***2
When I finished speaking, the entire wedding venue fell into silence.
Everyone assumed Eliza Monroe had me completely under her control–that no matter what she did, I wouldn’t end things.
Eliza snapped out of her shock quickly, her eyes narrowing in rage. She grabbed a champagne glass and threw it at me, soaking my custom suit, one I had bought specifically for this day.
“Blake Carrington, have you lost your mind?” she shouted.
“How dare you say the wedding is off? You’ve got some nerve!”
“You didn’t even pass a single test, and now you say something like that?”
Tests?
A single wedding costing tens of thousands of dollars. Dresses, photography, the emcee, flowers, venues. Three weddings, costing millions in total.
I laughed bitterly. Every cent came from me.
“Oh, so they were tests, not real weddings? Fine.”
“All three weddings came to four hundred fifty thousand. Pay it back–can you do that?”
Eliza’s face fell. She couldn’t possibly pay it back. Every dress, every piece of jewelry she owned–I paid for. The house her parents lived in, the car they drove, even their jobs at my company–they all came from me.
She wouldn’t be able to come up with that money, no matter what.
The luxurious life Eliza enjoyed was funded solely by me, but none of that mattered to her. Instead, she doubled down, eyes blazing as she grabbed another glass and hurled it at me.
“Spending money on me is a privilege!”
“What do you have besides a pile of cash? You think that will tie me down? And now you dare to demand it back? I’ll make you regret it!”
With that, she stormed out, wedding gown trailing behind her, and Julian Hart followed close, casting a triumphant smirk my way as they exited.
I watched them go, a hollow feeling taking root in my chest. Five years of love, and this was who she really was.
I glanced down at the wedding band still pressed into my palm, its outline sharp against my skin, and finally, the tears fell.
Eliza and Julian had been together before. When her family fell from wealth, Julian had walked away. That’s when I came in, loving her fiercely, supporting her through everything. When she accepted me as her partner, I thought my love had won.
Then Julian came back from overseas, ruining everything in an instant. Eliza fell for him again without a second thought. She stopped caring about me, my objections–everything except my money. She only cared about Julian.
She used my love as a pawn for his gain, trampling over my feelings and dignity.
The relationship had been decaying for a long time. I’d just been too naive to see it.
I reclaimed the money I had given to her parents as a bride price and told the emcee to clear the guests from the hall.
I changed out of my soaked suit, grabbed my car keys, and prepared to head home when one of Eliza’s relatives grabbed my arm, sneering.
“Blake, so when’s the next wedding?” he said, laughing at my expense.
They thought it was a joke–that I would never truly leave her.
I said nothing, walking straight to my car.
There wouldn’t be another wedding.
