All Chapters of I Gave Her My Wedding Rehearsal, and He Went Mad with Regret: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

A wave of cheers swept over us, and every pair of eyes in the room turned to Lucas and me.I said nothing. I looked at him standing a few steps away.The moment our eyes met, he glanced away, uneasy, and looked at Ella beside him.As I watched him glance almost instinctively at Ella, something in my chest snapped."Don't joke about it."The bride and groom are over there." I lifted my chin toward Lucas and Ella. "You're cheering for the wrong people."The room went quiet. Everyone turned to Ella. She'd shrunk behind Lucas, clutching his sleeve, her eyes red.Lucas's expression slowly darkened. His voice was low and angry. "Freya, didn't we settle this earlier? Why are you bringing it up again?"It was almost funny. My mouth twisted into a smile, but my eyes were already burning.All these years, I'd been the only one left looking like a fool.The day his first bonus came in, he went straight to the jewelry counter and bought that limited-edition bracelet.Everyone assumed it was for me

A few seconds later, my phone buzzed, and an image appeared on the screen.A screenshot of the county property record. There it was, in black and white.Two names listed as owners. Lucas. Ella.Not mine.I remembered Lucas calling on the day we got the keys. "I've got the keys."I could hear the smile in his voice. "You stay and finish work. I'll handle the rest. I'll take care of the deed and everything. Don't worry about it."It made me feel so warm at the time.He's so good to me, I thought. He doesn't want me running around, so he's handling everything himself.I hadn't realized that keeping me out of the way made it easier for him to do what he did.I put my phone away, hailed a cab, and went straight to Ella's apartment.The door opened.Lucas was in gray pajamas with his hair sticking up, like he'd just gotten out of bed.Ella stood behind him in a matching light gray nightgown.They looked picture-perfect together. I was the one who didn't belong.Lucas froze when he saw me, th

Lucas called again and again, but heard the same recorded message every time.He frowned. An uneasiness he couldn't explain stirred in his chest.It wasn't the first time Freya had done this either.The last time, Ella had called him in the middle of the night after a nightmare, crying that she was scared. He'd driven over and stayed until she fell asleep.It was almost dawn when he got home. Freya was curled up on the couch in the dark living room, not moving.He asked why she wasn't in bed, but she didn't answer. She only looked up at him once. Her eyes were red, but she hadn't shed a tear.It was the same look she'd given him yesterday as she watched him carry Ella out.His chest tightened. He shouldn't have done that yesterday.He stood, walked to the end of the corridor, and dialed Freya's number again.Still nothing.He stared at the long list of outgoing calls in his log. Not one had been answered. After a moment, he decided to get Ella settled first.Then he'd find Freya, expla

I stepped out of Charles de Gaulle Airport with my suitcase into the cool Paris air.A man stood in the arrivals area holding a sign with my name on it.When he saw me, he smiled, put the sign away, and held out his hand."Freya? I'm Louis. Your friend's talked about you a few times. She made me promise to take good care of you."My best friend had said she'd paid good money for a local guide. She'd promised he'd make sure I had a wonderful time in France.She was right. I was happy with all of it.Louis was a good man. Being around him was like lying on a rug in front of a fire in winter. Warm. Comfortable. Nothing to worry about.He took me to Normandy for oysters fresh from the water, to Arles to see the sunflower fields, and to Mont-Saint-Michel to walk the tidal flats.He never asked about my past. When my thoughts drifted, he'd quietly put a glass of mulled wine in my hands. When I seemed far away, he'd touch my fingers to bring me back.Slowly, patiently, he showed me what being