The Wedding That Never Was Chapter 7

The silence in the room was deafening.

I felt the air compressing around me, crushing the breath from my lungs.

No one could feel what I was feeling.

Sarah peeked out from behind Adrian, showing half her face to thank me.

“Thank you, Miss Ilara.”

I snapped back to reality. Seeing Adrian looking at me, I didn't say another word.

I forced a bitter smile, stepped forward, took the glass, and downed it in one gulp!

Instantly, my stomach cramped violently. The pain was immediate.

I rushed out the door, ran into the restroom, and vomited violently.

Not long after, Adrian followed.

He handed me a cup of warm water, his tone laced with displeasure. “It was just a polite remark. You didn't actually have to drink it.”

My face was pale.

Hearing this, I let out a hoarse laugh. “Then why did you have to say that sentence?”

Why make me take Sarah's place? Why make me lose so thoroughly?

Adrian’s expression faltered slightly, his tone becoming stiff. “General Peterson treats you like a daughter. He wouldn't make things difficult for you.”

My eyes turned red. I stared at him and suddenly said, “Your Sarah is coming to find you.”

Adrian turned his head and saw Sarah walking over.

He felt inexplicably guilty and even more annoyed, frowning as he said, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

I smiled casually, didn't take his water, and brushed past him. “I have something to do. I’m leaving first.”

“Just make up an excuse for Uncle Peterson.”

This time, the person watching a retreating back was Adrian.

I thought, I can’t keep watching him leave me anymore.

Leaving the restaurant, I walked home step by step.

When I reached my apartment building, the sky was completely dark.

Turning my head, I heard people talking at the gate of the naval base across the street.

“Colonel Hayes and Sarah have such a good relationship. He buys her flowers every time.”

Every time?

I was in a trance, not understanding why Adrian always had time to buy flowers for others.

I felt unwilling, or perhaps it was jealousy at work.

I walked back to that place full of wildflowers and picked a full bouquet for myself with my own hands.

These were just flowers seen everywhere, but when I was a child, even flowers like these didn't exist where I lived.

Because of my mother’s gambling, my sister and I spent our childhood in a trailer park.

Living near an abandoned chemical plant, no beautiful flowers could grow there anyway.

Every day, I could only see such bright colors on the flower-filled road to school.

Until I met Adrian. I told him, “I like the flowers here. They are beautiful and full of life.”

Adrian wasn't good at sweet talk back then. He only knew how to use sincerity to move people.

He answered, “Then I will give you such beautiful flowers from now on.”

Ten years passed. I thought I had more and more.

Now I suddenly realized that actually, I had nothing.

Through the reflection in the glass, I saw myself crying silently.

How pathetic...

I wiped away my tears and went home.

On the niche radio station nearby, my exclusive late-night podcast channel suddenly started broadcasting without warning.

After humming a short song, I spoke softly.

“Maybe we never had a future. I just couldn't see it clearly.”

After speaking, I ended the live broadcast.

I didn't know that in places unknown to me, this audio clip had passed through the hands of countless media editors.

Not long after, Adrian suddenly came back.

He turned on the light and saw me curled up on the sofa. The wildflowers in the vase on the table were no longer fresh.

Adrian stared at the bunch of flowers, which he considered ugly, for a while. His tone was calm but intimidating. “Ilara, what did you mean by those words?”

I fiddled with the petals, staring at the wildflowers in a daze as if I hadn't heard him.

Adrian suddenly raised his voice. “If you’re sick, take your medicine. Do you have to push me like this?”

I paused, my voice tinged with sadness. “I just... suddenly wanted to say it.”

The room was empty. He stood in a silent standoff with me.

Adrian felt extremely irritable. He took a deep breath. “Are you mad at Sarah? She and I aren't in the kind of relationship you think.”

Not the relationship I think?

Flowers, wiping sweat, blocking drinks... None of those were things ordinary friends would do.

I suddenly looked up and smiled. “I’m afraid we aren't in the kind of relationship I thought either.”

One sentence completely ignited Adrian’s anger.

He couldn't bear it anymore. Leaving behind a sentence—“Unreasonable!”—he turned to leave.

I subconsciously stood up and grabbed him.

Crash—

The vase fell to the floor and shattered. Flying shards cut my calf.

Adrian paused.

The next instant, he punched the door hard, turned around with a dark face, picked me up, his jaw clenched tight.

The moment he picked me up, a gold-stamped business card fell out of my coat pocket.

Adrian and I looked over together. We focused and saw a sentence written on the card.

“Tomorrow night at eight, Huaxin Hotel. Be there or be square. —Your Julian Croft.”

Julian Croft was a tech tycoon constantly surrounded by scandals.

But why was his card on me?

I looked up in panic. Adrian also looked down at me, his expression terrifyingly dark.

“Ilara Vaughn, you really have no bottom line!”