After He Fled the Wedding Ninth Time, I Left

Chapter 2

My grandmother lay in the ICU, her life suspended by a ventilator, waiting for me to earn the money that could still save her.

I was a designer. I was meant to stand on stage, to create countless works, to take care of my grandmother, the only person who had ever truly loved me.

And now I was a cripple.

How had it come to this?

Tears flooded out of me. I sobbed until the world blurred and darkened.

Then the hospital door swung open.

Sebastian finally appeared, late as always.

When he saw the empty space where my right leg should have been, he froze. A flicker of guilt and panic crossed his eyes.

After a long moment, he approached my bed, his eyes red-rimmed, and began his explanations.

"Aurora, I am sorry. I never meant to leave you behind. But you know how severe Genevieve's condition is. If I had not gone to get her, she could have been in real danger. Do not worry. Even if your leg is gone, you still have me. From now on, I will take you anywhere you want to go."

The moment he finished speaking, Genevieve, who had been hovering behind him like a shadow, immediately welled up with tears. She wore the expression of someone fragile and deeply wronged.

"Aurora, it is all my fault. If not for me, none of this would have happened. I will get on my knees right now and beg for your forgiveness. Please."

She made a dramatic show of lowering herself toward the floor.

I watched her performance with a stone face.

I wanted to see how long this pair could keep up their act.

When it became clear I was not going to react to her kneeling pantomime, the last traces of guilt drained from Sebastian's expression.

He pulled Genevieve up and tucked her protectively against his chest.

Then he turned and frowned at me.

"Aurora, that is enough. I will make this right. Marriage, children, whatever you want. But the accident happened because you ran out without paying attention. Genevieve had nothing to do with it. Do not take your anger out on her. She has already been through enough."

His twisted version of events made me shake with rage.

"Sebastian, tell me the truth. Was I not paying attention, or did you shove me into the path of that truck because of her?"

A sharp slap landed across my cheek.

When he saw my expression of disbelief, he looked away for a moment, but his voice remained cold.

"Your accident was just an accident. Blame your own luck. Do not blame anyone else."

After a pause, his tone softened into something meant to sound reassuring.

"Aurora, I know you are not yourself right now, so I will overlook this. But do not fabricate accusations against Genevieve. She is innocent."

The way he defended Genevieve without question made my chest clench so tight I could barely breathe.

I had been with him for an entire decade. We had held nine wedding ceremonies. And this was the brutal ending it had all led to.

I still remembered the first time. Genevieve claimed she had a fever, and he left me waiting alone at the bridal shop while he rushed through the night to bring her medicine.

I sat by myself in that empty shop and cried until night fell.

When I threatened to end the relationship, he knelt before me and swore with absolute conviction that he would love only me for the rest of his life.

The second time, Genevieve twisted her ankle at a runway show. He abandoned me on an icy highway and sped off in his car.

I walked alone through the freezing wind for twelve hours before I finally made it off that stretch of road.

By the time he returned, I was nearly hypothermic, and all he said was that I had been overreacting.

The third time, she ran away from home.

The fourth time, she was simply in a bad mood.

It never stopped. One excuse after another.

This ninth time had nearly cost me my life.

I truly could not love him anymore.

Exhausted, I closed my eyes and refused to look at him any longer.

Sebastian mistook my silence for surrender. He gently patted my head and spoke in a tone that was almost dismissive.

"All right, let us not dwell on the past. Just focus on recovering. I will have Genevieve stay with you while I go downstairs and get you something to eat."

He carefully tucked the blanket around me before he turned and walked out.

But the moment the door clicked shut, the temperature in the room plunged.

Genevieve, who had been weeping pitifully just seconds before, now wore a cold and gloating smile.

She stepped closer to the bed and looked down at me, her eyes full of open contempt.

"Aurora, you really are hard to kill, are you not? A truck that size hit you, and all you lost was one leg? Why did it not just finish you off and send you straight to hell?"

She leaned in closer, her voice dripping with spite.

"But it does not matter. Even if you are alive, you are worthless. Sebastian has only ever loved me. He always has. If you have any sense left, you will crawl away and stop being an eyesore."

I let out a cold laugh and mustered every bit of strength I had to meet her stare.

"I am his fiancée. We have planned nine weddings. The one who should crawl away is you, the other woman."

Genevieve's face twisted with fury.

She raised her hand and struck me hard across the other cheek.

Both sides of my face burned with pain.

She yanked my blanket away and stared at my amputated leg with unconcealed disgust.

"A pathetic cripple like you thinks you can compete with me for Sebastian? Today I will make sure you see exactly what you are worth to him."

She spun around, rushed to the hospital window, and climbed onto the windowsill.

She turned her head back toward me and flashed a triumphant grin.

Then she began to shriek, loud enough for anyone beyond the door to hear.

"Aurora, I know I was wrong. Everything is my fault. Please do not be angry with Sebastian. I am willing to pay with my life to make it up to you."

Before I could even grasp what she intended to do, she threw herself forward off the windowsill.

A startled cry rose from somewhere below.

I lay frozen in the bed, my mind completely blank.

The next second, heavy footsteps pounded, and Sebastian burst back into the room.

His eyes darted to the open window and then to my pale face. His expression twisted into instant rage.

"Aurora."

He lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of my hair, his voice sharp and full of accusation.

"I was only gone for a few minutes, and you drove Genevieve to jump. You vicious, cruel woman. How could you be this heartless?"