Startled, Hannah's hand jerked unexpectedly, and the needle sank deep into the tip of her finger.
A drop of blood quickly surfaced and spread across the spotless white fabric of the wedding gown.
She instinctively lifted her finger to her lips. The metallic taste of blood slowly spread across her tongue.
The sting in her finger was nothing compared to the pain weighing on her heart.
Only last night, she and Colton had been together inside this very studio.
He had held her against the floor-to-ceiling window with one arm around her waist. As his lips brushed near her ear, he had whispered in a low, captivating voice, "You're mine, Hannah. Forever."
Now those words sounded nothing more than a cruel lie.
Colton had gotten engaged to another woman without telling her.
Three years ago, her family's business had collapsed. While her parents were on their way to ask for help, their car lost control and crashed off the highway. Both of them died at the scene.
Her younger brother had been with them in the car. Although he survived the accident, he fell into a coma. The overwhelming cost of keeping him in the intensive care unit quickly consumed every last bit of the family's savings, and the medical bills continued to grow each day.
Then Colton entered her life.
He paid every hospital bill that had been crushing her. He quietly took care of her parents' funeral arrangements. Throughout the darkest days of her life, he stayed by her side.
She appreciated everything he had done for her. She gradually came to depend on him, and before she realized it, becoming his woman had seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
Only later did she learn the real reason he had chosen her. She looked remarkably similar to his first love, the one who had left both him and the country years ago.
Colton had been born into privilege. As the CEO of Harrison Group, he possessed the finest resources and the strongest connections in the industry.
The way he cared for her had been thoughtful in every possible way. His attention had surrounded her so completely that she had almost forgotten there was a distance between their worlds that could never truly be crossed.
Even if he treated her with all the care in the world, the woman who would eventually become his wife could only be a socialite from a family that stood on equal footing with his own.
A knock at the door abruptly pulled Hannah back to reality.
Lucy Bailey, the manager of her studio, leaned through the doorway. "Hannah, your appointment is here. She specifically requested that you design her wedding gown yourself."
"Please bring her in," Hannah replied, regaining her composure almost immediately.
She raised her eyes toward the entrance, and her breathing stopped for a moment.
The woman standing there was Valerie. Colton's fiancee.
"Ms. Mitchell," Valerie called out as she walked into the studio, her eyes quietly taking in every corner of the room. "I've heard so many wonderful things about your work. My fiance always praises your designs. He says every gown you create has a soul of its own. He insisted that I come here so you could make my wedding dress."
Hannah dug her nails deeply into her palms. Had Colton arranged this on purpose?
The studio always followed the same strict policy. Every client had to sign a contract and pay a nonrefundable deposit before the consultation could begin. Without a valid reason, she couldn't refuse someone who had already become a client.
Now she had to design a wedding gown for the woman who was about to marry the man she loved. The thought was even more painful than death itself.
Outside, the sharp screech of tires suddenly shattered the silence.
Colton stepped out of his car with a cold expression. The anger on his face was barely under control.
He had been attending an important board meeting when his assistant quietly handed him a note. The moment he read that Valerie was at Hannah's studio, he walked out without saying a single word. On the way there, he ran three red lights and ignored every speed limit just to reach her as fast as possible.
He pushed the studio door open and saw the two women standing across from each other. His dark eyes settled on Valerie.
"Ms. Mitchell, I'll head out first." Valerie put on her sunglasses. A graceful smile spread across her face, although it was clearly just for show. "I'll come back tomorrow to look at the wedding dress designs. In the meantime, you can discuss the overall wedding style with my fiance. Take all the time you need."
With those words, she turned around and walked away. The door quietly closed behind her, and the air inside the studio instantly grew heavy.
Hannah and Colton silently looked at each other.
"Hannah, about Valerie and me..."
"Let's end this, Colton."
Their voices overlapped in the quiet room.
Colton's expression hardened. When he spoke again, his voice was cold enough to send a chill through the air. "What did you just say? Say it again. I dare you."
Hannah looked straight into his eyes without the slightest hesitation. Her voice remained calm and steady. "The man I've loved since I was young is coming back. We're going to get married. It's time for us to end this."
In a single stride, Colton closed the distance between them. His tall frame carried an overwhelming sense of pressure.
He lifted a hand and held her face. It was something he had done countless times over the past three years. This time, however, his fingers were stiff, and his grip was so tight it nearly hurt. "There's another man you love? Then what were these past three years supposed to mean?"
Hannah didn't look away. "You said that if you ever got married, I had to leave. I was never supposed to hold on to you."
A cold laugh escaped his lips without the slightest trace of amusement. "Fine, Hannah. Remember what you just said." Every bit of warmth had disappeared from his face. "We'll see how long you can keep acting this strong."
He let go of her face, turned around without another word, and walked out of the studio with a cold, determined expression.
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