All Chapters of I Left Before the Vows: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

The room went so quiet I could hear every breath in it.Eleanor Carrington forced a smile and tried to smooth it over."Vanessa's brother doesn't know any better. He's got the mind of a child. She'll make the wedding up to you."Even Eleanor, who had always doted on her adopted son, thought Vanessa had gone too far.Vanessa clearly didn't see it that way. She stared at me in disbelief."Julian, Miles is just too attached to me. Besides, we don't need a wedding to prove what we have."Your attitude here is completely out of line."I stepped over the discarded boutonniere and moved closer, trying to read past the coldness in her face.Five years together, and I'd believed we'd finally reached the life we planned.Instead, she'd humiliated me in front of everyone.All of it came out of me as one bitter laugh."So his word is law. And the wedding I spent months preparing—"Before I could finish, Vanessa's expression hardened."Miles is my little brother and I love him. He grew

Chapter 2

Sometime after midnight, Vanessa shook me awake."Julian, get up and go apologize to Miles. He's in a bad way."I looked at her, then shut my eyes in exhaustion.She'd said those words more times than I could count.After I started dating her, "I'm sorry" turned into a reflex.Stomach pain made me call her, and the call woke light-sleeping Miles. I apologized.I asked Vanessa to visit my mother's grave with me, which left Miles without anyone to go shopping with. I apologized.I said I wanted a child, Miles overheard and panicked that a baby would take Vanessa's attention. I apologized for that too.This time I didn't even open my eyes. "I'm not going."Vanessa slapped me without warning.The taste of blood spread slow and metallic through my mouth.Something I couldn't read crossed her face, but her voice stayed cold as ever."Your mother let jealousy eat her alive, and in the end she couldn't take it and killed herself. Do you want to go the same way?"The tears came bef

Chapter 3

She was wearing the wedding-night set I'd picked out for her. It was unbearable to look at now.She glanced down, saw the autopsy report in my hand, and something guilty flickered in her eyes.So everything Miles said was true.I held the report up with shaking hands, still clinging to one thin scrap of hope."You knew the truth about how my mother died? The whole time?"I wanted her to tell me none of it was real.The guilt crossed her face and vanished. She started picking her words."Miles had already been through so much. Was I supposed to stand there and watch a boy that young go to prison?"Julian, it's over and done with. Can't we just look forward?"My eyes went wide and nothing came out of my mouth.All those nights I couldn't sleep, she'd stayed up with me and talked me down until morning.I thought we were on the same side.She'd known from the very beginning. And she was one of the reasons my mother was dead.She could say it this calmly.Right then Miles came

Chapter 4

Miles stood at the center of the ballroom in a tailored suit, Vanessa at his side, guests crowding in with birthday wishes.He shot me a satisfied look, waiting for me to detonate.I understood instantly. He'd sent the video.With every eye in the room on me, I walked toward the center.Vanessa opened her arms, assuming I'd pull her in and ask to make up, the way I always had.Not this time.I went around her and stopped in front of Miles."Miles. What was that message supposed to mean?"Vanessa yanked me back by the arm, disgust all over her face."Look at the state of you. You've got no dignity left. Is this the man who's supposed to head the Carrington family?"Under the guests' contemptuous stares, I turned and found myself in a mirror.I looked like hell. Hollowed out, shaking so hard I couldn't stop it.These past few years I'd seemed to gain everything while losing everything.I stepped back and forced myself steady under Vanessa's unsettled gaze."Vanessa. Make Mi

Chapter 5

Across the card, in heavy type: WEDDING INVITATION.The bride was Serena Montrose, heir to the wealthiest family in Glenmoor. The groom's name was Julian Rowe.Vanessa frowned in disbelief."That's not possible. He's supposed to be marrying me."Eleanor let out a long, heavy sigh."You're the one who insisted on postponing. So what now? Is the Montrose family really someone we can afford to cross?"Vanessa's hands shook harder.The name Julian Rowe blurred in front of her.No wonder he'd disappeared for a solid month. No wonder he never answered a single message.And right then Miles walked in wearing formal wedding clothes, when he was supposed to be out of the country.He'd clearly seen this coming."Vanessa, since Julian's moved on, then maybe I could—"Vanessa ripped the boutonniere off his lapel, furious."Enough."We may not share blood, but you're still my adopted brother. What do you think it looks like to anyone outside this house?"The flower hit the carpet, an

