The Wedding That Never Was Chapter 28

Adrian reacted first. Ignoring the secret relief in his heart, he pretended to be cold and extended his hand. "Hello."

Ilara awkwardly shook it. "Hello, I'm Ilara..."

That was how they met.

The school beauty partnering with the school heartthrob was big news for the small school.

Instantly, all kinds of blushing rumors spread.

There was obviously more gossip surrounding Ilara, and not all of it was kind.

After all, Ilara was already a controversial student.

School bullying, harassment from teachers, domestic violence... Even though she was purely a victim, the audience didn't mind adding a new mark to her.

"I heard her mom is a mistress for some rich family."

"Who knows how she hooked up with Adrian."

Then came a knowing smile.

The old Ilara might have suffered over this for a while.

But now, she had absolutely no time to be sad.

Adrian had extremely high standards for himself, and he was equally strict with his partner.

Every day after class, Adrian would drag Ilara away. Before the snickering could reach her ears, she was already in the practice room.

Adrian held a music score and taught her to read it. Ilara used to sing just by relying on her good voice; she didn't even know what sheet music was.

Now, she could memorize most of it.

They trained together. While Adrian focused on playing, Ilara would occasionally zone out staring at his profile.

His eyelashes fluttered like a butterfly resting on his face.

Where she couldn't see, Adrian would also quietly watch her. Just watching, without any other meaning.

A month of training wasn't enough to push their relationship into romance.

Adrian had a strict upbringing. He controlled his every move in front of kids his age.

Ilara was simply too innocent to have those thoughts yet.

She started school a year early. Her grades used to be good, and teachers praised her diligence in lower grades.

But not long after, she began a life of attending class by day and working by night. Her grades plummeted.

Her mother broke a willow branch from the school gate and whipped her until she bled in front of everyone.

She said, "I pay a fortune for your school, and you give me these grades?"

Ilara could only endure silently, just like the past dozen years.

The day after being rejected for the dishwashing job, she came to school covered in wounds again.

She explained to Adrian that she fell. Adrian believed her.

If it were the future Colonel Hayes, he would have easily seen that the marks all over her body didn't look like fall injuries at all.

But the current Adrian, focused only on studying, didn't possess such observational skills.

So, after the performance ended, facing Ilara who looked bright and moving in a beautiful dress, Adrian was about to say something...

Probably something like "It was fun partnering with you."

But before he could speak, Ilara was slapped to the ground.

Dust soiled her white dress. The woman reeking of smoke wasn't satisfied and kicked her viciously with dirty cloth shoes.

"You dare to date early? You dare to steal my money to buy clothes..."

Adrian finally understood why Ilara had refused the dress he offered.

Ilara, who was used to enduring in silence, looked at him in panic upon hearing this. Her aggrieved voice was heartbreaking.

"That was my own money..."

"Where would a kid like you get money? That's all mine..."

The woman's words were cut off. The arm she was using to beat Ilara like a madwoman was grabbed by another hand.

Adrian's heart was ignited with rage. But he held back, merely pushing the woman two steps away.

He helped Ilara up from the ground. She lowered her head and didn't see the stack of cash Adrian handed to the woman.

Under his cold dismissal, the woman cursed and left.

Ilara finally couldn't hold it back anymore. She collapsed onto him and wailed.

As if a child who had never cried was releasing her voice for the first time.