Chapter 5
On the wedding day, Alex waited in the dressing room with no sign of Emma.
His calls went straight to voicemail, but beyond anxiety, an inexplicable panic consumed him.
Emma never threw tantrums over important matters.
When another call timed out, he threw his phone in frustration.
Unlike Alex’s current distress, Sophia could barely contain her smile as she stroked the one-of-a-kind wedding dress and shyly suggested, “Alex, hundreds of guests are here. We really can’t delay the ceremony any longer. If Emma doesn’t show up, the Sterling family will be the laughingstock of the city. How about this-I’ll put on the veil and marry you in her place?”
Alex’s brow furrowed as he laughed coldly. “Sophia, do you hear yourself?”
Sophia bit her lip, tears welling. “Alex, compared to Emma-that orphan girl-aren’t we a socially compatible match? When
I saved you at fifteen, that was fate. We’re meant to be together.”
She boldly knelt before Alex, tilting her face toward his lips. “Today too-her not showing up is destiny.”
The next second, Alex shoved her to the floor. “Sophia, you saved my life. Without you, I wouldn’t be here today. I promised never to abandon you, but that’s all. I never loved you before, and I never will. Emma is my only wife. Keep these
thoughts to yourself. If Emma ever hears this, I won’t forgive you.”
Sophia’s innocent expression froze as she unconsciously raised her arm, biting it frantically.
When Alex recognized another episode beginning, he didn’t have time to deal with this, but just as he was about to leave
to find Emma, reporters suddenly swarmed the reception hall.
His face darkened as he shot an accusatory look at Sophia, who panicked since the reporters she’d called weren’t
supposed to come now.
Then suddenly, the giant screen lit up and a piercing audio recording echoed throughout the hall.
“The day I killed Lily, I might not have been having an episode… Miss Carter must hate me now…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll never abandon you…”
Alex whipped around to glare at Sophia.
Sophia screamed, rushing to the stage, “Turn it off! Fucking turn it off!”
The screen didn’t shut off-instead, new videos began playing.
“You want me to exonerate a murderer…”
“This is your sister’s therapy session recording…”
The final image froze on Emma’s breakdown.
Camera shutters clicked throughout the reception hall.
Every guest stared at Sophia and Alex in disbelief.
Alex felt ice in his veins, his hands shaking uncontrollably as he realized only Emma could have orchestrated this,
meaning her compliance these past few days and promise to marry him were all fake.
Chapter 5
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Upon this realization, he pushed through the reporters trying to surround him and bolted from the hall, while behind him, Sophia completely lost it-grabbing a dinner knife and slashing wildly at the screen as she screamed hysterically at the questioning reporters.
She shouted, “Don’t look! Don’t look! I didn’t kill anyone! I didn’t! This is all fake! Al-generated!”
The more she raged, the more excited the reporters became, and cameras flashed relentlessly until she caught sight of
Alex’s panicked retreat.
Unable to bear it anymore, she let out an anguished wail and turned the knife on her own arm. “Alex Sterling, come back!”
Blood flowed freely as chaos erupted in the reception hall.
Alex rushed to Emma’s hospital first.
The bed was empty.
He grabbed a nurse urgently. “Where’s the patient from this room?”
The nurse looked at Alex in his groom’s attire hesitantly. “You’re not her boyfriend, are you? She checked herself out last
night. Didn’t you know?”
Alex’s heart sank, knowing that if she’d checked out, she must have gone home, so he raced back to the house where he hesitated at the front door-his instincts warning him that opening it would cause everything to spiral beyond his control.
After a long moment, he slowly pushed it open, and as expected, found no trace of Emma anywhere, causing him to collapse in despair as his composure finally shattered.
Just as he was about to call his assistant to track Emma down, police burst in. “Alex Sterling, evidence suggests you’re involved in perjury and harboring a criminal suspect. You need to come with us.”
