I Won't Marry Her
1069 Words
For three endless seconds, Adrian Wolfe could not move.
The words on the diary blurred before his eyes.
She's counting the steps until she becomes your widow.
His grip tightened around the leather cover until his knuckles turned white.
This couldn't be happening.
People didn't receive letters from the dead.
Diaries didn't predict the present.
And yet...
Everything written so far had unfolded exactly as Elena described.
"Adrian."
Daniel's voice sounded distant.
"Say something."
Adrian slowly closed the diary.
"I know this sounds insane."
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
"It doesn't sound insane."
He swallowed.
"It is insane."
Outside, the wedding march reached its crescendo.
The massive cathedral doors stood open, revealing Sophia walking gracefully down the aisle with her father. Guests smiled, cameras flashed, and flower girls scattered white petals across the marble floor.
Inside the waiting room, Adrian's world had stopped.
Daniel took the diary from him.
"There has to be another explanation."
He flipped through several pages.
Every entry was dated.
Some were written weeks before Elena's death.
Others seemed to describe events that hadn't happened yet.
Daniel stopped on one page.
His expression changed.
"What?"
Daniel looked up slowly.
"This page..."
He hesitated.
"It says you're going to ignore the warning."
Adrian frowned.
Daniel continued reading aloud.
"You'll tell yourself grief is making you paranoid. You'll convince yourself this is someone's cruel joke. Then you'll step onto the altar because you refuse to embarrass your family."
Silence filled the room.
Daniel turned another page.
"If you do, one innocent man will die before sunset."
Adrian snatched the diary from him.
"That's enough."
His heartbeat pounded inside his ears.
No.
He refused to believe this.
Someone was manipulating him.
Someone wanted this wedding destroyed.
It had to be.
Another knock came.
The wedding coordinator smiled nervously through the half-open door.
"Mr. Wolfe... everyone is waiting."
Adrian inhaled deeply.
"I'll be there."
She nodded and disappeared.
Daniel grabbed Adrian's arm before he could leave.
"What if the diary is right?"
"What if it isn't?"
"What if walking down that aisle gets someone killed?"
Adrian stared toward the sanctuary.
Thousands of eyes were waiting.
Business partners.
Journalists.
Family.
Friends.
Sophia.
Walking away now would become tomorrow's headline.
Daniel spoke quietly.
"You always told me Elena never lied."
Adrian closed his eyes.
"No."
"Then why would she start after death?"
...
Sophia reached the altar.
Her father kissed her forehead before taking his seat.
The priest smiled warmly.
"We will begin as soon as the groom joins us."
Soft laughter echoed through the cathedral.
Guests glanced toward the entrance.
A minute passed.
Then another.
Whispers spread through the crowd.
"Where's Adrian?"
"Is something wrong?"
"I heard he was nervous."
Sophia forced herself to smile, but anxiety crept into her expression.
Back inside the waiting room, Adrian looked once more at the diary.
A folded piece of paper slipped from between its pages.
He hadn't seen it before.
It was smaller than the letter.
Across the front were only three words.
Read This First.
His pulse quickened.
He unfolded it.
Inside was another handwritten message.
You're wondering whether to believe me.
So I'll prove I'm still trying to protect you.
Exactly thirty seconds after you finish reading this note, the elderly priest waiting at the altar will suffer chest pain.
He won't die.
But everyone will panic.
When it happens...
Stop doubting me.
Adrian checked the wall clock.
Thirty seconds?
Impossible.
Daniel looked over his shoulder.
"What does it say?"
Adrian handed him the note.
Daniel read it twice.
Neither man spoke.
The second hand continued moving.
Twenty seconds.
Twenty-five.
Twenty-eight.
Twenty-nine.
A loud scream erupted from inside the cathedral.
Adrian and Daniel rushed toward the doorway.
Guests had jumped to their feet.
The elderly priest clutched his chest before collapsing into a chair.
People rushed toward him.
Someone shouted for a doctor.
Several guests called emergency services.
Within moments, a physician attending the wedding pushed through the crowd.
"It's only mild chest pain," he announced after a brief examination.
"He needs rest."
Exactly as the note predicted.
Not one detail was wrong.
Daniel slowly turned toward Adrian.
His face had gone completely pale.
Adrian felt the ground disappear beneath him.
Elena had known.
She had known thirty seconds before it happened.
How?
His thoughts were interrupted by Sophia.
She hurried over, lifting the edge of her wedding dress as she ran.
"Adrian!"
She reached him, breathing heavily.
"What's going on?"
Her eyes searched his face.
"You look terrified."
For the first time since meeting her, Adrian truly looked at Sophia.
Not as his fiancée.
Not as the woman everyone expected him to marry.
But as someone Elena had accused of murder.
Sophia reached for his hand.
He instinctively stepped back.
The movement was small.
Barely noticeable.
But Sophia noticed.
Pain flashed across her face.
"What happened?"
Adrian couldn't answer.
She looked at Daniel.
Daniel remained silent.
The diary felt heavier beneath Adrian's arm.
Sophia forced a smile.
"The priest is alright now."
She squeezed Adrian's hand again.
"We can still continue."
Continue.
Marry her.
Ignore everything.
Pretend none of this existed.
Adrian's eyes drifted toward the diary.
Another page had somehow come loose.
Only one sentence was written across it.
If she touches your left hand...
He looked down.
Sophia's fingers were wrapped around his left hand.
The next line made his blood run cold.
Look at her engagement ring.
Confused, Adrian lowered his gaze.
At first, he saw nothing unusual.
Then the diamond caught the sunlight.
Hidden beneath it...
Barely visible...
Was a tiny engraving.
A single letter.
E.
His breath caught.
That ring had originally belonged to Elena.
He knew because he had designed it himself.
The jeweler had secretly engraved Elena's initial beneath the setting.
No one else knew.
No one.
His eyes snapped back to Sophia.
She noticed where he was looking and instinctively pulled her hand away.
Too late.
Adrian had seen it.
The cathedral fell silent as hundreds of guests waited for the ceremony to resume.
Every eye turned toward the groom.
Sophia smiled nervously.
"Adrian..."
He looked at her.
Then at the ring.
Then at the diary.
Finally, he spoke.
His voice echoed through the silent cathedral.
"I can't marry you."
The words landed like thunder.
Gasps rippled through the congregation.
Sophia's smile vanished.
"What... did you say?"
Adrian took one slow step backward.
"I said..."
"I won't marry you."
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