Chapter 2

The luxury car sped down the highway. Henry glanced at Ava in the passenger seat through the rearview mirror, then leaned close to Lena’s ear, lowering his voice.

“Lenny, why did you want to bring her along?”

Lena noticed his furrowed brow. Whenever he spoke of Ava, his face carried that same old look of impatience, as though he genuinely loathed her very existence.

He was certainly a great actor. He was so good that he had successfully blinded her for three whole years in her past life. It was not until she stumbled upon that two-year-old child on the street that she realized their relationship had been broken all along.

Lena lowered her gaze, her voice flat. “Don’t you always complain about how clingy she is? I want her to see that you’re marrying me, and maybe then she’ll finally give up.”

A look of unease crossed Henry’s face for a split second. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he let the explanation slide.

Once they arrived, Henry led Lena into the bridal boutique while Ava followed closely behind, matching them step for step. The custom wedding dress had been chosen long ago. It was an ivory-white lace gown encrusted with delicate rhinestones that shimmered under the boutique lights.

The moment the stylist brought the dress out, before Lena could even reach for it, Ava eagerly stepped forward. Ava gently ran her fingers over the intricate lace patterns, her eyes filled with envy.

After a long moment, she turned her head to look at Lena, asking, “Lena, do you mind if I try it on?”

Looking at Ava’s carefully crafted innocence, Lena sneered to herself. She could hand over the engagement, but why on earth should she willingly give up her own personal belongings?

Parting her red lips, Lena delivered a merciless jibe. “Wasn’t your mother being a homewrecker enough for the family? What, do you want to be a mistress too?”

Ava’s face instantly drained of color. She looked at Henry timidly and pleadingly, her eyes teary. Henry, whose expression had darkened as well, stepped between the two sisters and nudged Lena’s arm.

He said in a comforting tone, “Lenny, let’s not make a scene in front of others. Go on. Try it on and see if it fits.”

It looked like a peaceful intervention, but he had actively shielded Ava behind his back.

Lena stared at his tense posture. A cold smile played on her lips as she took the wedding dress and turned to enter the fitting room.

Once changed, Lena stood in front of the mirror, falling into a brief daze. The girl in the mirror had bright eyes and flawless features, and the ivory gown made her skin look as fair as snow. The last time she stood there, her heart had been filled with hope for the future. Yet now… the eyes staring back at her held nothing but emptiness.

“Ah!”

When a sudden, sharp cry from Ava echoed from the waiting room, Lena reached out and parted the heavy curtains just a fraction. Through the small gap, she saw Ava trip over her own feet, falling straight into Henry’s arms. Not only did Henry not dodge, but he also threw his arms around Ava’s waist to catch her securely. He even went as far as gently patting Ava’s back, as if he was comforting a startled little animal.

Even though Lena already knew his heart belonged to someone else, seeing that with her own eyes filled her with pain. She remembered so clearly how, in the past, if Ava so much as brushed against the hem of Henry’s jacket, he would throw the entire garment into a fire pit right in front of everyone, muttering the word “filthy.”

Yet, there he was now, tenderly coaxing the girl in his arms. The two of them were pressed tightly against each other, looking far more like a couple than Lena, who was hiding away in the fitting room, ever did.

Lena’s grip on the curtain tightened, and her heart ached, as though something was clenching her heart. Taking a deep breath, she was just about to pull the curtains wide open when the entire room suddenly began to spin. Everything in the boutique started to shake and rattle.

It was an earthquake!

The terrifying thought flashed through Lena’s mind. Her first instinct was to gather her heavy skirt and run outside, but the train of the wedding dress was far too voluminous. Distracted by the shaking, she accidentally stepped on the hem and fell onto the floor.

The rough ground scraped her arm, drawing blood. At the same time, debris and loose fixtures from the ceiling began falling on her, leaving her face deathly pale from the pain. Yet Henry, who was only a few feet away, did not even seem to notice she was there. He bent down, scooped Ava up into his arms, and sprinted toward the exit.

As the two of them rushed past her, she heard their conversation.

“Henry, put me down… Lena is still in there–”

“She can make it out on her own. You’re injured. I need to get you to safety first…”

Those words drove into Lena’s heart like a dagger, leaving her breathless from the agonizing ache.

After what felt like an eternity, the shaking finally subsided. The boutique was left in absolute ruins—a perfect reflection of her shattered heart. Lena stripped out of the wedding dress, grabbed a pair of shears nearby, and began hacking the gown to pieces.

Before walking out, she turned to the terrified stylist and said in a chillingly calm voice, “Do not tell Henry about this.”

If Ava wanted to marry him, Lena would not stand in her way. However, Lena would rather destroy everything that belonged to her than hand it over to that couple.

Stepping out of the ruined boutique, Lena went straight to sort out her visa. She handed over her thick stack of paperwork and requested an expedited review.

The clerk glanced at the bloody scratches on her arm, giving a sympathetic nod. “We can have all your paperwork finalized within the month.”

Lena stood at the steps of the building, taking a deep breath as she looked up at the overcast sky. In one month, she would leave that city behind, finally free to live a life that truly belonged to her.