###Chapter 10
Explanations felt useless now. Because deep down, he knew. He knew that when my mother died-at the exact moment I needed someone to lean on-he chose to doubt me. He looked me in the eye and accused me of trying to squeeze money out of him.
All that harsh words he threw at me, seeped through his mind and sent its jagged edge slicing
his heart.
He knew how cruel his parents always were to me. He heard their words more times than I car count. So why did they used to wash over him like harmless waves… but now each one stings ike glass pressed to skin?
Maybe guilt has a funny way of waking you up.
Every second dragged like a blade and the wedding time-the auspicious hour his mother was obsessed with-was closing in. Still no sign of me. No footsteps on the marble floor. No shadow n the doorway.
Colin had men searching the entire city like it was a battlefield.
‘Sir,” one finally said, panting as he came back with nothing. “We’ve checked every hotel, ever hospital, even the morgue. No sign of her.”
‘None of her friends have heard from her either,” another one added.
And then came the line that cracked the silence:
‘Sir… the auspicious hour is here. What would you like us to do?”
The officiant was sweating through his collar, barely daring to look Colin in the eye.
‘We wait.”
Colin’s voice was low. Tight. Fraying. “She’s been dreaming about this day for months. She’l come. She has to. Just wait.”
That was when Piper slithered in.
She looked like a champagne ad-satin dress clinging to her curves, lips pink and perfect, eyes wide with feigned concern.
‘Colin,” she purred, tugging at his sleeve, “everyone here’s… kind of a big deal, you know? W€ can’t keep the whole room waiting like this. It’s not fair to them… or to you. And honestly… my
sister’s being really selfish right now…”
He didn’t look at her.
But others heard her loud and clear.
Piper’s mother appeared like a ghost with perfect timing, all overbearing charm and bleached smiles. “Right… look at our Piper,” she cooed. “So graceful, so considerate. If you ask me, Colin, this might be fate’s way of telling you something.”
She tilted her head toward the flower-lined aisle like it was a suggestion.
“What’s the point of waiting for someone who clearly doesn’t want to be here?”
Colin’s parents jumped in too, eager to fan the flames.
“Exactly, Colin! Think about the big picture!” his mother chimed in, clutching her pearls.
“She’s making you lose face in front of everyone,” his father added with a scoff, hands planted or his hips. “And these aren’t just anybody. These are important people! This is a disaster!”
But the words faded.
Piper’s syrupy voice. Her mother’s manipulation. His parents’ rising panic. All of it muffled behind a thick wall of static in his head.
It all blurred into meaningless noise.
Except for one thought-raw, loud and unrelenting:
Anne, where are you? Did something happen to you?
And then, like a knife through the fog, a whisper cut through the air. Soft, but sharp enough tc leave a mark.
“I heard Colin married his bride a long time ago,” a woman murmured, her voice barely louder than the clink of champagne glasses. She leaned in close to her friend, lips curling with amusement. “But someone said they saw him and Piper getting cozy. And rumor has it Piper’s pregnant. Do you think it’s his?”
“No way!” her friend gasped, mouth falling open.
“If that’s true… then the bride-”
“Is barren, obviously,” another woman jumped in, voice smug. “Come on, a wealthy and powerful family like the Marks? No way they’d accept a daughter-in-law who can’t give them an heir. Someone has to carry on the family business, right? Besides, men from families like that-it’s common for them to keep a mistress. One for the name. One for the kids.”
“No wonder the bride didn’t show up,” someone else said, clicking their tongue. “If I were her, I wouldn’t show up either.”
The words hit like lit cigarettes pressed to bare skin.
And whatever thread Colin had been hanging by-snapped.
He spun around, fury flashing in his eyes, jaw clenched so tight it looked painful.
His voice cracked through the room like a whip.
“Shut your mouths!”
Dead silence fell.
“Anneliese Ward is my wife. The only one I will ever have. I don’t care who you are-no one speaks about her like that. Not here. Not ever.”
11
