All Chapters of The Vows Were Never Mine: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1 The Vows That Weren't Mine

The diamond ring rolled across the table before Lawrence caught it with his hand.He stared at me, his expression dark. "Jasmine, the wedding's tomorrow. Are you trying to embarrass both families by shutting off the livestream now?"Sienna stood behind him, tears clinging to her lashes. Her voice trembled. "Jasmine, this is all my fault. I just thought the ten years you and Lawrence shared were too important. If the AI only looked at your messages as a couple, the vows might've felt too shallow."I grew up with Lawrence. I know so much about his past, so I only wanted to help fill in the gaps."Fill in the gaps.What a beautiful way to put it.As if the past ten years Lawrence and I had shared were somehow incomplete without her.The AI kept reading, "Lawrence, I know you hate letting people see you at your lowest. So, every time you couldn't hold on, I was willing to stand in front of you."The name beneath the words was still Sienna.I stared at those words, my heart sinki

Chapter 2 Erased From My Own Story

After Lawrence escorted Sienna to the lounge, I returned to the wedding prep room alone.The hallway was lined with tomorrow's flowers. Bouquets of white roses were stacked neatly against the walls, their fragrance so heavy it was almost suffocating.The staff smiled politely as they passed me.Every one of them thought I was the happiest bride in the world.Only I knew that just moments ago, outside the ballroom, I had watched my fiance carry another woman away in his arms.The wedding planner spotted me and quickly turned his laptop toward me. "Ms. Lind, could you take a look? Should we still use these?"On the screen were the wedding photos I had submitted the night before.When Lawrence was nineteen, he had ridden an old bicycle with me on the back so we could watch fireworks by the river.The wind had been fierce that night. He had draped his jacket over my shoulders and smiled. "One day I'll give you the biggest wedding you've ever seen."When we were twenty-two, his sta

Chapter 3 The Surprise Waiting at the Altar

The next morning, the hairstylist had just finished pinning up my hair when Lawrence arrived.He rested his hands lightly on my shoulders and looked at me with a gentle smile. "I had them take down the video from last night."His voice was soft, as if he were afraid of ruining the peace in the room. "I also removed the wedding montage. Today is just about us."I looked at him through the mirror.The man reflected there wore the same warm expression he always had whenever he tried to comfort me.For a second, I almost believed him.The door suddenly swung open.Lawrence's mother, Hazel, walked in with Sienna.Sienna wore a pale ivory bridesmaid dress, and tucked into her hair was a pearl hair clip.My whole body went rigid.It was the keepsake my mother had left me.When I was sixteen, she had been so sick she could not even get out of bed.Even then, she had smiled and said, "Jas, wear this when you get married. It'll be my way of walking you down the aisle."Lawrence had

Chapter 4 I Gave Her the Wedding

By the time the ceremony began, everything looked as if nothing had ever gone wrong.The giant screen displayed only our wedding photos.Lawrence stood beneath the flower arch, his eyes rimmed red.Whispers drifted through the audience."Mr. Croft really loves his bride.""He looks like he's about to cry."With my father at my side, I walked down the aisle one step at a time.When I reached Lawrence, the officiant began. "After ten years together, they've finally arrived at this moment. Today, the groom has chosen to speak his vows in his own words."The room filled with applause.Lawrence accepted the microphone.He looked at me, his voice rough with emotion. "Jasmine, I always thought you'd be by my side forever. So I forgot that I could hurt you, too. You're the only woman I ever wanted to marry."The room fell silent.The emotion in his eyes did not look fake."I was wrong to delete those videos last night. I was afraid everyone would see how much you'd sacrificed for

Chapter 5 The Answer I Didn't Need Twice

"Jasmine, please. Don't do this on our wedding day."Lawrence kept his voice low, as if he were still trying to protect the last scrap of my dignity."I know you're upset, but you can't seriously be calling off the wedding."There was even a hint of certainty in his voice.He was too used to me coming back. So used to it that even after I took off my veil and placed the ring in Sienna's palm, he still thought I was just throwing a tantrum."We've come this far." He looked at me, his brow drawn tight. "The guests are here. Both families are here. Are you really saying the wedding's off?"Lawrence stared at me, his eyes bloodshot.I lowered my gaze to his hand.Ten years ago, he had held on to me the same way.That was the year his startup failed. He had locked himself inside his tiny apartment and refused to see anyone.It rained all night.I stood outside, knocking until my knuckles turned red while carrying his favorite food.When he finally opened the door, he was unshave

