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Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Bride Who Pulled the Funding at the Altar: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 7

7 Kabanata

Chapter 1

He brought home thirty-two hundred after taxes. He was only a junior clerk at a customs brokerage firm, and his salary was not high, but he had always been careful about his job. He never missed a shift, never left paperwork unfinished, and never let personal matters interfere with work.I respected that.Compared with him, my work at the pier was rougher, heavier, and far more profitable. As a small captain under the Castellano family, I handled crews, cargo routes, docking fees, and men.I made more in one month than Ethan made in a year, but I never thought that made me better than him.In a marriage, I believed people should not measure every dollar. If one person earned more, that person could carry more. If one person had more flexible time, that person could give more. I was willing to balance the pier and the family because I thought that was what love required.For six years, I carried most of his family too.His parents, Helen and Gregory, lived in my river-view villa. His yo

Chapter 2

Before the Bellmans went bankrupt, Bianca's father and Gregory did business together. The two families lived on the same street, and Ethan used to say he would marry Bianca someday.Then the Bellmans' warehouse burned down, insurance refused to pay, and creditors started knocking. The Vosses left first. No goodbye, no help, just an empty house the next morning.Ethan was hollowed out after that.Then he met me.I paid the Bellmans' debt, kept Gregory's house out of foreclosure, hired doctors for Helen, and sent Lila to a school she never could have entered on her own.When Ethan got engaged to me, people said he was lucky. A clerk had found a woman who could carry him.I didn't care. I thought gratitude could turn into love.Money only feeds people until their appetite doubles.The night before the flight, Helen called from the dining room, "Rosalyn, where's dinner? Bianca and her parents are hungry."I was in the living room checking the port accounts. Pier Seventeen had cleared eight

Chapter 3

The next morning, Ethan's family and Bianca's family flew first class to the Maldives.I didn't go to the airport with them.Instead, I took my parents to a private airstrip and sent them to Florence for a vacation. My mother listened to the whole story in silence, then asked, "Do you need help?""No." I adjusted her shawl. "I'll handle it."My father stood by the plane stairs, his bad knee stiff in the cold. "Don't let them spend your money and call it kindness."I nodded. After their plane lifted, I went to the commercial airport.Ethan called more than a dozen times. I didn't answer.In the end, he texted.[Where are you? What about the twelve trunks? The hotel is waiting for the wedding materials. Don't embarrass me in front of Bianca's parents.]I replied with two words.[Don't worry.]Then I handed all twelve trunks to airport storage and paid the fee. They weren't mine, and I had no duty to play porter.I never boarded the Maldives flight. I went back to Pier Seventeen.Before d

Chapter 4

On the security feed, the chapel went silent.Ethan didn't understand at first. Then he stormed forward. "What did you say?"The manager handed him the letter. "Mr. Bellman, the venue, banquet, rooms, yacht, security, photography, and fireworks package were all authorized by Miss Castellano. Five minutes ago, she cancelled that authorization. Service cannot continue unless the balance is settled."Helen cried, "But the wedding already started!""Yes, madam. Early termination fees now apply." The manager turned to the second page. "Venue occupation, reserved rooms, material loss, security withdrawal, and chapel cleanup come to four hundred eighty-six thousand dollars. Who will be paying?"Bianca's smile froze. Her father looked down at his phone.Gregory scowled. "Rosalyn booked it. Ask her.""Miss Castellano submitted a written statement. She will pay only charges personally confirmed by her. She will not assume Mr. Bellman's or his guests' expenses."Ethan pulled out a credit card. "U

Chapter 5

Ethan's family was stranded in the Maldives for three days.Helen sold an old gold watch, and Gregory borrowed from relatives before they could buy the cheapest connecting flights back to New York.By the time they landed, the airport video had already made its way through port circles.Two dock contacts recognized Ethan when he came out of economy with a wrinkled duffel."Mr. Bellman, that was one hell of a wedding. Bride didn't show, but the bill sure did."The other laughed. "If you're going to live off a woman, at least have the sense not to buy jewelry for another one with her card."Ethan's face went black.When he returned to the villa, I wasn't there.A lawyer's notice was taped to the front door, and the security code had been changed. The staff let the Bellmans in only to collect personal belongings. My study, wine cellar, and safe room were locked.Helen called me from an unfamiliar number. "Rosalyn, how could you put guards at the door? We've lived here for six years. This

Chapter 6

Three days later, I returned to the river-view villa.The Bellmans were waiting in the dining room.For the first time in years, Helen had cooked. There was baked salmon, vegetable soup, and a burnt apple pie on the table.She forced a smile when she saw me. "Rosalyn, you're home. Are you hungry? I made your favorites."I glanced at the pie. I was allergic to apples. Every member of my staff knew it. Helen had forgotten after a few days of fussing over Bianca."Put it away. I'm not eating."Lila sat to the side with swollen eyes and still muttered, "Then don't eat. No need to act like royalty."In front of her lay a tuition notice and a suspension warning. I had stopped paying for the new term.Ethan came downstairs holding a velvet box. "Rosalyn, let's talk."Inside was a pair of pearl earrings. Old style, dull shine - flea-market junk dressed in velvet."I know you've always liked pearls," he said. "Consider them my apology."I thought of the seventy-two-thousand-dollar blue diamond

Chapter 7

A week later, Ethan came to Pier Seventeen.This time, he didn't try to force his way in. He stood outside my office holding red roses while dockworkers passed and stared.After six years of living off me, he had finally remembered flowers existed.I let him in.He placed the roses on my desk. "Rosalyn, I was wrong."I kept reading the freight contract. "Wrong how?"He was quiet for a long moment. "I shouldn't have changed your parents' tickets. I shouldn't have let Bianca get involved in the wedding. I shouldn't have spent your money on her.""What else?""I shouldn't have hurt you."At last, I looked at him. "You still think the point is that I was hurt. It isn't. The point is that you treated me like a card that would never decline."His eyes reddened. "That's not true. I love you. Bianca came back so suddenly, and I lost my head.""When you lost your head, you still knew how to move my parents to economy. You knew how to dump your luggage on me. You knew how to buy a bracelet with

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