Chapter 5

Annabelle.

Rays of light pricked my eyelids and stirred me from my peaceful slumber.

What time is it now? Is it morning already?

"Hmm..." I let out a sleepy sound as I tried to move my heavy body.

Where am I? I asked silently in my head as I felt my temples throb slightly when I fully opened my eyes. What happened last night, and how did I end up here?

My mind felt quite fuzzy, although I didn't drink that much at the party.

The party...

Memories of yesterday quickly flooded my mind and brought a slightly sick feeling to my stomach when I recalled the wedding that I attended again.

......

"Honestly, I didn't think that you would turn up to the wedding.” Anna, one of my friends, said as she stood next to me in the garden after the wedding ceremony inside the church was over.

I couldn't wait to leave after the ceremony came to an end, but it was Anna who held onto my arm before dragging me into the gardens where the reception was held.

"Well, I guess it's not every day that you get to see your ex-fiance marry your best friend." I replied sarcastically before smiling a tight smile.

"I guess you're right about that," she said before making a sympathetic face.

By that time, I wasn't sure whether I was more saddened or furious at the betrayal of the bride and groom.

"I think you really dodged a bullet with this one, Anna." She said before grinning her way.

"What do you mean?" I asked blankly.

"He's obviously marrying her for the money and for his career progression. I mean, she is the daughter of the CEO and the owner of the company that you’re both working at, right?" Anna said before elbowing me and making a 'you know what' face.

I wasn't sure if she was right about that, but there was clearly more for Carlton to gain from marrying her than from marrying me.

"Who knows?" I said with a careless shrug of my shoulders while I tried to tell myself that their issues had nothing to do with me now.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" she asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Not particularly," I replied quite honestly.

"There's this party for an exclusive rooftop bar opening, so if you're free, why don't you come along?" Anna invited me with a dazzling smile.

Just like Thalia, Anna came from a very wealthy and influential family. I wouldn’t be surpised if her kind of party wasn't like any party that I had ever attended before. Usually, I wouldn't be so daring, but at that point in time, I felt like there was nothing for me to lose.

"Come along, Anna. I'm sure that you can hook up with some hot guy for the night. Doesn't that sound like a great plan?" she said with a teasing laugh, but I could tell that she was also partly serious.

I would have turned her down had it been any other day, but suddenly, her suggestion did not sound so bad. That was how I ended up attending the party and meeting the hot stranger who would make me experience such a satisfying night filled with pleasure.

I went out with Anna to the party with the intention to forget everything and start fresh again. However, I also knew that it was going to be difficult to completely forget the six years that I shared with Carlton just overnight.

I first met my boyfriend during my freshman year at university, and we have been dating ever since then. Everything about my life seemed perfect, and I was extremely happy. I had a caring boyfriend and a few very supportive friends. Even though we were still young, San and I would often discuss our plans of getting married in the future and building a family together. We also dreamed of joining the same company and working together side by side after graduation.

Everything in life was so rosy and beautiful, and we even worked so hard to get accepted into the same company. In the end, we managed to land jobs at the same company, although we ended up working in different departments. We decided to get engaged right after our graduation from university, and for a whole two years after that, we continued dating while also focusing on our careers. Everything felt perfect until around a week ago when he told me out of the blue that he wanted to end our relationship.

I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t seen the signs; however, I took the distance that sprouted between us to be the signs that we were both focusing on our careers. Carlton was working hard, and I always took that as a sign that he wanted to save money for our upcoming wedding. Being busy at work meant that we had less time together, so I was pleasantly surprised when he suddenly invited me out to a cafe one evening after work.

"I guess work has been busy. It's kind of hard to find time where we're both free." I said before smiling sweetly at him.

Carlton smiled a little at me in return before focusing his attention on me.

It had been almost a week since the last time that we properly met up for a date. He always said that he was extremely busy at work, and whenever I called him in the evening, he seemed too preoccupied and too drained of energy to talk. He also didn't seem to be in the best of moods, so I figured that it was best to leave him alone so that he could get enough rest. All in all, I didn't want to be a hassle, and I wanted to ensure that I would always be supportive in his life. That was why I felt so excited that he suddenly invited me out for a date.

"Work is definitely busy," he replied, although he sounded very hesitant.

"I guess that's just a sign that the company is doing well," I replied while trying to sound positive.

I waited for a while for Carlton to respond, but the conversation just died there.

By that time, I could tell that something was wrong and that our meeting didn't quite have the vibe of a joyous day like it normally had. I immediately thought it was because he was stressed about work.

"Is there something that I can help you with? We might not work in the same department, but it's not like I don't know what your work involves. I am willing to lend you a hand," I offered with an enthusiastic nod of my head.

"Annabelle," Carlton said my full name as he frowned slightly. The disturbed look on his face, along with the fact that he just called me by my full name instead of my pet name, told me that he was about to say something very important to me.

Suddenly, I began looking all around me with a mix of excitement and anticipation. I suddenly recalled all of our talks about getting married in the very near future, and I couldn't deny the possibility that popped up in my head.

Is he about to propose to me right now?

“Yes?” I said questioningly.

“I...have something to tell you...” Carlton said while still looking quite hesitant.

“Umm...I guess I have something to tell you too...” I said before I found the corners of my lips naturally lifting into a smile.

This is it...

I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself as I suddenly started feeling very emotional. It felt like I was on the verge of tears as I thought about the bright future that we would share. We would definitely get even busier if we had to prepare for our wedding on top of our busy jobs, but that didn't seem like a big obstacle at all. When we saved up enough money, we can finally get out own place and live together. We would have so much fun together decorating our house and going on dates.

I stared into his eyes as I kept on smiling at the bright future that I saw of us together.

“Should we try saying it at the same time?” I suggested gleefully.

Carlton just nodded his head but he seemed even more nervous than before. As if we counted silently in our heads, we opened our mouths to say that we wanted to at precisely the same time.

“Yes, I’ll marry you,” I promised with all my heart.

"I think we should break up," Carlton said as he stared coldly at me.