The Bride Is Not Me のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

Zachary Lawson's back stiffened like a board, his eyes trying to burn the torn check to ashes. The smile on his lips curled downward, while his friend, Sam Gray, chuckled from the other couch."That's a cheap trick, Natalie. Zachary's kind enough to give you a gracious retreat, but you just have to hold up your pride when you have none."Zachary stood up, his expression glacial, and the torn check crumpled under his leather shoes. He stood before me like a looming shadow. "You're pushing your luck, Natalie. I paid for every brick in this store. You don't get to be proud when it's my money you're living off of!"I stared into his stormy, furious eyes with stone-cold indifference, the one thing he hated the most. He swiveled around and swung his arm at the custom-made gowns in my shop. "Smash everything!"The four bodyguards charged into the lobby and swung their metal bats into the gigantic crystal showcase standing in the center of the shop. Shards of gleaming crystal and glass fle

Zachary wasn't loud, but his voice was imperious. I kept my fingers clenched on the pull handle. "They're my personal belongings. We've signed a contract, Zachary."Zachary sneered. "Getting too much into the broke, divorced wife character that you're stealing sewing supplies?" He tilted his head, and a pair of bodyguards shoved me away unceremoniously.My suitcase was snatched from me and placed on the glass-covered steps. A bodyguard pried open the suitcase's lock with his metal bar, and the zip was yanked down. My top-secret sketch slipped out and scattered everywhere.Rebirth, the half-finished gown that I was going to complete for the international contest in Lutecia, rolled out of the suitcase as well.Its pure-white silk billowed in the air, and the embroidery on the lining gleamed like shimmering lines.A black van came to a stop at the roadside. A group of servants carefully helped Wendy out of the car. She deliberately swayed her hips as she approached Zachary and held h

Something outside was pummeling the shutter, crashing into the metal again and again. The shutter was groaning and moaning as it slowly buckled under the repeated bludgeoning. Minutes later, the lock on the ground was pried open by force.Light barged into the ruins of my shop, blinding everything that was within. Zachary charged right through the entrance, his hands covered in blood.His hair was disheveled. He looked very much unlike his usual self, and his expensive suit was covered in dust. The sight of me lying in a gigantic pool of red drained all the strength out of his legs.The aloof and untouchable prince of Imperia's elite circle fell onto a ground covered in glass shards, his knees hitting the floor.The glass pierced his knees immediately and drew blood, but he did not care. He crawled over to me on all fours. "It's okay, Nat. It's going to be okay. I'll take you to the hospital." His voice was quivering as if he was thrown into the northern wastes with nothing to cove

Zachary strode through the throng. He snatched my passport and flight ticket, clutching them tightly as if he didn't want to give me my freedom. Unfortunately for me, he truly didn't. His eyes were bloodshot, and his chest heaved with effort. He looked every bit like a feral beast ready to lunge."I told you, I would take you home once the baby is here. I'll break your legs if you leave Imperia before then!" He shoved me into his car and slammed the gas pedal.We stopped at the hillside villa he owned, and I was pushed into the third floor's main bedroom. The door was locked from the outside, and the communication signal within the estate was cut off. Every single servant was his eyes and ears.He thought of locking me up, of keeping me away from the outside world. He likely wanted time to do its thing, thinking time would heal all wounds.I didn't go on a hunger strike or ram myself against the door. Instead, I sat before the floor-to-ceiling window every day and set up a canvas

I left chaos in my wake, my blood thrumming with triumph. However, I felt strangely empty and apathetic as I gazed beyond the window, watching the city disappear from view.Their unfortunate ends trickled to me. Apparently, Zachary yanked off his IV drip as soon as he woke up at the hospital. His vengeance was swift and brutal as he tapped into all his connections and shoved Wendy into the shadiest nightclub in Imperia.He made it a point that Wendy would be serving guests in that humiliating dress forever. Still, not even that vindictive satisfaction could soothe the fear that'd taken root in his heart.He drove through the night and charged right into the locked-down ruins of my bridal shop. Although the entrance was cordoned off, he slammed his vehicle jack against the shutter again and again. Eventually, it opened.What lay before his eyes was a ground covered in browned, dried blood. He fell to his knees and dug through the ground of glass. He paid no heed to his injuries, unc