Chapter 1
I asked Sebastian Lancaster to marry me 99 times before he finally said yes.
I got all dressed up and waited outside the city hall from morning to night.
Then he texted: “I’m helping Clara get her puppy a license. We’ll pick another day.”
Minutes later, Clara Beaumont posted on her Instagram.
“Someone is always there whenever I need. Just wondering, if I call him on his wedding day, will he ditch the bride and come to me?”
And his reply was just one word: “Yes.”
I stared at that word until it went blurry, and suddenly it all felt like a bad joke.
I pulled a number from my notes and dialed it calmly.
“Still wanna marry me? The city hall is open for another thirty minutes. Are you coming?”
Dewayne Frederick on the line seemed stunned, stammering for quite a while before finally saying, “R-Really?”
“On my way! Don’t move!”
In less than twenty minutes, a black Maybach screeched to a perfect stop in front of me.
I had known Dewayne forever as a laid-back guy. This was the first time I had seen him buttoned up in a suit.
When I didn’t move, he leaned in close, his handsome face right in mine, so close I felt his breath.
“Aurora, a deal is a deal. Don’t even think about backing out.”
“I won’t. Let’s go.”
The moment the marriage license was stamped, he slipped it into his jacket like it were fragile glass.
If I didn’t know he only picked me for the lucky numbers in my birth chart, I’d think he actually liked me.
Before he left, he jerked his chin at me.
“I’ll pick you up in a week.”
I nodded.
Back home, Sebastian showed up at the same time. He glanced at me, then hurried inside without saying anything.
My hands curled into fists at my sides as I watched him bolt away.
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13:08
Chapter 1
I stepped into the living room. Mom, Dad, and some uncles were already waiting on the couch.
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Mom waved me over, grinning. “Rora, you’ve got the marriage license, right? We just asked Sebastian, and he said it wasn’t with him.”
My eyes flicked to Sebastian without thinking.
One uncle let out a teasing chuckle. “Come on, everyone knows our girl has had a crush on Sebastian since day one. She’d keep him by her side if she could. No way she’d let that paper out of her purse.”
Sebastian’s face darkened. He glared at me, eyes flashing disgust and a warning, sharp enough to hurt.
I knew he was waiting for me to clear things up with my parents.
When our eyes met, I almost did, but I let the words die on the tip of my tongue.
I thought, “We’re nothing to each other now. Why should I give a damn what he thinks? Let him cool his heels for
once.”
I jiggled the purse in my hand. “Yep, it’s with me. But I can’t show it to you just yet.
“Oh, we also picked the wedding date-next week.”
With that, I waved goodnight and headed upstairs to my room.
They kept joking about how much I liked Sebastian. They weren’t lying.
He moved in with us when he was ten, and we were basically childhood sweethearts. But he never saw it that way.
To him, my crush was just a joke, almost an insult. He hated that people treated him better because of me.
All his love and patience went to some other girl.
No matter how many times I laid down my pride and asked for his hand, he only looked at me like I was dirt.
He had no idea that after I told my parents I’d only marry him, our family turned down every match that came our way, and because of this, we faced repeated difficulties.
In our circle, if you weren’t on top, saying no was like painting a target on your back. Once they iced you out, they’d strip you down to nothing.
Before, my stubborn vow to marry him was nothing but trouble for my family.
But now, I didn’t need them to pay for my love.
And I was done with him.
I was about to shut the door when Sebastian barged in.
“Aurora, we need to talk.”
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12:59
