My Devoted Husband

Chapter 5

His gaze swept over her, as if checking if she was hurt, and finally, he let out a sigh of relief: "What happened these past three days?"

Eleanor tugged at the corner of her mouth, her chapped lips cracking and bleeding: "Nothing."

She cut straight to the point: "The wedding you promised me, when will you deliver?"

Sophia immediately looked up: "What wedding?"

Julian was silent for a moment: "She and I are going to have a make-up wedding."

Seeing Sophia's eyes instantly redden, he quickly explained: "It's just a ceremony, Sophia. You're the only one in my heart."

Sophia forced a smile: "I understand... I'm not angry. You're doing this to save me, after all."

She suddenly looked at Eleanor and said softly: "Ms. Vance, why don't I help you pick out a wedding dress?"

In the following days, Sophia followed Eleanor everywhere as she tried on wedding dresses, never leaving her side.

In the bridal shop, Eleanor stood before the fitting mirror, the pristine white wedding dress outlining her slender waist. Sophia followed her every step, inspecting every gown and nitpicking every single detail.

"This neckline is too low."

Sophia critically tugged at Eleanor's collar. "Change into something more modest."

"The waistline isn't flattering enough."

She picked up another dress. "How can Mrs. Blackwood wear such a plain style?"

Eleanor quietly complied the entire time, like an emotionless marionette.

When the final wedding dress was chosen, alone in the empty fitting room, Sophia finally dropped her facade.

"So you weren't indifferent after all, you were just playing hard to get."

She suddenly gripped Eleanor's wrist, her nails digging deep into the flesh: "Let me tell you, don't think you can steal Julian from me this way. He can only be mine!"

Eleanor didn't even lift an eyelid, simply pulling her hand back calmly.

There was no playing hard to get, nor was there any intention of stealing Julian.

She wanted to leave more than anyone, wishing for this farce to end quickly.

But she never expected that Sophia would be so convinced she was trying to steal Julian, and would start causing trouble again.

On the eve of the wedding, Julian suddenly kicked her door open.

"Did you lock Sophia in the fitting room?"

His face was dark. "Do you have any idea she's claustrophobic?!"

Eleanor closed her eyes wearily: "I didn't."

"Still trying to argue?"

Julian yanked her to her feet. "It seems the last lesson wasn't enough!"

Ignoring her struggles, he had the bodyguards lock her in the dark, damp basement.

In the darkness, Eleanor sat in a corner, hugging her knees.

Around midnight, she suddenly heard a rustling sound,

and then, a bag of live rats was thrown in!

"Ah—!"

She screamed and jumped up, frantically pounding on the iron door until her nails split, but no one came to save her...

The next day, Julian opened the door with a cold expression: "It was just one night. Why cry the whole time?"

After a whole night of torment, Eleanor's face was ashen: "Sophia let rats in..."

Julian scoffed: "Sophia would never do something like that."

He turned on the light: "Where are the rats you mentioned?"

Eleanor froze.

The basement was spotless, without even a single rat hair.

Sophia... had already cleaned up all the evidence.

She opened her mouth, but in the end, said nothing.

Julian said coldly: "The wedding is in three days. I'll be with Sophia until then. I'll only show up on the day of the ceremony."

He gave her a warning glance: "Don't cause any more trouble, or the wedding is off."

After saying his piece with a cold face, Julian turned and left the basement.

Eleanor listened as his footsteps faded away before slowly pulling herself up, leaning against the wall.

For the next three days, she locked herself in her room, hardly ever stepping out.

She only took a few simple bites of the meals the maids brought; no matter how beautiful the sunlight was outside, she never took a single step out of her room.

She couldn't give Sophia any more opportunities to frame her.

Fortunately, Julian was true to his word. He spent those three days with Sophia and didn't even return home.

Eleanor often saw them appearing together in the gossip columns.

Sophia would be holding Julian's arm, her smile radiant and captivating, and when Julian looked down at her, his gaze was filled with overwhelming tenderness.

The day before the wedding, she sat at her desk, meticulously writing down all of Julian's likes and dislikes:

"Hates cilantro, doesn't eat spicy food; only drinks Americanos, no sugar; shirts must be ironed impeccably; no light at all when he sleeps..."

After she finished writing, she folded the note and called for the maid, Xiao Tao.

"Here, take this."

she said softly, "Give it back to me after the wedding is over."

Xiao Tao looked confused: "Ma'am, what is this...?"

"In case I forget."

Eleanor gave a slight smile, "You know, my memory has been poor recently."

Although Xiao Tao found it strange, she obediently took the note. "Don't worry, Ma'am. I'll keep it safe."

After Xiao Tao left, Eleanor dragged a long-packed suitcase from the depths of her closet.

She took one last look around the room she had lived in for three years, her gaze lingering for a moment on the wedding photo on the wall.

In the photo, Julian was impeccably dressed in a suit, as handsome as a god, while she, in a priceless wedding gown, smiled with gentle charm.

She gently took down the frame, placed it facedown on the desk, and then left without a backward glance.

In the airport terminal, Mrs. Vance had been waiting for a long time.

She handed Eleanor a bank card and a plane ticket. "Thirty million. Not a penny less."

"From now on, you have nothing more to do with the Vance family."

Eleanor took the card, her fingertips trembling slightly.

She looked up at her mother, only to find that the woman wouldn't even grant her a single glance.

"Thank you,"

she said softly.

Mrs. Vance's tone was icy. "You've done well these past three years, making sure the partnership between our families went without a hitch."

She paused. "Go on. Go live the life you want."

Eleanor nodded and turned toward the security checkpoint.

At the corner, she glanced back one last time. Mrs. Vance was already gone, her retreating back so resolute it was as if she had never had a daughter.

But she wasn't sad. She clutched the plane ticket, her eyes growing warm.

This time, she could finally live for herself.

She walked toward the boarding gate without looking back, her figure just as resolute.

And at that very moment, in the Blackwood estate,

a woman who bore a striking resemblance to her was putting on a wedding dress, quietly waiting for the next day's ceremony.

Alina was back.