Chapter 6

Every trace of Julian was gone from the room.His documents, his suitcases, even the stuffed animal he'd had forever.All that was left were their matching mugs and the matching pair of slippers.Vanessa's heart skipped and she called for the housekeeper."Mrs. Abbott, what is this? Where's Julian? Where did he go?"Mrs. Abbott dropped her head and got the words out sideways."Mr. Rowe hasn't been home in a month."He made me promise not to tell you. He must have asked me a dozen times."Vanessa swept the tea service off the table.Crash.One of the matching mugs went down with it.She dropped to her knees to gather the pieces."Why? Julian, why would you leave?"The ceramic sliced her fingers and she kept picking it up anyway.But the mug was broken. Nothing was going to put it back the way it was.That was when it landed. The groom on that invitation might really be Julian.She felt around on the floor for her phone and gave the order in a shaking voice."Find Julian

Chapter 7

Vanessa took Miles to the Rowe family chapel.The same room where Diane Rowe had been poisoned, and where Vanessa had strung her up from the rafters afterward.She kicked the back of Miles's knees out from under him, then knelt down beside him."Diane, I'm sorry."And it was me. I helped a boy with poison in him, and I made it into something worse."Then she gave her guards one look.Four of them pulled out whips.Miles went white."No. You can't do this to me."Vanessa, you didn't blame me back then. Why can't you let it go this time?"Vanessa's jaw locked."Back then you were a child and there was something wrong with you, so I covered it up."Now I know exactly how calculated you are. You drove Julian out of his own life."She took a whip out of a guard's hand and brought it down on him herself."Aaahh—"His screaming filled the chapel.She didn't stop until he was raw and barely breathing."Miles, you're not part of this family anymore. And I don't have a brother w

Chapter 8

I was in a wedding attire shop at the time, taking my time picking out formalwear.Serena kept telling me how good each one looked, then tucked herself into my arms."My groom looks good in anything."Something warm moved through me when I saw the two of us in the mirror.So this was what it felt like when the love was real. You didn't have to go hunting for it.For five years I'd gone back and forth, looking for evidence that Vanessa loved me.Every test came back the same. Miles won.Maybe Miles had been the one all along, and not the man who spent five years at her side.So I left, and I wasn't going to show up to the ceremony we'd agreed on.On the day of that ceremony, her security team turned up at my door."Mr. Rowe. Ms. Carrington gave us orders. We have to bring you back."Sorry about this."They reached for me and started steering me toward the car.Serena heard the noise and came out with her own people, and they put the Carrington guards down hard."Go tell he

Chapter 9

"Vanessa, have you lost your mind?"I got in front of Serena, and Vanessa's hand stopped dead in the air.Her eyes were full of disbelief."Julian, you'd put yourself in front of her?"You're lying to me. You don't care about her that much."She couldn't accept that the man who'd loved her for five years would shield another woman on instinct.Because nobody knew better than she did. That was exactly what it looked like when I loved someone.She lowered her hand, unwilling, and her eyes filled.There was nothing left in me for her but disgust."You should have figured out a long time ago that you weren't my only option."Your heart's entirely taken up with your adopted brother. I'm not going to fight him for the leftovers."After a short silence, Vanessa bowed her head to me."Julian, I was wrong before."But you have to believe me. I doted on Miles because I saw a little brother. That's all it ever was."You're the only person I've ever wanted to marry."I laughed at th

Chapter 10

"Miles, when are you going to stop?"I told you not to touch Julian. Why can't you listen?"You're about to go to prison and you still can't behave."Vanessa was shaking with anger. Then she came over to look me over."Julian, are you hurt? Did he hit you?"I stepped out of reach. "Go worry about your brother."Miles crawled out from under the car, streaked with black oil.His fists were clenched and his face was covered in tears."Vanessa, you did that to me? For him?"What's so good about Julian? I grew up next to you. I've had more of your life than he has. I'm the one you love most—"Vanessa slapped him before he finished."Shut your mouth."If I catch you insulting Julian one more time, don't blame me for what happens to it."Now get out."She hauled him toward the car and put a foot into him getting him in.Then, sitting behind the wheel, Miles grabbed it with both hands and floored it straight at me.I shut my eyes on reflex.There was an impact, and the person

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