Chapter 3

Isabella, wake up!”

She could hear low whispers that made her roll over and grumble until she finally opened her eyes. Wide awake, she realized she was in a small hospital room, still in her wedding dress, with her family gathered around her. That was enough evidence that her nightmare was real. She started crying again, and Fabian stepped forward. It was going to be hard for him, but he knew he had to comfort his sister.

“Little sis, don’t worry. I will make sure the prince pays for humiliating you like this.”

Isabella looked at him, her eyes filled with pain.

“I don’t ever want to set my eyes on that prince again! I don’t want to see him ever again!”

While she was still speaking, Prince Karl entered the room, looked at her, and then declared in front of her family:

“I want to marry you, Isabella. With your consent, we can get married first thing tomorrow morning.”

Isabella looked at him in shock.

“How dare you?! Do I look like a joke to you? Can someone please tell me what in the world is going on?” she screamed.

Prince Karl looked at her and said, “I warned you. I told you that you were making a mistake, but you still went ahead with the wedding.”

Isabella shot back at him, “Why didn’t you tell me what was going on? It’s obvious you knew something like this would happen! Did you create this whole chaos just to ruin my life? Because I know you never liked me!” she asked, her eyes burning with pure anger.

Prince Karl signaled for everyone to leave the room. Once they were alone, he spoke to her kindly.

“It’s true, I’ve never liked you, Isabella. As a matter of fact, I’ve always resented your naïve attitude. But I couldn’t stand by and watch my brother humiliate you like that today. I’ve always known you were too good for him. Your so-called Prince Charming isn’t so charming after all. He has been sleeping with your best friend, Aura.”

Isabella’s mouth dropped open in shock as the prince delivered the bombshell. The room fell into silence. Then, the next thing Karl felt was a slap across his face.

“You’re a liar! Do you think I’m a fool? I will never fall for this!”

Without a word, Prince Karl pulled out an envelope and dropped it on the bed.

“Open it,” he said.

With trembling hands, Isabella opened the envelope. Inside, she found pictures of Prince Khalid and Aura in various hotel rooms. There were several of them, all with timestamps as evidence. Some of the dates even coincided with times when the prince had told her he was unavailable.

“I can’t believe he would do this to me!” she cried out.

Prince Karl frowned deeply. “That’s exactly why I don’t like you, Isabella. You are too naïve for my liking. But there’s a lot you will learn from now on. Lesson number one is never to be so trusting.”

“Karl, stop!” she screamed.

“Khalid never loved you.”

“Karl, stop! I beg you!” she screamed again .

Karl made his way to the door, opened it, then turned back to face her.

“I’m giving you two hours to decide, Isabella. I’ll be waiting for your call. If you want revenge on my brother, then you must marry me.”

With that, he finally left.

Isabella walked to the mirror and stared at her reflection. The image looking back at her disgusted her—she truly looked like an abandoned bride. She clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and whispered to herself, “This is a new beginning for me.”

Suddenly, the door opened, and her brother walked in.

“Isabella, what’s going on?”

She told him everything Prince Karl had revealed to her, including his offer of marriage.

To her surprise, Fabian quickly urged her to accept.

“You have to marry him!” he told his sister.

“What do you mean by that?!” she asked, shocked. “Why would I marry him out of desperation?”

“No, I’ve always known that Prince Karl was the one for you. Please, marry him,” he said firmly.

Isabella broke down in tears. “I can’t believe Prince Khalid could do this to me… with Aura.”

Her brother pulled her into a hug.

“I also realized they were having an affair today—when they walked out of the church holding hands.”

Isabella looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. “I’ve been a fool for ten years.”

“No, my darling sister,” Fabian replied. “You’ve only had a pure heart. But don’t worry, Prince Khalid will pay for what he has done.”