Chapter 4
634 Words
The moving service arrived shortly after. I packed only what belonged to me.
I pulled out every old photograph and gift, as well as the engagement portraits I had taken with Grant, and burned them one by one.
Only after watching every last memory turn to ash did I take one final look around the house.
Grant had bought this villa with the first big sum he ever earned. He had told me it would be our little home, that I could decorate it however I liked, and that he would design furniture made just for me.
But less than two months later, Lila graduated.
The whole place was redecorated in shades of pink, styled like a fairytale castle, exactly how she wanted it. Even the master bedroom meant for us was turned into her private suite, with every piece of furniture hand designed by Grant himself.
I gave a bitter smile as I looked around. It turned out that the only true memories I had left were right here in these ashes. There was nothing else here worth holding onto.
After a long silence, one of the movers spoke up, "Miss, which of the larger items would you like us to take?"
I glanced slowly around the room before answering. "Could I borrow a hammer, please?"
I worked quickly, smashing to pieces every piece of furniture Lila had ever used, every part of her fancy suite, and every object Grant had touched. When I was done, only a few suitcases and the string of loose beads in my hands remained.
"Just these cases, please."
End of Sella's POV
While Grant boarded the plane bound for Iceland with Lila, Sella got into the back of Carter's luxury sedan.
Grant, who rarely posted anything online, suddenly began flooding his feed with photo after photo.
There he was beneath the northern lights, holding Lila in his arms.
Sella simply left a like and a short comment.
Sella: [You look perfect together.]
In contrast, Carter flew Sella all the way to Paris, where they took their own wedding portraits, just the two of them.
He had prepared absolutely everything, down to the smallest detail, and every choice was exactly to her taste. Even the napkins were specially printed with cute drawings of them, showing how much thought he had put into them.
Before long, the day of the wedding arrived.
The moment Grant stepped off his flight, he pulled out his phone, expecting to see missed calls or a flood of angry messages from Sella.
Instead, when he opened his messages, he found that she had changed her profile picture, the one he had taken of her, and that every single post she had ever shared was completely gone.
For some reason, this strange silence made his chest feel strangely hollow.
Just then, a line of helicopters flew overhead, flashing large photos of Carter and Sella side by side.
The driver let out a low whistle of surprise.
"That Marlow family heir sure knows how to put on a worldwide show for his wedding! Word is, he's marrying the girl he was betrothed to since they were children. Well, I suppose true romance does exist among the wealthy after all."
Lila stared up at the helicopters, her eyes wide with envy.
She tugged at Grant's arm with a pout. "Grant… can we have something like this one day too? It's always been my dream."
She was cut off by Grant's phone ringing loudly. A hurried, anxious voice came through the line.
"Grant, have you left the airport yet? Sella's wedding is about to start. You and Lila still haven't picked up your invitations from me. You won't be allowed inside without them."
Grant felt his heart drop. His entire body went rigid.
"Say that again. Whose wedding?"
- Writer
