The Wedding That Never Was Chapter 32

[Adrian’s POV]

Adrian watched Ilara leave with a self-deprecating smile.

Perhaps he had expected this outcome long ago. So, even though Ilara had been back for so long, he couldn't defend himself.

Only the innocent can defend themselves.

And he... was wrong everywhere.

His powerless knees knelt on the ground. The bandages on his hands hadn't been removed yet. Blood seeped out from the exertion, but he didn't seem to feel it.

But the unconscious smile in those eyes remained, projected in the direction Ilara left—

At the door of the ward, there was also a poster of Ilara.

It wasn't an advertisement or a movie, but her appearance as a charity ambassador, speaking out for leukemia patients around the world.

—This was his Ilara. So sincere and kind.

Except for Adrian, no one in the world could be so cruel to her.

The heat in his eyes couldn't produce tears; it only warmed his cold pupils once.

His eyes moved unconsciously, catching Sarah returning with a solemn medical team behind her.

Sarah looked worried, anxiously asking Adrian what was wrong.

A pain in the back of his neck followed. Adrian could only feel the medicine being injected into his blood, suppressing the transport of oxygen and extinguishing all the hallucinations in his brain.

As if the fact that Ilara had visited him was just a dream... and he didn't even have the strength to resist.

He was completely quiet, his pale arm covered in needle holes hanging down, his eyes lowered. Two male nurses pressed him back onto the bed.

Only then did Adrian realize that he had moved so far from the bed without knowing when.

Then what was he doing just now?

Even with two useless legs and an arm with no strength...

He was like a beast tracking its mate's scent, dragging his body to chase the scent of gardenia perfume for so long.

Sarah's faint crying in his ears became more and more blurred. Adrian fought against the fading consciousness, tightly clutching a bit of warmth on his palm that didn't belong to him.

As if he could really hold onto something.

[Ilara’s POV]

My steps stopped.

We had arrived downstairs at Leo's apartment and were about to go up, but I suddenly felt something. My fingertips went numb, and my skin tingled.

Leo looked at me staring at my hands in confusion, looking back and forth. He ran two steps to catch up with me, frowning.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"

Hearing his concerned inquiry, I shook my head slightly. "Just felt something was wrong."

I looked up and saw Leo looking even more nervous than me. My heart warmed.

I thought for a moment, lightly placed my fingertips on Leo's cuff, and asked tentatively, "Would you be willing to go on a date with me this weekend?"

"A date."

Leo had studied in Paris for two years; naturally, he knew what an invitation to a date meant.

A bouquet of dewy scarlet roses, a candlelight dinner, a kiss under the Eiffel Tower...

And a crucial emotion called love.

But he didn't look as happy as I imagined. I looked at him in confusion.

Leo just raised his eyebrows and leaned closer. He bent down gentlemanly, draped his suit jacket over me, and pushed me into an Italian-style restaurant nearby.

"Although I don't know why you want to provoke him like this, I'm happy to be used by you," he said.

"But if you don't mind, I think we can have a rehearsal here first."

My eyes curved into a smile, but my face seemed to carry a sorrow that couldn't be washed away.

"Okay. You can order whatever you want."

For a moment just now, I really considered wearing the ring Leo prepared for his fiancée and walking into the wedding hall with hatred for Adrian.

But Leo was too smart. He woke me up in an instant.

He warned me not to use my scarred body to step into an emotional trap named Adrian again.

It wasn't worth it.