Chapter 2

Drinks! Laughter! Sexy man!

CELESTE’S POV

The moment we stepped into the party, the room lit up with smiles and glittering dresses. People swarmed Bethany like ants to sugar… air kisses, compliments, the occasional “You look stunning”

Within seconds, she was gone, swallowed by her people.

I stayed back, hovering near the edge of the crowd, nursing a drink I didn’t really want and pretending like I wasn’t already regretting this.

The music pulsed through the floor, and the lights made everything look a little too dreamy, like a place where consequences didn’t exist.

But I knew better.

Places like this, velvet and champagne, and last names that opened doors—came with rules.

Unspoken ones…

The kind that didn’t forgive outbursts or girls like me.

So when a guy in a pale blue shirt started walking toward me with a drink in hand and that arrogant smirk plastered on his face.

I knew something was off.

He didn’t even introduce himself… just walked right up and placed a hand on my shoulder like he owned me.

“Please don’t,” I muttered under my breath. I really didn’t want trouble.

Especially not with someone who probably had lawyers on speed dial and a family name that can make me nonexistent.

But his hand slid lower.

Oh shit…

A warning fired off in my gut—

Same one that told me not to come here in the first place.

And like always, I’d ignored it.

“Hey,” I said sharply, grabbing his wrist. “Keep your hands to yourself, dude.”

He laughed.

Laughed?

I could already feel the heat climbing my neck, my fingers curling into a fist. One more inch and I was going to break his nose.

But before I could throw the punch, someone else moved first.

A hand reached out, twisting the guy’s wrist so fast he let out a yelp that cut through the music.

“Hey, man… what the hell?!” he snapped, pulling away.

Whoever it was didn’t say a word. Just let go of him like he was trash and stepped back.

The guy muttered something under his breath and slinked off, rubbing his wrist and glaring over his shoulder.

And me? I just stood there, breathing like I’d run a mile, wondering who the hell just saved me.

I looked up… and for a second, I forgot how to breathe.

He stood there like he’d stepped out of some alternate universe where chivalry isn't dead.

He had broad shoulders and a sharp jaw.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice deep, smooth like dark velvet mixed with heat.

"Yeah," I managed, brushing invisible dust off my dress like I wasn’t coming undone inside.

“I’m Jonathan.”

“Celeste,” I said, somehow holding eye contact even though my brain was halfway through writing our wedding vows.

He smiled, not the cocky kind… but slow and genuine like he had all night and wasn’t in a rush to impress.

We chatted. Nothing heavy. Just enough for me to hear more of that voice, to feel the ease of his presence making me forget the chaos that was my life.

Then he tilted his head and asked, “Wanna get out of here? The noise is a bit much.”

And really… who was I kidding? With a man like that, the only answer was yes.

We talked. We drank. Maybe a little too much of both.

At some point, between the quiet garden shadows and the soft hum of champagne in my veins, we moved closer—so close I could feel his breath. Our laughter faded. His eyes caught mine. For a beat too long, neither of us moved.

And in my head, I thought,

*What’s the harm in letting him take you somewhere else for a while? Somewhere far from broken hearts and haunting mistakes.*

Then his lips found mine, and I stopped thinking.

We kissed like the world had become this moment—his hands warm against my skin, his touch scattering every reason I should’ve pulled away.

I shut my mind, pushed past the warnings, and let my body answer instead. The garden, the dark, the rush of want—it all blurred into heat and silence.

If there were consequences, I’d blame it on the expensive champagne. Or the universe. Or both.

***

“Ugh, turn it off!” I groaned, moving my arms around trying to find the source of the incessant ringing.

Why the hell was my alarm ringing?

“Fucking hell!” I heard Bethany scream as she barged into the room, opening my curtains and allowing the warm sun to kiss my skin.

“Beth!!!” I groaned, turning to the other side of the bed and pulling the covers to my head. “It’s Saturday, why won’t you let me sleep in?” I murmured but was answered by her viciously pulling off the covers from my body.

“You’re damn right, it’s Saturday, Celeste, your sister’s freaking wedding! Remember your sister Sophia, the one you haven't seen in years, it's today!!” Bethany exclaimed, causing me to jolt abruptly from the bed. An action I immediately regretted as my head felt like a thousand stones were being thrown at it.

“What!” I yelled, glancing at the digital clock on the bedside. It's 10:46 am and the wedding starts soon!

Oh, God! I groaned, clutching my head as memories of the previous night came crashing down.

“Oh my god!” I yelled louder, causing my head to throb even more.

“I know! We are going to be so late!” Bethany cried out, handing me an Advil, but before I could take it, my stomach churned, and I rushed to the bathroom to empty the contents of my stomach.

Beth followed behind me, rubbing my back soothingly, and handed me the Advil, “You look like shit,” she commented, and I turned to her.

“You look like shit too!” I retorted, noting her disheveled hair and red-rimmed eyes as I wiped the droplets of water from the corner of my mouth.

“That makes two of us! By the way, where did you wander off last night? I searched everywhere for you, and when you showed up, you were totally drunk?” Bethany asked and that seemed to open the floodgates that my thoughts up,

Drinks! Laughter! Sexy man! Garden! Sex!

“Fuck!” I grunted as memories of the remarkable night I had came rushing in. “I did something terrible.”

“What did you do Celeste?” Bethany asked, her eyes widening as she helped me up.

“I slept with someone at the party last night, I think,” I confessed, undressing. Last night wasn't a dream, although it felt like it.

She packed her hair in a bun and shrugged, “Okay what's the terrible thing?”

I stared at her incredulously, “I don’t know the person I slept with,” I said again as if clarifying why she should be bothered, but she just scoffed and undressed, getting into the shower.

“You’re not giving me much context as to why that’s freaking you out, Celeste, and honestly, we don't have time for chit-chat; we need to hurry up.

Hurry up to my demise…

As I prepared, I couldn't stop thinking about how my sister would react when she saw me. In my head, I began composing what I would say when I saw her.

The more I composed, the more I regretted leaving her behind and the more I would strangle Bruce, my stepfather, if this were a forced marriage.

Then it hit me…

Wait…

No young person here in Velmont City got the invitation. How come I did, despite living miles apart?

Maybe Sophia sent that invitation in order for me to come back and save her.

Or maybe she wants to rub it on my face that she is doing well after all these years?

Oh damn my mind…

Two hours later, I was all dolled up and standing in front of an old church, “Celeste Marlowe?” A guard asked and I nodded and then he directed us to somewhere behind the church.

I was taken to the front row.

Everyone was already seated. Music played. I scanned the aisle.

And then I saw him.

Jonathan. Walking in like a dream in a perfectly tailored suit, looking exactly like the man who’d tangled his fingers in my hair hours ago.

My heart dropped and then soared—

Jonathan is my sister's husband's best man?

I could live with that. Maybe.

Then another man followed behind him. Slightly older.

I presumed immediately that was who Sophia was getting married to.

I couldn't help but cuss at my stepfather.

And then a few seconds later, I saw her… Sophia. My baby sister, glowing in white, clutching her bouquet like it was the most precious thing in the world.

With Bruce, our stepfather right beside her…

She walked toward Jonathan.

And he… he held out his hand. Smiling and waiting.

My pulse froze.

Wait…

He wasn’t the best man…

He was the groom. The fucking groom!

And as he took her hand, everything inside me sank.

“God damn me,” I whispered under my breath, barely able to breathe.