Chapter 6 A Love Story Rewritten

The wedding car was parked outside the hotel's side entrance.White roses decorated the hood, their blooms sagging under the rain.Flowers that should have been surrounded by applause and congratulations now clung to the car, soaked through, like the punchline to a joke no one knew how to end.My handwritten welcome card sat on the front passenger seat. "Welcome to celebrate ten years of love with Lawrence and me."I stared at those words until my eyes began to sting.Ten years.Just two simple words on a piece of paper.But I had spent an entire decade pouring myself into them, little by little.My father opened the car door. "Let's go home first."I got in, my wedding gown pooling around my feet.The white fabric was stained with rainwater and dirt, the layers spread across the floor like a dream that had been torn apart.I opened my hand.The pearl on the hair clip was cracked. A thin fracture ran from the edge all the way to the center, like a tiny wound.A dried speck

Chapter 7 Settling the Score

When I got home, I walked straight to my bedroom.In the mirror, my makeup was still flawless, and my hair was still pinned up perfectly.Judging from my face alone, anyone would have thought I had just returned from a beautiful wedding.But the smear of dirt along the hem of my dress had torn a hole through every bit of that dignity.I reached behind me for the zipper. Halfway up, it caught.In moments like this, I used to instinctively call for Lawrence.He was still the first person I thought of even after the countless times he impatiently said, "Can you not handle something this simple yourself?"I stood in front of the mirror and slowly raised my arms.The zipper scraped across my knuckles. It hurt. But little by little, I managed to pull it down myself.My phone had been vibrating nonstop.Lawrence had called more than a dozen times. I did not answer.A few minutes later, he sent me a message. "Jas, Sienna is awake."I stared at those words for a long time.He was s

Chapter 8 Some Things Cannot Be Replaced

The next morning, the story was still trending.Sienna's studio released a lengthy statement.She said she had grown up without a sense of security, so she treasured Lawrence as family.She claimed the hidden wedding clip had been recorded long ago and was only meant to be a private farewell. The system had accidentally played it during the ceremony.At the end, she apologized to me.Every word sounded sincere.The attached photo showed her lying in a hospital bed with an IV in the back of her hand. Lawrence sat beside her, gently tucking the blanket around her.It was a beautifully staged picture.Warm lighting. A quiet hospital room. His lowered eyes, full of tenderness.It looked like a love story that had finally found its ending.The comments quickly turned in her favor."She has already humbled herself this much. What else does the bride want?""Childhood sweetheart stories really are heartbreaking.""The way Mr. Croft looks at her doesn't seem like he has no feeling

Chapter 9 Too Late to Make It Right

The next morning, property management called to tell me that a Mr. Croft had collapsed outside the entrance to my building.My father frowned. "Do you want to go downstairs and check on him?""Dad, have property management call 911. I'm not a doctor."Around noon, Lawrence woke up and sent me a flood of messages."Jas, I stayed up all night thinking. I always thought you would never leave, so I kept waiting for you to be the one to give in.""It's not that I didn't love you. I was just too used to being loved by you."I set my phone aside and went back to organizing the study.The room was filled with Lawrence's things.His early business proposals. The speech he wrote after his first failed investor pitch. Even the branding materials from Sienna's studio in its early days.I sorted through every file one by one.Anything connected to projects I had worked on, I scanned and archived.That afternoon, my lawyer told me that several of Sienna's clients had reached out on their

Chapter 10 A Scar That Won't Reopen

Sienna's studio quickly fell apart.She rushed to Croft Group and blocked Lawrence's car outside the building, tears streaming down her face.A passerby recorded the scene, and the video spread across the internet within hours."Lawrence, you can't just abandon me. You were the one who said Jasmine's story was too depressing and would hurt your image. I only told the story the way you wanted."Lawrence stood beside his car, his expression colder than she'd ever seen. "Sienna, there has never been anything between us."Sienna jabbed a finger at his chest, her voice shaking. "You knew she was hurting, but you liked how understanding she was. You knew I crossed the line, but you liked being admired. You never wanted to choose. You just wanted everyone revolving around you."The clip shot to the top of the trending list."She's awful, no question, but Lawrence isn't innocent either.""He wasn't fooled. He wanted to have it both ways.""Jasmine deserved so much better than the last

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