose it Now I swallowed the bitterness white and forced somethin have passed for a smile
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Setora King que todos necesitan
Every single time Arthur and I had tried to hold a wedding in my first life. Sophie called.
“Professor, I can’t figure out this thesis. Could you come take a look?”
The power went out in the library and I’m locked inside – what do I do?”
“Professor, it’s my birthday and nobody showed up. But it’s fine, I’ll just be by myself.”
Our friends and family eventually stopped pretending. Everyone assumed Arthur didn’t love me.
His grad students laughed behind my back about the professor’s wife, the housewife who was beneath him. I begz Arthur to shut down the rumors. He told me I was overreacting.
Sophie called during the eighth ceremony. “Professor, I’ve caused you so much trouble. I’ll step aside. I hope you’ll
happy-”
A screech of brakes tore through the phone. Arthur’s face drained of color, and he was gone before I could take my breath. The accident left Sophie in a vegetative state.
I became the punchline at every family gathering. Eight failed weddings, and I still couldn’t beat a woman in a con
When Sophie woke up during the ninth attempt, she reached out to him. “Professor, I changed my mind I dont wa you to marry her. Is there still a chance for us?”
Arthur dropped the ring on the floor and walked out.
That was when I finally snapped. I used the baby, weaponized my own pregnancy to force him to stay and Sophie
her wrists.
Arthur gave in after that. I thought he’d chosen me
–
thought we were going to have a real life together
The day I went into labor, he locked me in the basement. His face was perfectly blank
That was when I understood. Every quiet morning, every tender gesture since Sophie’s attent He’d only been patient long enough to destroy me the way he believed I had destroyed hat
The memory of that death still lingered in my body Even now standing at the alar or my we can the tremor that Tan through me
Not this time I wouldn’t make the same mistake twir
After Arthur left the ceremony I went straight to the dick aint had all abo FROM
There was a time when I wanted nothing more than to have hay child Bur Arthur alt! had our futures and the reason to bring a baby into that mess
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When I came out of recovery. I checked my phone. Sophie had updated her feed for the first time in months
[Waking up to the one person I wanted to see. Nothing feels more right than this.]
The photo showed her smiling from a hospital bed, pale but glowing. A man’s hand was laced through hers, and on his finger was a plain silver band – identical to mine.
I’d bought those matching rings with my very first paycheck. Back then, he wore it to every class and refused to take it off, no matter how much his colleagues teased him about it.
Now that same hand was wrapped around someone else’s. The comments were full of congratulations from people who
didn’t know the full story.
My fist closed so tight my nails bit into my palm. Something sharp and relentless twisted through my chest.
I scrolled to a contact I hadn’t called in a long time and pressed dial.
‘I’m getting married in three days, and I need a groom. Are you in?”
The man on the other end laughed, low and warm.
I’d be honored.”
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
