I Kidnapped My Ex On His Wedding Day

Chapter 5

CHRISTIAN JAMES

Christopher and I were in separate cars, so whatever nonsense he had been hinting at earlier died unfinished between us.

I could only laugh at the sheer stupidity of the security surrounding this wedding. Even now, I was boxed in between two bodyguards like I was some fugitive instead of the groom.

What for?!

I had no intention of running.

I'd already accepted my fate. Maybe this was karma.

Karma for what I’d done to the woman I loved.

It had been five years since I last saw Charlie in person, and even after all this time, I still hadn’t forgotten her.

We practically grew up together. Even as children, I already liked her, so finding out she liked me too had made me happier than I’d ever been.

She used to be my girlfriend.

We didn’t last.

One of my cousins—cruel, filthy-mouthed, and a liar—destroyed everything.

Charlie believed my cousin and I had made a bet about her. After that, we never spoke again, not even when her father—who had been very close to our family, especially to me—fell sick and died.

I tried to talk to her several times, but she was stubborn to the point of cruelty, as if she had sentenced me to a lifetime of silence. She refused to listen to my explanation, until I found out she had left town and gone somewhere far away.

I used my family's influence to find her.

I wasn’t even surprised when I learned she was working as a secret agent. Even when we were children, her father had already been teaching us basic combat training.

Before he became a businessman, he had served our family as head of security, so it made sense that Charlie ended up with that kind of life too. Fighting was in her blood.

Inside the car, I closed my eyes.

And just like that, the past came rushing back.

Mornings were for jogging. Nights... well, those were reserved for something else.

Then someone tapped my shoulder.

I opened my eyes.

The car had stopped.

We were already in front of the church.

The two security men beside me got out first, and I followed.

The second my shoes hit the ground, I looked up at the church and felt the weight of the day settle over me like a stone slab.

Then one of the men leaned in and whispered, “The bride is arriving soon. Please take your place at the altar.”

I only nodded.

I took a breath and walked inside.

A woman stopped me at the entrance. Maybe she was the wedding coordinator. I didn't care enough to find out. She said something, but I walked past her without listening.

There were too many people inside. Too many eyes. Too many faces pretending this was a celebration and not a transaction sealed with family blood.

I walked past all of them without a word.

Even Dad.

I went straight toward the altar.

I didn’t want to pretend.

I didn’t want to smile.

Just showing up was enough to prove I was honoring the agreement.

That was all I could give them.

As I approached the front, I saw Christopher already standing there with that same irritatingly wide grin on his face, looking at me as if he were the groom and I was the bride walking toward him.

Damn it.

He was getting on my nerves.

If I could have punched him without turning the entire church into a scene, I would have.

I stood beside him anyway, still glancing toward the church entrance.

“What are you grinning about now? Be grateful there are a lot of people here, or you’d be in trouble.”

“I’m just happy for you. And don’t worry—you’ll see your gift later,” he said.

Then he grabbed my arm and shifted me into position.

“Stand here. Yes, perfect.”

Damn this brother of mine.

I was really going to hit him once we were alone.

He was actually happy about what was happening to me.

And what gift was he talking about?

I looked at him, but he wasn’t carrying anything at all. His hands were empty. The only thing he brought was that stupid grin of his.

He’d see.

Once I became head of the family, I’d marry him off to one of Gretchen’s cousins too. I’d pick the ugliest one I could find and make her his wife so our suffering would be even.

I didn’t get to answer his nonsense because the music started.

My bride was coming.

The ceremony moved fast—too fast.

It felt like the moment I arrived, everything had already been set in motion, and in an instant she walked toward me in a shimmering white gown, beautiful enough to leave the guests staring. But all I saw was Charlie.

By the time Gretchen reached me, she was smiling so widely it was obvious she was thrilled.

And as her soon-to-be husband, I took her hand and turned to face the altar with her.

The second we were both in place, I let go.

The priest cleared his throat and spoke.

“If anyone objects to this marriage, speak now, or forever hold your peace.”

Silence.

Not a single person moved.

No one dared.

No one interrupted.

Not even the people who should have.

“Well then, since no one objects, let us begin—”

The priest never finished.

The church gave a sudden, violent shudder.

It started low, deep under the floor—something ancient and wrong, like the building itself had just groaned in pain.

Then came the crack.

Sharp.

Loud.

Too close.

Before I could even react, the altar trembled under my feet.

“What the—”

The floor gave out.

Not all at once.

Worse.

It split open exactly beneath me.

One second I was standing at the altar.

The next, I was falling.

Dust exploded around me.

Wood shattered above.

Screams ripped through the church as the world lurched sideways and slammed into darkness.

I hit the floor below with a brutal thud that sent a jolt straight through my spine.

For a second, all I heard was ringing.

Then the dust began to settle.

My tuxedo was now gray with debris.

I lifted my head slowly.

Above me, a round hole yawned open where the altar used to be.

And through that hole came the sound of panic—people shouting, someone crying out, Gretchen’s voice rising in a shrill, frantic scream.

But what made the hair on the back of my neck stand up wasn’t the fall.

It was the precision.

The collapse had been too exact.

Too surgical.

It was as if the floor had been cut open only where I stood.

Only me.

Only that spot.

My pulse hammered hard as I tried to make sense of it.

Then a voice came from the side—sharp, urgent, and devastatingly familiar.

“Why are you just sitting there? Get up and let’s go.”

My entire body went still.

No.

No, that voice—

I turned my head slowly.

More dirt rained down from above, one chunk hitting my cheek before sliding off.

I wiped it away with my hand, never taking my eyes off the figure beside me.

And then I saw her.

Charlie.

She was here.

My breath caught so hard it almost hurt.

For one stunned second, I couldn’t even move.

Was I dreaming?

Was this really happening?

She stood there like a blade in the dark, calm and deadly and very, very real.

The one behind all of this.

It had to be her.

And somehow, after five years apart, it was just the two of us beneath the church. Hidden from everyone above.

“Oh my God. He’s okay!” Gretchen’s voice rang out from above.

I looked up.

Her face appeared through the hole, peering down at me in shock.

Then Charlie snapped, “Are you going to stand there all day, or am I leaving you?”

I stared at her.

Is she f*****g kidding me?!

She actually asked me that, and then she turned and started running.

Immediately.

No hesitation.

No explanation.

Just motion.

I didn’t think.

I shoved myself up from the floor, ignoring the pain, the dust, the ringing in my ears.

And I went after her.

"Charlie!" I shouted, chasing after her.

I'd already lost her once. I wasn't about to let it happen again.

Not again.