My Wedding Stolen, I Saved Lives Abroad

Chapter 3

I went back to the suite to pack.

Our wedding photos were still hanging high on the bedroom wall. They were hard to even look at.

I thought about the first time I met Damon.

I was working a shift at the outpatient clinic that day when he brought Leo in.

Leo had a dangerously high fever that wouldn't come down. He was crying his eyes out, while Damon, a grown man who usually seemed so composed, was completely at a loss. His forehead was slick with sweat, and his eyes were filled with panic.

I remembered thinking that a man who could be this gentle with his nephew would surely make a good husband and a good father someday.

Later, he used the excuse of needing to ask me something to add me on w******p.

And just like that, we fell in love.

It was the kind of sweet, passionate romance you'd see in any cliché love story.

For the first time in my life, I thought I'd finally found a home.

In our second year together, we took a trip to the Northwest.

A runaway truck suddenly came barreling toward us on the highway.

At the last possible second, Damon threw himself over me, shielding my entire body with his own.

He suffered fractures in more than a dozen places. By the time he was taken to a local hospital, he was barely clinging to life. He was later transferred to a major hospital, where the doctors finally managed to pull him back from the brink.

That was when Grace began to hate me.

She blamed me for his accident. Said Damon had never had a day of peace since meeting me.

But back then, Damon always stood between us.

"Mom, Margaret is the woman I've chosen. If you have someone to blame, blame me."

I thought love could overcome anything.

I thought as long as two people stood together, there was nothing they couldn't face.

Only now did I understand.

The hardest thing to overcome was never the obstacles.

It was the human heart.

The night Damon's older brother, Ethan, died, it was already late.

He suffered a heart attack and collapsed in his office.

By the time anyone found him, he was already gone.

He had built the company from the ground up and turned it into a major business.

There had been plenty of women around him, but the only one he'd ever brought home to meet Grace was Lena.

After Ethan died, Lena discovered that she was pregnant.

Grace decided to let her stay.

I felt sorry for her, a woman who had never gotten a proper place in the family, and I couldn't bear the thought of Leo growing up without a father.

I treated Lena like a real sister.

I always gave in to her.

Every holiday, I bought gifts for her and Leo. Whenever the seasons changed, they were among the first people I thought of.

When Leo started preschool, Damon and I took turns picking him up.

Whenever Leo got sick, I'd stay up half the night making appointments and running around the pediatric ward.

I thought if I treated people with sincerity, they'd eventually return it.

But reality has a cruel sense of humor.

After Damon took over Ethan's company, he slowly began to change.

He started working late all the time.

His phone was practically glued to his hand, yet his replies to my messages became slower and slower.

I told myself it was normal.

He'd just taken over such a massive company. Of course he was busy.

But eventually, he became more and more impatient with me.

On our anniversary, he had his assistant book the most expensive restaurant in town.

Then he showed up two hours late.

Even after he sat down, he spent the entire dinner answering messages.

When I asked what was keeping him so busy, he didn't even look up.

"Work. You wouldn't understand."

He'd never spoken to me like that before.

Back then, whenever I worked the night shift, he'd stay at the hospital with me until morning.

I'd worry that he was exhausted, but he'd always tell me he didn't mind.

Whenever I casually mentioned craving something, he'd drive across town just to get it for me.

But as his money grew, the time he spent with me became smaller and smaller.

I stuffed clothes into my suitcase.

A small box fell out.

Inside was a tie I'd had someone bring back for me.

I'd originally bought it as a surprise for Damon.

But then came my birthday.

While I was downstairs picking up the cake I'd ordered, Leo destroyed the birthday cake I'd prepared so carefully.

There was frosting everywhere.

It was the first time I'd ever lost my temper with him.

I was already hurt and upset, and I hadn't even had a chance to say anything.

But Damon spoke first.

"It's just a cake. We can buy another one. Ten, if that's what it takes. Why are you getting upset with a kid?"

Grace held Leo in her arms and coldly threw out one sentence.

"Either she goes, or I do."

We broke up for a month.

I moved back into the hospital dorm.

But Damon waited for me downstairs every single day.

He sent me thousands of messages.

Every one of them said the same thing.

Damon: Margaret, I can't live without you.

In the end, I gave in.

We got back together and started planning our wedding.

While going through our wedding purchases, I came across his order history.

During the month we'd been apart, he'd ordered dozens of things.

Luxury face creams.

Diamond-studded bracelets.

Sexy lingerie.

I'd seen every one of those things at Lena's place.

I asked Damon about them.

He explained, "Lena asked me to buy them for her."

And I believed him.

God, I was pathetic.

I threw the tie into the trash.

Just then, my phone lit up.

A video had been posted in the wedding group chat.

The evening sun cast a golden glow over the lawn.

White roses covered the entire venue.

Every guest was seated along the aisle, applauding.

Lena stood in a wedding dress the hotel had hastily arranged for her.

Tiny diamonds glittered around her waist, and her veil trailed across the floor, carefully carried by a flower girl.

Damon stood opposite her.

He opened the ring box, took out a massive diamond ring, and gently slipped it onto her ring finger.

Lena lowered her eyes to the ring, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Damon reached out and wiped them away.

They looked every bit like a newlywed couple.

Grace sat at the head table, grinning from ear to ear.

Leo was in her arms, waving his little hands excitedly.

The guests rose with their glasses, offering their blessings to the "newlyweds."

The screen went dark.

And I found myself trembling from head to toe.

What Damon had given Lena was never just the chance to "stand in for me" at the wedding.

He had given her the complete, lavish wedding I'd never had.

A wedding that was supposed to be mine.

Whatever Damon and I had once been...

We could never go back.

That night, I moved back into the hospital dorm.

Damon messaged me.

Damon: Margaret, I'll give you an explanation for what happened today. Don't be angry. In a few days, we'll charter a private jet to Bali for our honeymoon. We'll have an even bigger wedding and start over.

I didn't reply.

The next morning, I went back to the hospital.

In my office, I pulled an application form from the back of my desk drawer.

Pediatric Volunteer Program—Karavia. Departs in three days.