Chapter 9 The Perfect Exit
649 Words
Jace returned to the room with the discharge papers, radiating bright, contagious excitement as he led her out of the hospital.
"Stella, look at this timing! You got discharged exactly one day before the wedding. It's literally perfect. I'm gonna take you out tonight to relax and celebrate, yeah?"
Just as Stella was about to decline, his phone buzzed.
Stella only needed to glance at the screen to see exactly what had arrived.
It was a photo from Chloe, an ultrasound sonogram.
Instantly, the dead look in his eyes vanished, replaced by a brilliant spark dancing in his eyes.
He hastily shoved the phone into his pocket, desperately trying to suppress the absolute thrill threatening to explode from his chest. "Stella, something urgent just came up at the company. I have to go deal with it right now. Go straight home and rest, okay? After the wedding tomorrow, I promise I'll take you anywhere you want to go to celebrate."
Stella gave a slow, completely numb nod.
When he looked at her eerie calmness, a sudden spike of inexplicable panic hit his chest.
He hesitated for a second, wondering if leaving Stella completely alone the night before the wedding was a mistake. But the blazing image of that sonogram flashed in his mind, and his grip on his phone loosened.
'Everything is going exactly according to plan. What could possibly go wrong? It's just one night. Tomorrow is the wedding.'
Reassured by his own logic, he let out a breath and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. "Baby, head back to the bridal villa and get some sleep. Tomorrow, I'm coming to pick up the most beautiful bride in the world!"
With that, Jace turned, practically sprinting to his car, and sped off until he completely vanished from her sight.
Stella got into the private car sent to take her back to the villa.
Honestly, it was laughable.
Just to make the "getting ready" photos for the wedding look flawless, Jace had dropped tens of millions of dollars to buy a massive waterfront villa specifically to serve as her bridal suite.
Sometimes, she genuinely wondered if Jace had acted his part so well that he ended up brainwashing himself.
During the ride, she opened her phone and merged the audio recording of his twisted revenge confession with all the photos and videos of his filthy hookups with Chloe into one seamless video file.
Jace had been putting on this spectacular, Oscar-worthy performance for years. Now that he was finally about to achieve his ultimate goal, it was only right that she gave him a spectacular wedding gift.
That night felt shorter than any night before.
Exactly as expected, Jace went complete radio silent. Not a single text came from him.
Stella grabbed her brand-new ID card, grabbed her pre-packed suitcase, and walked downstairs.
Every square inch of the sprawling villa was elaborately decorated with extravagant wedding decor.
But her heart was as placid as a dead lake. Not a single ripple disturbed her calm.
She handed the absurdly massive diamond ring and a small SD card containing the video file over to the head butler, Carson Brown.
"Carson, this is my wedding gift for Jace. Please make sure he gets it. Oh, and the wedding is officially canceled. Have the staff tear down all the decorations in the house."
The sudden, chaotic instructions left Carson utterly bewildered.
"Miss Tanner, you..."
Before Carson could even finish his sentence, Stella had already rolled her luggage out the front doors.
Just as the Uber driver loaded her suitcase into the trunk, her phone buzzed with a text from Jace.
Jace: Baby! You are going to be the most breathtaking bride today! I'm on my way to marry you and bring you home! Wait for me.
Stella smiled.
The most breathtaking bride?
There wasn't going to be a bride at this wedding.
- Writer
