On Our Wedding Day, I Dumped Both

Chapter 5

Owen spent the entire night beside Grace's hospital bed. It wasn't until the alarm sounded the next morning that he finally stirred.

"Parker Bear, wake up!"

The alarm was a voice recording Owen had once asked me to make for him. He said waking up to my voice was the happiest way to start his day. Before, he would purposely let it play several times, refusing to turn it off. But this time, it rang only once before he immediately silenced it.

He glanced at Grace, who was still asleep, then got up and walked to my room.

The bed was empty.

The only thing left behind was the diamond ring sitting quietly on the bedside table.

When Owen called me, I had already arrived in Antarctica. I didn't pick up.

A second later, his messages flooded my phone.

Owen: Emma, where did you go? I'm worried about you.

Owen: Stop this. Don't be childish.

Owen: You're not a little girl anymore. Even being upset needs to have a limit.

I stared at the messages and let out a cold laugh. I had always been the one who gave in. If being with him meant ending up dead, then why should I choose to stay?

"Emma, stop spacing out. We're leaving!" a colleague shouted from nearby.

A young man with a bright, youthful face ran over.

"Emma, I'll take your luggage."

The professor patted my shoulder.

"He's my student, your junior. His name is..."

"Julian Jones. Just call me Julian. I've finally gotten to meet you."

Julian suddenly grabbed me, tears spilling down his face.

I stared at him in confusion and gave him an awkward smile.

"Thank goodness you're still alive."

"What?"

I looked at him warily.

The professor took my hand.

"How do you not remember him? During the last expedition, you saved his life."

I studied Julian carefully, and then it came back to me.

During the previous expedition, the glacier had cracked apart. I was the one who pulled him back just before he fell into the collapsing ice.

I patted Julian's shoulder.

"Yes, I'm alive. And you're alive too."

But Julian suddenly hugged me and started crying. I assumed he was simply overwhelmed after seeing his savior again. Yet when no one was paying attention, his arms around me tightened.

*****

Grace somehow learned that I had left.

When she found Owen, he was already ordering his assistant to track down my whereabouts.

Grace walked over and said, "Isn't this better, Owen? She's gone, so now we can finally be together. We'll be a family of three."

She grabbed Owen's hand and placed it on her stomach, but he immediately pulled away with a cold expression.

"The only person I want to marry is Emma. Grace, I do want a child, but that doesn't mean you can take Emma's place."

After saying that, Owen walked away without looking back, leaving Grace standing there with her fists clenched and hatred filling her eyes.

While Owen was desperately searching for me, he received an unexpected call from the housekeeper.

"Mr. Parker, please come home right away! Ms. Scott broke in and destroyed everything. She's throwing all of Mrs. Parker's belongings away!"

When Owen rushed home, the room was completely wrecked.

The wedding photos had been scribbled over with a marker, and the clothes from the closet were scattered across the floor.

Owen walked forward in a daze and picked up a lucky charm from the ground. It had been cut into pieces and stomped until it was covered in dirt.

His hands trembled.

He turned around and slapped Grace across the face, sending her falling to the floor.

"How dare you?"

Rage burned in his eyes. I had got him that lucky charm when he was lying unconscious in a coma. I made a pilgrimage to an old chapel, offering a prayer at every step before it was finally placed in my hands.

Owen had treated it like a priceless treasure. What he valued wasn't only the lucky charm itself, but the love and sincerity woven into it. Yet now, that very love had been destroyed by Grace without a second thought.

"Owen, y-you actually hit me?"

Grace covered her cheek, staring at him in disbelief.

After the shock faded, she suddenly laughed.

"Emma is gone. She's really gone! What does it matter how much you treasure her things now? She'll never come back to you!"

Before she could finish, Owen stepped forward and grabbed her by the throat.

"Emma is only angry right now. Shut up! She loves me. She would never leave me. Get out! Get out of my house!"

Outside, snow fell heavily as Owen forced Grace out.

Sitting on the floor and looking at the chaos around him, Owen ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He knew he loved me, but he had never realized just how deeply.

He never thought that the child he longed for, the heir he dreamed of having, and all the thrills those other women gave him could never compare to the peace and happiness of having me by his side.

He never imagined I would actually be angry with him, or that I would walk away so completely without a single glance back.

Ring! Ring!

His phone suddenly rang.

Thinking it was me, Owen quickly picked up.

"Emma, where are you?"

The person on the other end fell silent for a moment.

"Is this Mr. Parker? I'm the wedding planner. Ms. Carter has canceled the wedding. After the cancellation fee, there is still a $30,000 deposit remaining. Would you like us to refund it to the original account?"

Owen's phone slipped from his hand and crashed onto the floor.

Only then did the reality finally hit him. I had truly left. I didn't want him anymore.

"f**k!" Owen let out a furious roar and smashed his phone. "Find her! Search every inch of Lakehaven City if you have to. I want Emma back!"