Third Wedding, Right Groom のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

Which brings us back to where we started. The third wedding. The moment everything changed.Standing at the altar in my white silk gown, watching Miles's face change as his assistant burst through the doors. Feeling my grip tighten on his wrist as he tried to leave. Hearing him say those words again: "Valeria has no one else. I have to go to her."But this time was different. This time, something inside me didn't just crack—it shattered completely.Because as Miles walked away from me for the third time, as I stood there listening to the whispers and feeling the pitying stares, I finally understood something crucial that I should have seen years ago:Miles would never choose me. Not over Valeria. Not over anyone. Because in his mind, choosing me wasn't a choice—it was an obligation. Something to do when there was nothing more urgent demanding his attention.I was his fallback. His safety net. The woman who would always forgive him, always understand, always be there waiting when he fi

I took a long bath in the master bathroom, letting the hot water wash away the tension of the day. The bathroom was enormous—all marble and glass, with a soaking tub that could fit three people comfortably. I'd filled it almost to the brim, added some lavender bath salts I'd found in a cabinet that smelled expensive and felt luxurious, and just let myself sink into the heat.My muscles slowly unknotted as I lay there, watching steam rise toward the vaulted ceiling. I could still feel the phantom weight of the wedding dress, the tight grip of my shoes, the heaviness of the day pressing down on me. But gradually, the hot water worked its magic, drawing out the stress and replacing it with a bone-deep exhaustion.When I finally emerged, wrapped in the softest towel I'd ever touched, I found that Alexander had somehow acquired comfortable pajamas in my size—silk, in my favorite shade of midnight blue. Of course they were. Of course he knew my size. Of course he knew my favorite color, the

For a week, we had peace.Alexander and my father had worked quietly behind the scenes to keep the marriage out of the media. A few well-placed calls to contacts in journalism, some gentle requests for privacy, an agreement that we'd issue a statement when we were ready. It had bought us seven days of relative normalcy—time to settle into married life without the world weighing in on our choices.But all good things come to an end.The news broke on a Friday morning, exactly one week after our impromptu wedding. I woke to my phone buzzing incessantly, notifications flooding in faster than I could read them."Alexander Calvert and Lila Clement Marry in Twist That Shocked All""Jilted Bride Marries Best Friend Hours After Third Abandoned Wedding""The Wedding Day Switch: How Lila Clement Went from Abandoned to Married in One Day"By afternoon, everyone knew what had happened five days ago. The story had exploded across every gossip site, society page, and social media platform. Photos f

The flowers started arriving on Monday.Not a single bouquet—that would have been manageable, dismissible. No, Miles went nuclear. By 10 AM, my father's office (where I'd been helping with some consulting work while figuring out my next move) looked like a funeral home. Roses, lilies, orchids, peonies—every expensive arrangement the city's top florists could deliver, each one more elaborate than the last."Miss Clement—I mean, Mrs. Calvert," my father's receptionist said, appearing in the doorway looking overwhelmed. "There's another delivery. That's the seventh one this morning. What should I do with them?"I looked up from the contracts I'd been reviewing, my jaw tight with irritation. "Donate them. All of them. To the hospital, nursing homes, wherever. Just get them out of here."She nodded gratefully and disappeared. Two minutes later, she was back. "There's a delivery person downstairs who says he has ten more arrangements in his truck. Should I—""Tell him to turn around and tak

The night after my confrontation with Valeria, I couldn't sleep. I'd replayed the conversation a hundred times in my mind—her tears, her manipulation, that flash of pure hatred in her eyes when I'd refused to bend. The way she'd tried to make me feel guilty for choosing myself, for finally putting my own happiness first.I found myself in the library again, our refuge, curled up on the leather couch with a book I wasn't reading. The house was quiet except for the distant sound of rain beginning to tap against the windows. A spring storm, the kind that rolled in fast and hard, turning the night air electric."Can't sleep?" Alexander's voice came from the doorway, making me jump slightly.He was in pajama pants and a t-shirt, his hair mussed from bed, looking rumpled and real and somehow more attractive than he had any right to be. How had I never noticed how good he looked like this? Or had I always noticed and just never let myself acknowledge it?"Too much on my mind," I admitted, se