Chapter 8
Her words plunged the room into stunned silence once again.
Rebecca didn’t care about their reactions. She simply helped her parents out of the hotel.
The car ride home was quiet, their breathing the only sound.
Just before arriving, her parents finally sighed heavily and looked at their daughter with concern.
“Rebecca, did you cancel the arranged marriage and decide to marry into the Evans family because
you knew they were in love with Ariana?”
“Yes. Forced love never works. I don’t have deep feelings for Chris Evans, but he’s focused on his business. At least he won’t cheat. We might not grow old in passionate love, but we can have mutual respect. That’s enough for me.”
Her confidence surprised her parents.
“You trust Chris Evans that much?”
Rebecca nodded gently, reassuring them. “Yes, because I’ve done my research on him.”
But the real reason stayed buried deep in her heart. In her previous life, Chris never married or had any romantic scandals. Until his death, he remained known as Wall Street’s ice–cold tyrant.
She was confident this decision wouldn’t backfire.
After the disastrous birthday party, Rebecca returned home and focused on packing her belongings.
The wedding would be held in Los Angeles. The day before, the Evans family sent several private jets to deliver wedding gifts and transport her.
Just as she was going over the final checklist and prepared to leave for the airport, she received a message.
Loki had sent an address, asking her to meet them for a talk.
She checked the time. Still a few hours before her flight, she agreed.
18:29
Chapter 8
When she pushed open the door to the private suite, three sullen gazes locked onto her.
They said nothing, and she maintained her silence.
After ten excruciating minutes, Loki took a sip of his drink and finally spoke.
“Rebecca, we’re sorry about ruining your birthday party. But it was life or death–we couldn’t just let Ariana kill herself. We had no choice but to leave you hanging. I’m sorry.”
“You’ve hurt me plenty of times before. One more apology doesn’t mean a thing. Save it.”
Her cold response made all three men uncomfortable. Darth and Anton’s voices grew urgent.
“What’s done is done. Staying angry won’t change anything. Our families are furious right now, but Ariana is innocent in all this. She shouldn’t be punished. You’ve always been their favorite–if you
sweet–talk them, they’ll calm down.”
“Just help us smooth things over with the elders so they don’t target Ariana. It doesn’t matter which
of us you choose to marry. We’ll treat you right forever. We swear.”
So they’d called her here just to protect Ariana again.
Rebecca felt exhausted. “Don’t bother. After you left yesterday, I already publicly announced-”
Loki cut her off. “Announced what? Who did you choose?”
Her gaze drifted between them. Instead of answering directly, she simply said, “I’ve given the engagement tokens from your three families to a courier. They’ll be delivered to you tomorrow.”
All three assumed she had returned two tokens and kept one. They were about to press her for clarity when the hospital called.
“Mr. Hemsworth, Mr. Madison, Mr. Fraser–Miss Cruise is awake and she’s trying to get to the roof
again!”
Their faces drained of color. They grabbed their jackets and headed for the door.
Watching them leave, Rebecca called after them–for the first and last time.
“Before we part ways… could you all say ‘congratulations on the wedding‘?”
For some reason, her request triggered an unsettling feeling in all three men.
1829
Chapter 8
They wanted to ask why she wanted them to say those words.
But after exchanging glances, they simply said in unison, “Congratulations on the wedding.”
The phone rang again. No one lingered. They left without looking back.
Rebecca didn’t try to stop them. She watched their cars disappear into the distance before returning
home.
She deleted their contacts from her phone, picked up her luggage and boarded the Evans family’s
private helicopter.
This time, she didn’t choose any of the three.
Instead, she chose herself a brand new life…
18 24
