Old Promises, New Rings

Jace still hadn't come home at midnight. He had lied to me again.I didn't feel sad this time, and I stopped flooding him with messages.Since I was about to leave, I slept even more soundly than usual. …The following day, I woke up and started packing first thing in the morning. I stuffed all the gifts Jace had ever given me into a torn bag and dumped it in the trash downstairs.Before leaving, there was one last thing I had to do. I dialed the number I'd called countless times. "I'd like to cancel my wedding. You no longer have to prepare anything."The wedding planner knew how much I had been looking forward to it and only canceled after confirming it with me several times. At some point, Jace had appeared at the doorway. "What did you cancel?" Celine was standing beside him.I was about to come up with an excuse, but he didn't give me the chance. "Forget it. Cece's the one who matters now."His tone left no room for argument, and when he talked about what had happened

Because there was still a wedding to finalize, Jace messaged me, yet he didn't get a response. When he returned home and didn't see me, he finally realized that everything in my room was gone. He questioned his assistant, who stammered, "M-Ms. Hollis seems to have taken a flight to Germaine."Jace raked his hands through his hair in agitation. "That's impossible! She loves me too much to just leave without a word. Besides, she severed ties with her family because of me. How could she possibly go back?" He pulled out his phone and fired a barrage of calls at me, but he received the same message every time. My phone had been turned off.When he couldn't get through to me, he continued to text me. "Rina, did you run off to Germaine because you're mad at me?""Let's just make up, alright? I'll spend more time with you from now on. I even bought the baby's breath flowers you love so much.""Please come back as soon as you see this message. I'm waiting for you."Yet, he never rece

Celine stepped forward to support Jace. He abruptly recalled that she was there and hurriedly pulled away.In the days he couldn't reach me, he'd realized there was no one else he could count on to come at a moment's notice. Celine spent her days pestering him for designer bags or clinging to him coyly, and he'd grown tired of it."Let's stay away from each other from now on. I don't want Rina getting the wrong idea. After we return home, you don't have to show up to work anymore."Celine's eyes widened. "I'm carrying your baby, Jace! How can you do this to me? You're going to pay for this someday!"Jace shot me a panicked look. "Shut up! That child isn't mine!"I remained stoic, massaging my throbbing temples. Clement caught on and asked the store staff to show them out. As Jace was being kicked out, he kept yelling that he would be back. After reserving my wedding gown, I let out a sigh of relief. Clement wrapped his arms around me from behind and whispered into my ear, "Relax

Because of Celine's embezzlement, Jace was implicated and sentenced to prison. His mother panicked and flew to Germaine to beg me to save him. Dropping to her knees before me, she clutched my pant leg. "We wronged you, Rina. Please save my son! If you do, we can still be a family."I looked down at her, looking cold and unmoved. When Clement returned home after a long day and was greeted by this scene, his exhaustion exacerbated his anger. "This is our home. Please leave!"He tried to be polite, but he couldn't stand Mrs. Larkin's shamelessness. Collapsing to the floor, she looked like she would never get up unless we agreed to save Jace. Like mother, like son—they were shameless to the core.Clement immediately called the cops. Mrs. Larkin was deported and blacklisted for trespassing, so she could never come looking for me again. …I didn't hear another word about Jace, his mother, or Celine until the morning Clement and I boarded the plane for our honeymoon. My assistant was th