Semua Bab The Wedding I Designed to Die For: Bab 1 - Bab 9

This was my seventh year with Marco.Seven years. I'd gone from a nobody to the only planner the New York families would trust with their weddings.But with Marco, I was still stuck in the same place.We could spend every night tangled in the sheets, kissing like the world was ending. But when the sun came up, I was still his dirty little secret.Late that night, I got back to our penthouse in Manhattan.I had just laid down when my mother called."Christmas is coming up. Is Marco coming to Seattle this year?""Sophia, my girl, it's been seven years. Hasn't he proposed yet? Tell me the truth, is something wrong between you two?"The same questions. Again.I'd told my parents about him years ago.But he had never once taken me to meet his family.I closed my eyes, my voice hoarse. "Mom, we're fine. I'll let you know when there's news."It's not like I hadn't asked Marco.But I always got the same lines."You're overthinking it.""This is a critical time for us, for the business. Just

That's when I learned that Isabella had rejected all ten revised plans.I was exhausted, physically and mentally. All I could do was tell him what the doctor said."I went to the hospital yesterday. The doctor told me I need to rest."His tone softened. He walked over and pulled me into his arms.As if he’d finally remembered that I was the one who was supposed to be his fiancée."It's all my fault. I've been so busy lately, I haven't been taking care of you.""Baby, for me, just help me this one last time, okay? After this wedding is over, I'll take you to Sicily for a vacation."Tears pricked my eyes.How many times had I begged him to take me away, only to be shut down by that same excuse? "Family business."The dull ache in my chest started again.He noticed, and gently laid me down on the bed. He placed a warm compress on my chest and started to massage it gently, his face full of concern.It's easy to give in when you feel weak.I remembered how it was when he was courting me.

So that was it. Marco had just been another pawn in Isabella’s game. The whole wedding was a sham, designed to make some rival heir in Italy jealous.She used Marco as a stand-in, putting on a show to make the other guy regret leaving her, or maybe even show up and stop the wedding.But the guy had already forgotten she existed. He was still living it up overseas.Even the wedding deposit was just the "breakup money" he'd given her.And stealing my wedding plan? That was just her sick, twisted need to win, to feel important."If I can't be happy, no one else gets to be either."He repeated the words Isabella had spat at him after her mask finally came off.But to me, the source of the pain didn't matter. The wound felt the same.He stood up and collapsed back into his chair, like all the strength had been sucked out of him, his eyes empty.He confessed that he’d been drawn to her at first, that they had almost gotten together. But then he heard the truth from other people, saw her

In my last few days, I asked Marco to do one last thing for me.He pushed me in a wheelchair from the hospital to St. Patrick's Cathedral.This was where I had always dreamed of getting married.A long time ago, I had come here countless times, measuring every corner myself, making sure every detail of the design was perfect. I had dreamed all my beautiful dreams here.I never thought that three years later, we would return to this place like this.Marco looked at me in silence. He obviously knew what was happening.He looked more like a ghost than I felt. Wasted away, with hollow eyes.But when he saw me, a little bit of life returned to his face, a faint light in his eyes.Then I started talking, and that light went out.I smiled, my voice soft as I walked him through the dream. "Our photo would have gone right there," I'd say, pointing to the foyer. "And the guestbook here... The peonies had to be arranged in cascades, not bunches. And the light... it had to be this warm, yellow gl