Chapter 4

I smiled and walked over to Eden, thoughtfully draping the jacket hanging over the back of the chair onto his shoulders.

“You drank too much. Your head’s going to hurt tomorrow.”

Eden froze for a second before wrapping an arm around my waist in front of everyone and lifting his chin proudly toward his friends.

“See that? That’s my future wife. Sweet, isn’t she?”

The entire table raised their glasses in unison.

“To Eden and his bride! May your marriage be filled with love, laughter, and forever happiness!”

I lifted my glass as well and drank it in one go with a smile.

After that night, Eden became unusually attentive, staying by my side almost every second.

Meanwhile, I arranged for a car to pick me up on the wedding day.

Everything was ready.

Now all that was left was waiting for the show to begin.

The night before the wedding, Eden sent me a goodnight text.

[Summer, tomorrow you’ll be the most beautiful bride. I’ve waited so long for this day.]

I stared at the message on the screen for a long time before replying:

[See you tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it too.]

On the day of the wedding, Eden specially came to the dressing room to keep me company, his face glowing with excitement.

His arms circled my shoulders as he rested his chin on top of my head, meeting my gaze through the mirror.

“Summer, you look beautiful today.”

[Sixty million! I’m finally getting it! After all these years of pretending, this nightmare’s finally over. I’ll never have to spit out another one of these disgusting lines again.]

I forced down the nausea churning in my stomach, lifted my hand, and gently placed it over the back of his hand resting on my shoulder.

“Eden.”

“Hmm?”

“If one day I disappeared, what would you do?”

He froze briefly before bursting into laughter, tightening his arms around me as if trying to trap me completely in his embrace.

“What kind of nonsense is that? How could I possibly live without you?”

He turned my face toward him and looked straight into my eyes as he spoke slowly and seriously.

“Summer Curtis, you’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to marry in this lifetime.”

[Alright, alright, enough with the cheesy bullshit. I’m getting goosebumps.]

I looked at the man in the mirror.

His eyes were so gentle, his smile so full of affection.

If I couldn’t hear his thoughts, I probably really would’ve believed I was the happiest bride in the world.

Before leaving, he gave my hand one final squeeze.

“Alright, I should go. Later, when you walk down the aisle, don’t start crying on me.”

I smiled and nodded. “Okay. I won’t cry.”

The moment the door closed, every trace of the smile vanished from my face.

After dismissing everyone from the dressing room, I reached behind me and slowly pulled down the zipper.

The wedding dress slipped from my shoulders as I took out the casual clothes I had prepared in advance and changed into them.

Then I crouched down, lifted the wedding dress worth hundreds of thousands, and set it on fire.

Flames crawled up the skirt. The lace edges curled, blackened, and burned away.

As smoke began to rise, I pushed open the dressing room window and climbed out.

The black sedan waiting in the alley flashed its headlights once.

I hurried over and pulled open the car door.

“Drive.”

The moment the engine started, a panicked voice rang out behind me.

“S-Summer?!”

It was Eden’s assistant, Ian.

His eyes widened in shock as he stared at me, then at the thick smoke pouring from the dressing room window.

“Summer, y-you… what are you doing? The wedding is about to…”

I let out a cold laugh.

“Pass a message to Eden for me: His mission failed. Now he can go to hell.”

The car window rolled up, and the black sedan sped away into the distance.

Ian stood frozen in place before scrambling back in a panic.

At the same time, inside the groom’s lounge behind the wedding hall, Eden impatiently checked his watch for the third time.

“What’s taking so long? Why is everyone dragging this out?”

Tiffany slipped in through the side door in a white dress, her makeup flawless and her smile radiant.

“Darling, do I look pretty today?”

Eden’s gaze darkened slightly as he yanked her into his arms and kissed her hard.

When they finally pulled apart, Tiffany wiped the lipstick stain from the corner of his mouth and asked sweetly, “After you finish exchanging rings with that idiot, you’ll marry me, right?”

“Of course.”

Eden pinched her chin, looking unbearably pleased with himself.

“That stupid woman is probably still crying tears of happiness in the dressing room right now.”

Tiffany laughed softly and pushed him away.

“Go on then, Mr. Groom.”

Eden straightened his tie, pushed open the door, and strode confidently toward the wedding hall.

The lights brightened as the guests rose to their feet.

Media outlets from across the city aimed their cameras toward the end of the red carpet.

Right on time, the wedding march began to play.

Eden stood beside the officiant, wearing a flawless smile filled with practiced affection.

He looked toward the other end of the aisle, waiting for his bride to appear.

Ten seconds.

Thirty seconds.

One minute.

The end of the red carpet remained empty.

Whispers began spreading through the crowd.

The officiant glanced sideways at him and quietly asked, “Where’s the bride?”

The smile on Eden’s face froze.

At that exact moment, the side doors of the hall burst open.

Ian stumbled inside, drenched in sweat, his suit covered in ash and dirt as though he had fallen several times while running.

Every eye in the room turned toward him.

He collapsed onto the floor, lips trembling violently.

After a long moment of deathly silence, he finally forced out the words:

“Eden… S-Summer told me to pass along a message…”

“Your mission failed. She told you to go to hell.”