Chapter 8
Before the security guards could act, Cora Hope rushed over instead.
She was crying too, using all her strength to pull Jared up from the ground.
“Jared, why are you really kneeling?! This must all be fake–get up, now!”
But to my surprise, Jared shoved her aside forcefully, shouting, “Get lost! Get out of my sight
Cora stumbled and fell to the ground, stunned.
red, you…
“Don’t call me that!” Jared roared at her, his eyes bloodshot. “Who do you think you are? Did you really think you were my fiancée? You’re just an actor I hired. Don’t take your role too seriously!”
I was completely taken aback. The real actor had been Cora all along.
Jared, still on his knees, crawled toward me, tears streaming down his face as he reached out to touch the hem of my gown
“Elizabeth, listen to me! There’s nothing between me and her! I just couldn’t stand it–I couldn’t stand the thought of you marrying someone else!”
“I don’t love her, not even a little! The one I truly love is you!”
“Elizabeth, come with me. This time, it’s real. I swear, I’ll never let go of your hand again. We’ll be just like when we were kids, never, ever apart!”
Just as Jared’s fingers were about to touch the hem of my gown, I kicked his hand away without hesitation
Elijah Weston stepped forward, placing himself between me and Jared, completely blocking Jared’s view of me.
“Security, take him away!” Elijah commanded coldly.
Cora Hope rushed to Jared’s side, crying and shouting, “I know, you’ve always seen me as a backup, a stand–in‘ But Jared, the person I truly love is you!*
“I’ve never been acting! I really love you and would do anything for you!”
“Shut up!” Jared snarled, shoving her away from him.
“Your so–called love disgusts me! If it weren’t for you constantly telling me that Elizabeth loved me deeply and would never leave me, none of this would have happened between us!”
Watching the two of them turn on each other, I simply covered my ears, tuning them out. Instead, I turned to Elijah and gave him a small smile, silently reassuring him that I had long since moved on from my past.
Elijah’s gaze shifted to Cora, and he spoke with calm authority. “Cora Hope, you are no longer a bridesmaid today. That dress you’re wearing belongs to us. It’s time to take it off and return it.”
Cora paled, clutching her chest in fear before dropping to her knees to beg for forgiveness.
“I’m sorry, Elizabeth! I was wrong! I shouldn’t have played such a cruel joke on you. Please, spare me!”
I turned my head away, refusing to give them even a glance.
Elijah’s bodyguards dragged the two of them out of the hall. Even as Jared was being taken away, he kept crying out, begging me to leave with him.
The grand hall doors closed, and the gentle strains of the wedding march filled the air once again.
In front of our family and friends, Elijah and I exchanged rings and vows, sealing it all with a kiss.
Later, I heard bits and pieces about Jared.
His father had broken one of his legs and sent him abroad.
Chapter 8
Though he continued to send me messages, pleading for my forgiveness, I had long since changed all my contact information.
Jared Donovan and I would never see each other again in this lifetime.
As for Cora Hope, she made several attempts to apologize to me, but our security guards turned her away every time.
That day, she had tried to rip the wedding dress off me, only to nearly have her own bridesmaid dress torn off instead. The crowd Jared had invited to witness my humiliation had recorded every moment of her disgrace.
Our grudges and entanglements ended there.
