No Longer Your Bride のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

Shawn began massaging my shoulders just like he always did, letting out a soft chuckle."Come on, babe, you aren't seriously jealous of someone with the mental capacity of a ten-year-old, are you? Tell you what, let's find some time in the next couple of days to go sign the papers and make it official. As for the wedding, we can always have it once her condition stabilizes."Disappointment washed over me, and I pulled away from his touch."She's sick, but what does that have to do with us?"A deep, unshakable guilt settled over Shawn's features."Wendy's mental health took a turn for the worse after I forced her to leave the country. When she found out we got engaged, she got into an accident while drinking. It took her over a year of recovery just to get to this point."I ruined her life, Rory. I have to take responsibility for her."It was an announcement, not a discussion.I knew Shawn too well, which was exactly why the absolute, unyielding certainty in his voice cut so dee

After hitting send, I left the group chat.But Shawn still thought I was just throwing a tantrum, so he sent his mother to act as a mediator.When Helen Vance saw me, she didn't even bother to hide her dislike anymore. In fact, there was a smug sense of satisfaction in her eyes.Sitting in her wheelchair, she tilted her head proudly and shot me a disdainful look."My son takes in one woman and you start acting like it's the end of the world. How are you ever going to survive once you marry into the Vances?"She lectured me to recognize my place and learn to be more generous.I didn't get angry nor did I argue back.Mostly, I was just curious. If Helen knew that the woman her son was taking care of was the daughter of the driver who had run her over, paralyzed her, and gone around telling everyone she was a homewrecker who had climbed her way up, would she still be this optimistic?Besides, Helen seemed to have forgotten that she only managed to marry into the Vances by faking a

When Shawn arrived at my apartment, he found that no matter which combination he tried, the keypad kept flashing an error.The property manager broke the news that the owner had moved out about a week ago, and the place was already listed for sale. The wedding dress, along with all the high-end gifts in their luxury boxes, had been left intact with management, who now handed them over to Shawn. Only then did Shawn finally realize that beneath my shifting moods, I had been quietly planning my departure all along."This can't be real, right? Rory would never marry someone else. She promised she'd marry me. That live broadcast has to be fake!"He suddenly recalled the words I hadn't gotten to finish on the day I resigned, along with the flat, distant look in my eyes, along with the fact that he had deliberately ignored my own injuries in his flash of anger. The terrifying realization that the wedding was real, and that I had cut my ties to this city completely sent a wave of abso

Oliver was the one who saved me when I was a child.When I was kidnapped and taken into the mountains at five years old, I saw firsthand how brutally the traffickers abused the other children and women, leaving me with long-lasting trauma.My family was terrified of triggering those memories, so they never brought up anyone or anything related to the kidnapping around me.But my dad had been quietly funding Oliver all along, hiring specialists to mentor him when he noticed Oliver's sharp mind for business. That continued right up until he was finally recognized and brought back by the Carters.Ever since I was little, I remembered a classmate who always wore a face mask and walked the exact same route to school as me. Now, that boy's silhouette perfectly overlapped with the man standing in front of me. When I asked Oliver about it, he gave a quiet nod."I didn't really have any family growing up," he said. "It was Mr. Kingsley who rescued me from those mountains, paid for my edu

The moment Helen spotted Wendy, she grabbed Wendy and tore into her right in front of everyone."You shameless wretch! You’re just like those two hypocritical old frauds who raised you!"Ruining my legs eight years ago wasn't enough for you? How dare you keep clinging to my son?!"Wendy screamed, shielding her face as she violently shoved the older woman away."You miserable cripple, you deserved it! You're the source of every single bit of my misfortune!"I used to call you godmother, and you told me yourself you wanted me to be your daughter-in-law. But when my family went bankrupt and I begged you for help, you did nothing but look down on me!"If you had just let me marry your son, I would never have gone abroad, I wouldn't have been buried in debt, and I certainly wouldn't have become a mistress and had a child just for a payout!"Helen pointed a trembling, furious finger at her."Your parents backstabbed the Vances first, costing our company hundreds of millions in losses