Chapter 3

On the day of the wedding, by the time I reached the hotel, the dressing room was already in chaos.

Owen was standing at the door. When he saw me, his face darkened.

"Why are you dressed like that?"

I looked down at myself.

A long black dress.

It was the outfit I'd set aside for the day my father was discharged from the hospital.

"Where are the medical records?"

I asked.

Owen didn't answer. Instead, he looked me over.

"Today is Eve's wedding. The least you can do is smile."

"When you go up to pour the tea later, don't stand there looking like a corpse."

"Your father is still in the hospital. Making an ugly scene doesn't do anyone any good."

I said nothing.

He probably assumed I'd still be thinking of my father, still covering for him.

Eve came out from inside.

She was wearing the wedding gown, just altered, its train dragging on the floor.

My bridesmaid dress had been tossed over the back of a chair.

"Ollie, thank you for all your trouble."

She rested a hand on my shoulder.

I stepped aside.

She lost her footing and stumbled back a couple of steps.

Owen reached out at once to steady her.

"Olive, can you please stop targeting her?"

I looked at the lipstick mark on his collar.

"Give me the medical records."

Whatever patience he had left ran out.

"After the wedding."

I turned to go find the hotel manager, but Mrs. Abbott walked in from outside.

She was holding a red jewelry box.

"Eve, come try this on."

When the box opened, inside was a jade necklace.

It was the one my grandmother had left me.

At our engagement, I'd handed it to Owen for safekeeping.

Mrs. Abbott fastened the necklace around Eve's neck with her own hands.

"Now this is what a Gilbert daughter-in-law should look like."

She checked Eve in the mirror and nodded, satisfied.

"Good education, respectable family. Not like some people, with nothing but a sickly invalid of a father at home, still deluding themselves into thinking they could marry into our family."

Everyone around us turned to look.

I stood where I was and listened to her run me down, line by line.

Owen didn't stop her.

He just took out his phone and looked over the guest list.

Mrs. Abbott glanced at him.

"Owen, the name on the invitations is wrong."

"Change the bride to Eve."

"The wedding photos, the place cards, and the introduction onstage. Change all of it."

Owen finally looked up.

He looked at me for a few seconds.

In those few seconds, I was still waiting.

Waiting for him to remember the day we picked out our wedding rings together.

Waiting for him to remember the six months my father had spent lying in a hospital bed because he'd saved his life.

Waiting for him to at least say it wasn't like this.

But he lowered his head and made the call.

"Change out everything at the venue."

"Reconfirm the gown to Eve's measurements."

When he hung up, a few soft laughs rippled through the dressing room.

I slipped the ring off my finger.

Owen had chosen this ring.

It hadn't cost much, and the design was plain.

He'd said that once he had money, he'd trade it for something better.

I dropped the ring into the trash.

"Owen, we're done."

His expression changed and he grabbed my arm.

"Olive, don't do this."

"Just let Eve have the wedding for today."

"Your father is still in the hospital. Do you really want him to die with regrets?"

I shook his hand off.

"You think I can't live without you?"

Owen froze.

I didn't look at him again. I turned and walked out.

The moment the hotel doors opened, my phone started buzzing over and over.

Abusive texts from unknown numbers.

A suspension notice in the company group chat.

The trending headline stung so badly I could barely keep my eyes open.

【Fiancée turned mistress: what has Olive Henson been hiding?】

The photo was my ID picture, maliciously doctored.

And Owen and Eve's marriage certificate.

I texted Owen, asking if he'd done this.

A red exclamation mark popped up beside the message.

The next second, the caregiver from the hospital called.

"Miss Henson, come quickly!"

"Two women barged into your father's room. He's in a very bad way!"

I spun around and ran down the steps.

Inside the ballroom, the music had already started.

And my father was lying alone in the hospital.