When Love Becomes Past Tense Chapter 2

Just as I was preparing to walk out, I received a video and several messages from Sienna Blake.

“Did you know? This wedding you prepared so meticulously means nothing to Caleb. It’s just a tool to make me jealous.”

“Why? Just because I went on a date with another guy. He thought I was getting married, so he wanted to spite me.”

In the video, Caleb was breathless, holding her hand, his voice choking up. "Thank God you're okay. Thank God..."

In his emotional moment, he started pouring out his love.

Words of affection he never said to me.

He used to tell me those kinds of words were too cheesy.

See? It was just because the person wasn't me.

I didn't finish the video because it was time to go on stage.

The rest of it was ten minutes of him complaining about me.

Complaining about how cold and heartless I was, trying to stop them from seeing each other.

If the man in the video wasn't my fiancé, I might have actually believed I was the villain.

The planner signaled me.

I closed the video without replying.

It didn't matter. None of it mattered anymore.

At the end of the aisle, covered in white roses and hydrangeas, stood a tall man in a white Tom Ford suit.

He looked a bit overwhelmed, but the moment he saw me, his eyes turned rock steady.

His name was Roman Pierce, Caleb Sterling’s best friend.

My father sat in his wheelchair, insisting on personally sending me down the aisle.

The guests were quiet; no one noticed anything wrong.

Ironically, there wasn't a single relative from the Sterling family on the guest list.

Caleb said he wasn't close to his relatives, his parents were in Europe, and there was no need to invite them.

I had proposed the marriage in a rush, and he agreed even more hastily, refusing to even meet my father beforehand.

This was why I could call Roman—because my father was critically ill in the hospital and had never met my fiancé. I could swap them out, and he wouldn't know.

The wedding was small, the ceremony brief, because my father's body couldn't hold out for long.

Under everyone's gaze, Roman solemnly said, "I do," and exchanged rings with me. The guests applauded, and the ceremony ended.

Together, we escorted my father back to New York Presbyterian Hospital.

My father wiped away tears secretly the whole way there.

At the time, I thought he was just reluctant to see his daughter get married.

Until Roman, who had been driving in silence, suddenly spoke with grave seriousness.

"Sir, I promise you, I will take care of her for the rest of my life."

"I swear it on my life."

My father held my hand tightly, smiling and nodding.

Later, back at the hospital, my father’s condition took a sharp turn for the worse.

Listening to his broken, final words, my heart felt like it was being sliced by knives.

That was when I learned that after Caleb left the suite, he had run into my father.

To punish me for my "cold-bloodedness," he personally told my father that he was the groom, he was running away, and that his daughter would never find happiness.

It turned out my father’s tears in the car were because he knew everything.

Caleb’s first meeting with my father was a fatal blow.

It went wrong after all.

I had promised to let my father go without regrets.

Tears dripped onto the back of my father's hand as he gripped mine. Beside me, the silent Roman suddenly moved.

He dropped to one knee.

"Dad, please believe me. I love Hazel. This isn't an act, and it isn't a joke. I will protect her forever."

My father nodded, his smile peaceful.

"I can tell..."

"It’s just... Hazel was bullied... and Daddy can't protect her anymore..."

Roman continued, his voice deep and steady. "Dad, I'm here."

"I will make everyone who hurt her pay the price."

I looked up at him in shock.

My phone rang in my bag. It was Caleb.

Roman’s face went instantly cold, and he reached over and hung up the call for me.