The Wedding That Never Was Chapter 37

The chain was wrapped around my slender neck.

In Adrian's eyes, a gentle tug would be enough to crush my fragile windpipe, sending his lost-and-found lover straight to hell.

The hand he had extended in fear curled back, fingers trembling. Adrian closed his eyes, terrified to face the sight.

But my two wrists, white and stained with drying blood, remained crossed before his eyes until the very last moment.

A reminder that I was hurt because of him, again.

I maintained this determined posture, the smile on my face never fading.

"Adrian, let me go."

"I don't want to do this either. Leo went to great lengths to save me back then. My life hasn't been my own for a long time."

I sighed softly, sounding persuasive and gentle. But hatred was hidden on the tip of my tongue.

I hated Adrian.

Did the hate start when he planned this kidnapping? When I stood on the roof? Or did it start with Sarah's ring?

It didn't matter anymore.

"I regret it, Adrian," I whispered. My malice slipped through my teeth and into his ears.

"We shouldn't have met. We shouldn't have started preparing for that talent show."

"If I had insisted on quitting back then, I wouldn't have fallen in love with you."

"Now, I've been ruined by you, and you've ruined yourself."

Adrian opened his eyes slowly. The tears pooling in his sockets revealed his tattered soul, offered up to me cleanly.

But I just smiled and continued. I no longer craved anything stripped from Adrian.

My voice was crystal clear as I negated our entire past.

The only comfort Adrian had left became a rotting sore I refused to look at.

"Adrian, look. I have so many scars on my body, don't I?"

"These were left by the doctors abroad during my surgeries."

"Because my bones were shattered into many pieces, like tiny needles stuck in my flesh. They performed so many surgeries to take them all out and piece me back together."

"There are still many steel pins left in my body. Unless something happens, they'll stay with me for the rest of my life."

"Adrian, do you see?"

"These are all marks left by you."

Adrian fell from his wheelchair.

He curled up in pain on the floor. The thousands of voices in his head helped me elaborate, dragging him into a nightmare he could never escape.

His lips moved, murmuring unconsciously. It was nothing more than words about me.

My hatred was enough to cut him into a thousand pieces.

I licked my lips, dry from a day without water, and narrowed my eyes in a smile as I looked at the man on the ground.

I lowered my arms. The chain could no longer threaten my neck.

An Adrian this fragile didn't need to be threatened with death.

I didn't know where the key to the handcuffs was. Just as I was about to get out of bed to search, the only door creaked open.

I looked over warily.

The person at the door looked travel-worn. His clothes were wrinkled, and bruises marked several hidden spots on his body.

Leo scanned my body, finding only two injuries, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His smiling eyes returned. A keychain spun around his finger, jingling.

"Finally found you."