Chapter 12
No matter how hard Alexander Lowell tried to convince himself otherwise-he couldn’t go through with this wedding.
His movements were sluggish as he bent down and picked up his phone from the floor. Just then, a breaking news alert popped up on his screen.
“Riverport’s richest family, the Traceys, host a grand wedding with a mysterious bride-her identity will shock you!”
His heart began to pound, loud and erratic in his chest. He couldn’t stop himself.
Normally, he wouldn’t waste a second on a headline like that-tabloid fluff meant to stir gossip.
But something-some primal voice in his head-urged him with terrifying clarity:
If you don’t open this article… you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.
With trembling fingers, he tapped the headline.
And there she was.
In the high-definition photos, a slender, elegant woman stepped off a private jet bearing the Tracey family’s signature
eagle emblem.
Her gown shimmered with countless tiny diamonds, catching the light like scattered stars. But even that radiant dress
couldn’t outshine the woman wearing it.
Even with her face blurred for privacy, Alexander knew-instantly-who she was.
Cynthia Aquil.
His breath caught.
His first instinct was to think it had to be a mistake-a faked photo, a clickbait hoax.
But the next few images, along with the detailed account of the ceremony, were clearly taken by someone at the wedding itself. The newly posted comments confirmed it-full of awe, speculation, and envy.
The article never mentioned her name. But Alexander didn’t need it to.
From every angle, every captured moment, he could piece together the full picture of her standing there in that wedding
dress.
He knew that body. That posture. That silhouette.
Even the small, distinctive pink birthmark just beneath her collarbone-something makeup couldn’t hide, something no
one else could fake.
The girl he had spent ten years raising and protecting… had married another man today.
At that realization, Alexander choked and violently coughed up a mouthful of blood.
His fingers dug into the edges of his phone, eyes locked on the image of Cynthia and Nathan exchanging wedding rings.
The pain in his chest nearly split him open.
“Today’s wedding is canceled.” His voice was cold.
Chapter 12
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The room fell deathly silent as he tossed out the words and stormed down the aisle, his eyes bloodshot in rage, his entire body radiating a fury that no one dared challenge.
Not a single soul moved to stop him. Even the bride-Morinne-stood frozen, too stunned to react.
Only after Alexander had vanished from the ceremony did the silence break.
But the noise that followed wasn’t celebration.
It was mockery.
“He left her… at the altar. On their wedding day.”
“Does he even love her? Honestly, it never looked like he did. If he did, he wouldn’t have walked away like that.”
“You saw his face before he left-he looked like he’d seen a ghost. Do you think it’s because of that Aquil girl?”
Whispers swirled like a tidal wave of humiliation.
And at the center of it all, the bride stood alone-draped in white, her makeup flawless, her smile long gone.
