Chapter 3

The day before the wedding, which was also the second day of my death, Andrew brought Katherine to our wedding suite.

The instant Katherine stepped inside, she took down the engagement photo hung on the wall.

"Let's hang it back up tomorrow. For now, we can use it to test Nat. I wonder if she'll be jealous when she notices that her photo is gone."

Andrew grabbed a corner of the photo frame. "Careful. Don't drop it."

Katherine pouted. "Yes, yes. I know you're worried about hurting her."

Stuffing the photo into a cardboard box, she then moved to the closet and yanked the doors open.

The dress I'd prepared to wear for the wedding toast hung inside alongside a red dress.

Mom had personally sewn that red dress before she passed away. She'd been so ill at the time that she could barely hold a needle steady, leaving the stitching on the sleeves rather uneven.

When I had tried it on for her, she had stroked my hand and said, "I'll wear this dress and walk you down the aisle on your wedding day."

Unfortunately, she never got the chance.

Katherine pulled out the red dress.

"Ugh, how old. It's terrible luck to have old clothes in your wedding suite, you know."

Andrew glanced at it before replying, "Natalia's mother left that for her. Put it back."

Katherine's smile faded slightly.

"I've been running myself ragged for you for an entire day, while she isn't even willing to come back and decorate your wedding suite. Now, you can't even bear to let me touch a lousy piece of clothing?"

For a brief moment, Andrew was silent.

"Hide it away somewhere for now so she won't see it."

Only then did Katherine's smile return.

Crumpling the red dress into a ball, she tossed it into the cardboard box. At the very bottom of that box lay the only family photo I had with my parents.

Katherine had complained about how we were all wearing black in the photo, so she had insisted the staff take it away as well.

Andrew stood off to one side, watching it all happen, but he never made a move to stop her.

When the hospital called him, the wedding videography team had only just arrived.

The team leader switched on his laptop. "Mr. Graham, this is the cinematic video that will be played at the wedding."

He played the video, which showed what had happened a few days earlier. I was in my white dress, clutching a bloody watch as I climbed over the guardrail.

In the next second, Andrew walked out of the crowd with a bouquet of roses.

Off-screen, Katherine was laughing so hard that she was gasping for breath.

"I won! She was genuinely going to jump into the river to end her life so that she could be reunited with you!"

The video continued playing before it finally ended with a single remark. "The best kind of love is one that can withstand any tests thrown at it."

Applause erupted throughout the house.

Someone laughed and said, "Natalia is definitely going to be moved to tears."

However, Andrew was staring at my face in the video. My hands were trembling as I held the guardrail to support myself.

"Cut out that part at the end where she falls to her knees. It doesn't look good at a wedding."

Katherine sat at my dressing table and tore open the wedding gift I'd prepared for Andrew. Inside was a photo album filled with memories from our seven years together.

On the very first page was a bus ticket from our first time taking the bus together.

After flipping a few pages, Katherine burst into laughter.

"She actually kept all this crap?"

Andrew snatched the album from her. "Don't touch that."

Immediately, Katherine's eyes reddened pitifully. "I was just looking for material to put into the video. Why are you being so mean to me?"

Andrew stared at her for a moment before relenting and giving her back the album. "Take whatever you want."

Katherine took out the bus ticket, cut it into the shape of a heart, then stuck it next to a photo of her and Andrew.

At that moment, the hospital called Andrew again.

After glancing at the number, Andrew hung up without any hesitation.

"Is it that actress again?" Katherine asked.

"Yeah."

Andrew tapped into his chat window with me. The very last message we had exchanged was still that "Okay" I had sent him days ago.

"She's already agreed to come to the wedding, so all this right now is just a means for her to make me back down first."

Outside, the staff carried away the cardboard box.

A corner of the red dress poked out of one box, trailing along the ground as they carried it away.

Katherine leaned her head against Andrew's shoulder.

"If she's still mad tomorrow, we'll just have to test her once again. Cancel the wedding right there with the guests present. See if she'll beg you then."

Glancing at the empty spot on the wall where our photo had once hung, he replied, "Don't push her too far."

"She can't bear to part with you." She put on my wedding veil. "Not even in death."

Instead of refuting her words, Andrew sent me a message.

"We've finished tidying up the wedding suite. Don't be late tomorrow."

The message was successfully delivered. However, this time, nobody would be answering it.