The Wedding That Never Was Chapter 42

Click. The hospital room door closed again.

Adrian stared out at the wind and rain. The visitor chair in front of him was empty.

If not for the lingering scent of gardenia perfume, Ilara's visit just now would have seemed like another one of his imagined dreams.

On the table sat an apple carved into the shape of a rabbit.

Ilara was very skilled with her hands. In the past, when he was unhappy, she would occasionally carve fruit into cute shapes to coax a smile out of him.

Is she coaxing me now?

Adrian laughed self-deprecatingly. A hollow formed in his chest, expanding with every word Ilara had spoken.

The void wind passed through, freezing his damaged internal organs into useless stones.

"I believe it now. You are a lunatic, Adrian, and you are hopeless," Ilara had said.

"Maybe you really love me, but I don't want a lunatic's love."

"To satisfy your own selfish desires, you will stop at nothing."

"Even if I get back together with you, I will only think about how to kill you every day. I wouldn't mind going to jail."

"You will drive me crazy too."

Her face showed an indifferent smile, not caring if the lunatic she diagnosed in front of her would suddenly erupt—

Stab a steel knife into her abdomen and churn all the flesh and blood in her body.

"You used your own life as a threat, but this time, you didn't really want to die."

"You dragged Leo down with you."

"Is this your last card, Adrian? But it's useless. I will still marry him."

"I won't send you an invitation because you are not qualified to see me happy."

"So leave, Adrian. With your ability, you can live well anywhere."

"Go to a place that won't make you sad. Take your pain with you and don't let me see you again."

Ilara was overly considerate. She had even prepared a plane ticket to another country for him.

The moonlight blurred her features. Ilara looked at the dazed Adrian and didn't disturb him again.

Her heels clicked on the floor as she left the ward.

Adrian was in a trance. By the moonlight, he stared at the ticket where his name was blurry.

In the dark room, the rabbit-shaped apple wasn't stuffed into his mouth until it oxidized brown.

The scent of gardenias faded with the mottled memories, and darkness finally swallowed the pale ward completely.

Leo had been locked up for a week, or so he estimated by feeling.

In the detention center, day and night were indistinguishable. Until today, a beam of warm light suddenly spilled into the narrow cell.

That light hit his right eye straight on, cutting his body from there. He was nearly blinded.

"Leo Vance, right?" The police officer checked the roster.

"You're lucky. The plaintiff said he settled privately with your family. Come out, your family is waiting for you."

He was released from his restraints, still wearing the clothes from that day.

In the lit reception room, Ilara wore a simple floral dress, her hair loose and uncovered.

"Leo, we can go home." She smiled and took his hand.

After leaving the police station, Ilara explained the negotiation process to him.

"You bought him a ticket for the end of next month?" Leo asked.

"Yeah. On the day of our wedding."

They walked home under an umbrella, hands clasped tight, never letting go for a moment.

The sky gradually faded from gloomy ink black, as if all the dark clouds had dispersed in the rain the night before.

The ground smelled of wet grass and crunched underfoot. Ilara suddenly reached her hand out from under the umbrella.

"Leo, the rain seems to have stopped."