Home / She Died While They Laughed / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of She Died While They Laughed: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1

Half an hour before the ceremony.The first time Noah came back to the bride's dressing room, I was still slumped beside the half-collapsed cake.Frosting was smeared from my hair down to my shoulders, thickest over my left eye.This room used to be the Black Pine Pack's armistice council chamber.Suppression runes were embedded in the walls.Any werewolf who walked in had to retract their claws, their dominance, and their overly sharp senses, and sit down to negotiate like an ordinary person.Noah had specially reserved it for me to get ready."That way your human friends won't be scared."When he said that, I actually thought he was being considerate.Now the runes glowed faintly in the corner.No one heard that my heart had already stopped.Blair leaned against the vanity, touching up her lipstick."Control your fiancée. I already apologized, and she's still lying there refusing to get up."Ethan nudged my wedding shoe with the tip of his shoe."Emma, Noah's here. That's enough."I

Chapter 2

Blair knew my phone password.At the last gathering, she borrowed my phone to take pictures for everyone. Noah told her offhandedly."Her birthday. Easy to remember."I wasn't happy about it.But he said friends shouldn't be so guarded with each other.Now Blair unlocked the screen and opened my text thread with Noah.[Cancel the wedding.][If you think Blair is more important than me, then go be with her.]I lunged for it."Blair, delete that!"She couldn't hear me.The phone buzzed quickly.Noah:[Are you serious?]Blair didn't reply. She tossed the phone back into my handbag.The next second, the door was shoved open.Noah stood in the doorway, his bow tie still crooked, his breathing uneven."Emma, what do you mean by this?"I sat on the sofa without moving.He waited a few seconds, his face slowly darkening."Blair went too far today. I already told her off.""But threatening to cancel the wedding—isn't that going too far too?"I stared at him.Told her off?When?When I was strug

Chapter 3

Fourteen minutes until the ceremony.Noah was called away by the officiating elder.When he let go of my hand, my fingers curled limply against my skirt.In my half-open left eye, the clear support rod was still hidden under the thick frosting.Luke checked the time and completely lost patience."We can't really make the pack representatives sit here and wait for her."Ethan looked at Blair."Should we at least get her to the mirror? Clean up her face."Blair sneered."Doesn't she love to play innocent?""Once she's at the altar, let's see if she keeps it up."The two of them each grabbed one of my arms and dragged me toward the vanity.My body slid off the sofa, the back of my head hitting the armrest.Thud.The jacket Noah had draped over me fell to the floor.I instinctively closed my eyes.After death, I couldn't feel real pain anymore.But watching my own body get dragged around like this was still unbearable.That was the daughter my mother had personally sent off this morning.T

Chapter 4

The countdown began outside the door."Ten minutes!""Everyone get ready!"Noah stood up.At the door, he turned back to look at me."Wipe the rest of the frosting off yourself. I'm going to greet the last group of guests. I'll be waiting for you at the altar."He held the door handle, his voice low."You can keep being mad at me.""But you can't not want me."The hall was already full.The Black Pine Pack members sat on the left. The representatives from neighboring packs sat in the front row.The right side was reserved for my family, my friends, and the human guests who had stepped into werewolf territory for the first time.My mother was still texting.[Sweetheart, you're about to walk in. Are you nervous?][I cried a little earlier. Your dad laughed at me.][Remember to walk slowly. Don't trip on your dress.]Looking at those lines, I truly realized for the first time.I couldn't go home.When I left home this morning, my mother had chased after me to adjust my veil.My father sto

Chapter 5

Noah's hand stopped.The clear rod was short. The part sticking out was smeared with frosting.He stared at it for a few seconds, as if he didn't recognize what it was."Emma?"This time, he said it very softly.He cradled the back of my head, trying to turn my face toward him.My neck lolled limply in his palm.Finally, he reached out his other hand and held it under my nose.One breath.Then another."Don't do this."His voice suddenly shook."Emma, I know you can hear me."I stood right in front of him.Just moments ago, I'd been desperate for him to check my pulse, to realize I wasn't throwing a tantrum.Now he'd finally figured it out.And all I wanted was for him to let me go.Rapid footsteps came from the doorway.Claire was back, followed by a doctor carrying an emergency kit."That's her!"She pushed through the door, saw my face, and her voice cut off.The doctor set down his kit immediately."Lay her flat. Don't touch the foreign object near her eye."Noah was still holding

