After My Fiancé Abandoned Our Wedding Three Times, I Married His Rival

Chapter 2

It was nearly dark by the time Adrian arrived.

He had rushed straight from the airport. His suit was wrinkled, his tie crooked, and stubble shadowed his jaw. He looked a little disheveled, but there wasn't a trace of hesitation in his steps as he walked down the aisle toward me.

"Am I too late?" Slightly out of breath, he let his gaze travel from my face to the hem of my gown. "I know you hate people who treat public roads like racetracks, so I didn't run a single red light."

He had always remembered the little things about me.

"You're right on time." I held out my hand.

My mother rushed over and blocked me, her nails digging into my arm. "Eleanor, have you lost your mind? The Hale family just agreed to let your father take part in the Riverfront Project!"

My father glared at me. "You've already waited five years. Why can't you wait one more week?"

They needed Hale Capital, and I was their most useful bargaining chip. When my sister Olivia Reed married the man she loved, my parents had been willing to spend two million on the wedding. When it came to me, all they wanted was an obedient daughter.

It wasn't fair. Even my own parents bullied me.

"You're free to leave," I said. "But the ceremony will continue tonight."

My father dragged my mother away and announced to the guests that I was suffering from a migraine. Most of those who had only come because of the Hale family left with them. Only Megan, a few genuine friends, and a pastor Adrian had contacted at the last minute stayed.

Night settled around us, and candlelight glowed against the glass. There was no band and no champagne tower.

But he was there.

Adrian stood before me, holding my hands.

"Eleanor, I know this isn't the wedding you imagined. But if you'll have me, then from this day forward, you will always be my first choice. Not second. Not a backup. First."

"I do," I said.

My hands trembled when the applause began. Instinctively, I almost looked for the phone inside my purse.

Adrian reassured me, "It's okay. I can wait for you to fall in love with me."

After the ceremony, he took me to a brownstone in Ravenport Heights.

"The guest room is ready. You can sleep there." His face reddened slightly. "Just because we had a ceremony today doesn't mean we have to... you know."

He gave me a way out.

The next morning, the smell of food woke me.

Adrian was pan-searing sea bass in the kitchen, the tips of his ears faintly pink. "At a family picnic, when you were fifteen, you said you liked sea bass."

The doorbell rang. A lawyer had come to drop off an envelope of documents.

"These list my shares in the firm, my trust income, and my real estate." Adrian set the envelope on the table. "You don't have to sign anything. I just want you to have them."

I looked at the envelope. I didn't open it.

"Adrian, I haven't officially ended things with Julian yet."

He was quiet a moment, then nodded. "We can apply for the license tomorrow. Make it legal next week."

He handed me his phone and let me pick the appointment time myself.

"As of right now, the future Mrs. Shaw has six days to change her mind."

Megan brought me the cracked phone I'd left in the dressing room. Once it charged, more than a dozen messages came up, all from Julian.

Julian: Claire's fine now.

Julian: Come have dinner with her at the rooftop place. Book a table by the window.

Julian: Quit sulking and answer me.

I was never going to answer him again.

By the time he sent those, I was already in a kitchen in Ravenport, drinking the Earl Grey another man had made me, getting ready to marry someone else.