Chapter 4
He suddenly took my hand, but the warmth of his palm brought me no comfort.
“Evelyn’s too weak, and there’s so much to do for the wedding… I’m overwhelmed,” he said.
He looked up at me, eyes filled with earnest pleading.
“Could you take care of her for now? Just to help me out — for the sake of what we once had…”
I tried to pull my hand back, but he gripped it tighter.
“You know you’re the only one who can take care of her properly.”
There was a subtle thread of threat in his tone.
“And if you agree, we’ll finally be able to start over after the wedding.”
Zoe roared in fury, “Don’t agree! This is humiliation! He just wants to watch you suffer!”
But I looked at his familiar yet unfamiliar face… and suddenly smiled.
“Alright,” I said softly.
“I’ll take good care of her. Until your wedding.”
After all, I was just helping them finish their little play.
A look of relief spread across his face.
“I knew you wouldn’t say no,” he said.
“With you around, I can rest easy.”
Late at night, memories flooded uncontrollably.
On our wedding night, he had spun me in circles, my gown flaring like a moonlit waterfall.
He whispered he wanted to weave all the starlight in the world into my skirt.
The next morning, he brought breakfast to our room, concern perfectly etched at the corners of his lips.
“I had the kitchen make your favorite — blueberry pancakes.”
The silver fork on the porcelain plate was engraved with our matching crest.
But now, that same cutlery was being used to feed Evelyn soup.
“The wedding bouquet design — I want your opinion,” he said, refilling my teacup.
“After all, you know the most about floral arrangement.”
It was just like that morning eight years ago when he’d burst into our bedroom waving a sketch.
“Kathy! I’ve thought of the perfect neckline for the wedding dress!”
“The waistline needs to be tighter.”
I stared at the wolf-shaped tie clip — the gift I gave him after he won the Alpha Challenge.
“Evelyn’s waist is slimmer than mine. She’ll need boning for support.”
Three days before the wedding, he knocked on my door with the design draft in hand.
“Evelyn wants to add some moonstone detailing to the skirt. Which cut do you think works best?”
The draft was littered with notes and revisions — but none from me. Not anymore.
I pointed at the corner of the page.
“Change the silver-thread embroidery to her initials — in cursive.”
He froze for a second, then smiled with satisfaction.
“You always understand her best.”
As he turned to leave, I glimpsed his communicator screen — it was now a photo of him and Evelyn.
The background? The moonlit grove where we once planted our love tree.
Zoe suddenly screamed, “He chopped down the tree! Used the trunk to build their wedding arch!”
“It’s fine,” I told myself.
“Once he’s cleaned up his mess, everything will be okay.”
It was just abandonment.
And with the memories erased, I could finally start learning how to let go.
As I drifted through the flood of memories, a sharp pain suddenly pierced my mind — another memory gone.
I jolted awake from my sorrow.
——
On the wedding day, Sophia dragged me to a corner of the guest seating.
The chatter around us stabbed at my ears like needles:
“I heard Noah made the wedding dress himself? When he bonded with Kathy, the ceremony was just as grand.”
“Shh — not so loud! Evelyn’s his first love. Kathy was just… a placeholder.”
“Poor girl. Word is she’s still helping plan the wedding? If it were me, I’d have burned that dress already!”
“Alphas are impossible to read. Who knows, maybe he’s keeping a backup plan. Once he’s tired of Evelyn…”
Then Evelyn appeared, walking slowly in my wedding dress, its moonstones reflecting a blinding brilliance.
As Noah reached out to take her hand, I heard the sound of my own heart shattering.
“I’ve already severed the bond with Kathy,” he said.
His voice echoed through the venue speakers.
“Today belongs to Evelyn. Let the past stay buried.”