Chapter 6

When my mother knelt, her knees hit the floor.It was loud.I lunged to help her up.But she passed right through my arms."Emma, Mom's here."She reached to touch my face, felt the frosting stuck in my hair, and carefully stopped beside my left eye."What happened to you?"No one answered.She looked up at the doctor."Let's go to the hospital, okay?"The doctor's lips moved.My mother immediately shook her head."Hospital first.""When she was little, she had a high fever once and wouldn't wake up. We took her to the hospital and she was fine."My father stood behind her and didn't move.His gaze moved from my face to the overturned cake, then to Noah's bloodstained hands."What happened?"Noah opened his mouth."I...""I asked you, how did she end up like this?"My father's voice suddenly rose.Noah lowered his head.Blair took a step back."We were just playing a joke."My father looked at her.She rushed to explain."Smashing cake at a wedding is common. We've always done that. No

Chapter 7

Blair's first instinct was to reach for her phone.Ethan was right beside her.He saw it, but he didn't block everyone's gaze the way he used to."Did you send it?"Blair stared at him."I didn't tell her to play it!"The coordinator had already opened the tablet."I didn't have time to download it, but the receiving end kept the file.""Delete it."Blair's voice went shrill."That's my video. What right do you have—""Play it."Noah said.He stood up and walked over to her.Blair looked up at him, tears falling immediately."You don't believe me?"I'd heard that sentence many times.Before, whenever she asked it, Noah would hesitate.And then things would always turn into something else.She was just outspoken.She'd had too much to drink.She meant no harm.I waited for him to say it again.But this time, he only repeated:"Play it."When the video started, Blair's laughter was the clearest sound.She held up her phone. The camera swept over the six-tier cake, then focused on me.I w

Chapter 8

When the paramedics carried me out, the guests in the hall all stood up.White petals were still scattered along the corridor.My mother walked in front. My father followed the stretcher, one hand always on the edge of the blanket.Noah came after them.He was holding the suit jacket."It's cold outside."My father turned around."She was cold in there too."Noah's steps stopped.My father didn't look at him again.At the exit of the hall, my mother suddenly stopped.The huge wedding photo was still standing there.In the photo, I was wearing the wedding dress I'd tried on, and Noah was looking down at me.The day it was taken, he wouldn't let go of my hand.The photographer told him to look at the camera.He said:"Just a minute."Back then, I thought I'd chosen the right person.My mother looked at the photo for a long time, then said to the staff:"Give me her photo."The staff hesitated.It was a photo of two people.My mother understood."It's fine.""I'll take it home and cut it

Chapter 9

Three days later, I saw Blair again.The investigators arranged a testimony verification session in neutral territory.My body hadn't been buried yet, and my spirit didn't seem able to go far.My parents went there with my photo, so I followed.Blair's father had hired a defense advocate for her.The advocate didn't deny the video.He said it was a prank that got out of hand.No one could have predicted the cake's support structure would cause fatal injury.Blair sat beside her father, her eyes swollen."If I had known, I never would have done it."The investigator placed another record in front of her.It was the chat log provided by the cake maker.After the cake was delivered, Blair had asked if it could be used for a face-smashing video.The cake maker had replied clearly:[Not recommended. This isn't a cake for roughhousing. It has a hard internal support structure.]Blair had replied with a smiley face.[Got it. I won't break it.]The room went quiet.She stared at those lines."

Chapter 10

My funeral wasn't held at Black Pine.My father chose the little church in the city.When I was little, I'd taken part in the winter charity sale there, selling hand-drawn cards for two dollars each.My mother had kept one of them.It showed three crooked little figures holding hands in front of a house.She put that card in my coffin.Along with my first design medal.A worn-out pencil.And a pair of ordinary canvas shoes."No wedding shoes."She straightened my collar."Those were uncomfortable."She didn't put me in the wedding dress again.She chose my favorite light blue dress from the closet.The year before last, when I first took her to see my studio, I'd worn that dress.Claire came to do my makeup.This time, no one rushed her.She sat beside me and talked to me quietly for a long time.She said after she went back to the city, she'd returned all the work she hadn't finished that day.She said in the future, if she ever came across something that felt wrong, she wouldn't step

PREV

NEXT

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP

DMCA.com Protection Status