Jilted Bride: Marrying My Ex's Rival

ilippe watch ticked past the tw

cate gold band, but by the sheer, crushing silence of the room. She was sitting on a hard wooden bench in the City C

only one s

he fabric again and again, trying to flatten wrinkles that didn't exist. It was a nervous tic she had developed

s Gi

e glass partition cleared her throat, her eyes darting to the empty space

oming or not? We

ench beside her, her fingers trembling so violently she almost dropped it. She unlocked the screen.

aled A

ng. Tw

nswer. Tell me you're stuck in traf

t straight t

ips up to her shoulders. Before the screen went black, a notificatio

ion, sharp enough to see the pores on the subjects' f

the grainy paparazzi shot, his jaw set tight, his focus entirely on the woman in his ar

e Bla

nd's chest, her eyes closed. But there was a ghost of a smile on her

Rhodes Heir Abandons Business Duties for Ret

wallow hard to keep from gagging. He wasn't in traffic. He wasn't in a meeting. He was at the airport, welcoming

voice was sharper this time

noyance. To the world, Isolde was just another woman left at th

t she forced them to move. She picked up her

ady, terrifyingly calm. It didn't so

ook back at the clerk, or the whispering couples, o

walks with oil and grime. Isolde stepped out, the cold rain hitting her heated skin like tiny needle

ne rang

at the calle

or a second, bracing

erced Isolde's ear drum. "It's on every channel, Isolde! Every single

ough a puddle, the dirty water missing

seven years, and he leaves you at City Hall for the Blackburn girl?

hing. There was

ng from anger to calculation. "Esequiel Stone is looking for a wife. He doesn't ca

in the distance, a glass needle piercing the clouds. It was where

" Isol

as used to Isolde fighting, crying, begging for time. "You... agree? To marry

d, her voice void of emot

ould say another word. She rais

was dark when Arlan

cast long, skeletal shadows across the living room floor. Isolde wa

eeped, and the hea

g crookedly around his neck, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up.

t switch. The sudden b

saw her. "Isolde? Why are

a mix of hospital antiseptic and heavy, cloying gardenia. Emilie's perfume. It was

ning. He seemed to be bracing himsel

is voice was rough, defensive. "She couldn't breathe.

him. Her eyes were dry. There was no redn

and," she

dozen logical reasons why he had to miss their appointment, why his dut

slightly unsettled. "I knew you would. You're always so reasonable, Isolde. T

d mid-air. He seemed to remember the invisible wall between them, the o

t. B

t wasn't a normal notification soun

the screen, and his face tightened. The exhaustion

turning away. "She's asking for me. Sh

ready moving toward the door, his bo

Isolde

icker of guilt crossing his handsome face. "I'll be back

," sh

he door clicked shut, the sound echoing

ere he had been standing, realizing that the man she loved didn't exist. He was

t was a stranger. And sh