Chapter 2

Lucas then pulled Isabella away, turning his back on me, and he said coldly, "You'll regret this."

I forced my tears back.

Regret this?

I only regretted ever wasting so many years on him.

I went into a nearby cafe and sat there, waiting for Alexander. I then decided to call Mom.

I hadn't contacted her in five years.

The last time I'd called her, we'd gotten into a huge fight over Lucas. Mom just couldn't understand the "freedom" that I spoke about, and I simply couldn't put up with her controlling manner anymore.

I called her after hesitating for a very long time, but she still didn't pick up, even after a number of rings.

I decided to call Mom's assistant, Naomi Webster, instead. Naomi picked up, and she sounded very surprised when she spoke into the line.

"Ms. Montero?"

I asked, "Is there someone named Isabella Welch who's been approaching Mom lately?"

Naomi hesitated for a while. "I'm not too sure about that. However, Mrs. Montero has been regularly donating to a local orphanage every month."

A local orphanage?

"Help me check who at the orphanage has been receiving the money all this time, and let me know how well they know each other."

After hanging up, I gripped my phone and felt lost for the first time.

Had Mom really adopted a daughter from the orphanage after all?

Suddenly, I saw the latest trending news pop up on my phone. It read, "Mr. Alexander Shaw Walked Away From a Multi-Billion Dollar Acquisition Deal in Yitchaly, Claiming to Return Home for Marriage."

A video was also embedded in the article, showing a tall, stern-looking man smiling gleefully on the phone at the end of a call, then turning and walking off.

The reporters couldn't stop him, so they asked the other party Alexander had been meeting with instead.

"Will your company decide not to go forward with the acquisition deal anymore because of Mr. Shaw's sudden departure?"

The man just smiled and said, "Here in Yitchaly, we firmly believe that love is above all else, and therefore, we are very understanding of his predicament and are more than willing to wait for his return."

I felt a range of mixed emotions in my heart. It was bittersweet yet warm.

I was always the one chasing after Lucas when I was with him. I had never before been the one someone chose so decisively.

Suddenly, I received a text message notification from one of the top bridal boutiques in the city. I tapped into the message and saw that they had also sent me a catalog of high-fashion wedding dresses and jewelry sets.

"Good day, Mrs. Shaw. Your husband has already made arrangements with us. Please feel free to choose whichever dress and jewelry set that you like."

Alexander had even considered my reluctance to wear my original, old wedding dress.

I went to the bridal boutique and spent the entire afternoon trying on dresses and having my makeup done. Just as I was about to finish, I received another text on my phone.

"Come out and turn to the left."

I rushed out of the boutique with the train of the dress in my hands and saw Alexander leaning against his sports car by the roadside, with the seats filled to the brim with roses.

He handed me a bouquet of fresh roses and said, "Sorry for making you have to rush."

"Nothing to be sorry about," I said, my smile wide, as I took the roses from him. I immediately realized that the roses were my favorite Giardina roses, the kind that could only be found in Yitchaly.

I had just briefly mentioned that they were my favorite kind of flowers when I was 18, yet he'd remembered it for years until now.

I held this bouquet of flowers in my hand as I attended my very small-scale wedding ceremony.

As soon as the ceremony ended, Alexander had to fly back to Yitchaly at once to complete the acquisition and handle the aftermath. Yet, before he left, he kissed my forehead.

"Wait for me to come back. I'll give you a proper, grander wedding ceremony than this."

I brought the roses home, my heart filled with sweetness, completely forgetting the frustration from earlier that day.

As soon as I opened the door to my home, however, a bottle of perfume was suddenly thrown at me.

"What are you doing in my mansion? Get out! Get out!"

Isabella stood at the door with her hands on her hips, flinging another two more bottles of perfume at me. The fragrance was overpowering and made me feel nauseous.

It wasn't until then that I realized my carefully decorated home had been completely wrecked.

The elegant, minimalist furniture had all been replaced with garish pink furniture instead, and Toby was scribbling recklessly on the wallpaper with bold crayons. He saw me and threw his crayons at me, just like his mother.

"Your mansion?"

I sneered and dodged to the side. "Is your name even on the property title?"

Toby immediately began screaming at the top of his lungs. "Daddy belongs to Mommy! And the mansion also belongs to Mommy!"

"What's the noise all about?" Lucas said, walking out from the master bedroom in a bathrobe while water droplets dripped from his hair.

"This mansion is mine. And whoever is my wife has the right to do whatever she wants in it," he said.

Isabella walked over to me smugly, her gaze landing on the bouquet in my arms.

"Heard that? I'm already being lenient by not charging you rent all these years!

"And these flowers look nice. Is this a wedding gift for us? Leave it. You can get lost now."

"Stay away!" I exclaimed, hugging the roses closer to me.

Still, she snatched the bouquet from me, took a closer look at it, and curled her lips in disdain.

"It's just meh. Just about as horrible as you are."

Then, she threw the flowers to the ground and stomped on them.

And just like that, she completely ruined the first bouquet of flowers that Alexander ever gave me.