Chapter 5

Seeing that text, I froze for a few seconds before suddenly remembering who owned this number.

My freshly minted, not-yet-public flash mate-to-be, Caspian Shore.

He was one of the most powerful Alphas in the Northern Territories, and Ethan's most hated rival.

Last month, after Ethan once again abandoned me without hesitation for one of Selene's phone calls, Caspian found me on the roadside.

He didn't offer comfort. He just draped his jacket over my shoulders and asked bluntly.

"Aria Greenwood, watching him treat you like this, do you still plan to continue? Want to consider switching to someone else?"

At that moment, alcohol and fury were burning through my rationality.

The deadline for my mother's dying wish was approaching, yet Ethan kept breaking his promises again and again.

I spoke without thinking.

"Switch to someone else? What's the point of just dating! Caspian Shore, why don't you just marry me?"

The moment the words left my mouth, the cold wind sobered me up considerably.

God, what was I saying?

I'd just proposed to Ethan's mortal enemy?

He'd definitely think I was insane, mock my delusions with the most cutting words.

However, Caspian simply raised an eyebrow slightly.

He agreed without any hesitation.

"Alright. It's a deal."

Now, looking at that line about the wedding gown on my screen, I couldn't control the slight upward curve of my lips.

Did I like it? I more than liked it.

The design for this gown was drawn by my mother's own hand, stroke by stroke, when she was pregnant with me.

She'd said it was a gift for her future daughter, hoping she'd wear this gown and walk toward the happiest moment of her life.

Before she fell ill, my mother was one of the country's top wedding dress designers. The words she said to me most often were:

"Aria, the moment a girl puts on her wedding dress is the most beautiful flash of her entire life. I'll make sure you become the happiest bride."

I'd mentioned it to Ethan more than once, begging him to help me find the best craftspeople to turn my mother's design into reality.

I wasn't greedy. I didn't even dare hope I could actually wear it at a wedding ceremony.

I just wanted to wear it to my mother's grave someday, twirl around for her to see.

Then tell her that her daughter wore the gown she designed, that I was happy, so she could rest in peace.

Ethan always readily agreed.

"Sure, sure, baby, I'll find someone after I finish this project."

"Don't worry, I remember. Next time I'm in Italy, I'll ask the master craftsmen."

But one "next time" followed another. The promise always stayed verbal.

Perhaps in his heart, anything related to me, important or not, always sat at the very bottom of his priority list.

The Plan B that could be delayed or canceled at any time for other people.

Yet this dream I'd anticipated for so long, this wish I couldn't fulfill, had suddenly materialized in an almost dreamlike way through the alliance marriage partner I'd chosen in a fit of spite.

A complex mixture of bittersweet emotion and warmth welled up inside me.

I took a deep breath and reached out, wanting to touch that delicate lace and pearls, to feel this intention from my mother.

Just as my fingertips were about to make contact.

Another well-manicured hand with nude-colored nail polish reached in from the side, getting there first, lightly pinching a corner of the gown's sleeve between her fingers.

The owner of that hand spoke with feigned surprise.

"Oh, what a beautiful wedding gown! Aria, is this for your ceremony with Ethan?"