Chapter 7: The Price of Losing Me

The room remained silent after Hollis finished reading my note.

His fingers tightened around the paper until the edges crumpled.

His father was the first to speak.

“What exactly does she mean by ‘ended it’?”

Hollis slowly lifted his head.

“She means the wedding is canceled.”

A murmur swept through the room.

Gianna stood up immediately.

“This is because of me.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I should never have worn her dress. I shouldn't have taken the signet ring. I ruined everything.”

Hollis looked at her.

For the first time, he didn't immediately comfort her.

His mind was still stuck on the last line of Willa's message.

Please don't send anyone after me.

She knew him too well.

She knew that if he panicked, he would send half the Lombardi security division searching for her.

And she had specifically told him not to.

“Hollis,” his father said sharply. “Where is she?”

“I don't know.”

His father stared at him in disbelief.

“You don't know where your own fiancée is?”

Hollis said nothing.

An elder at the table gave a cold laugh.

“You embarrassed the woman in front of every allied family, then expected her to wait quietly in a side room until you were finished entertaining the Rossis.”

“Now she has walked away.”

“And you don't even know where she went.”

Hollis's jaw tightened.

“Enough.”

The elder leaned back.

“No. It isn't enough.”

He pointed toward the empty chair meant for Willa.

“You wanted Gianna to have the grand entrance. You wanted her beside you during the ceremony. You wanted her wearing the signet ring.”

“You got exactly what you wanted.”

“So why are you standing there looking like someone just died?”

Hollis went completely still.

He didn't have an answer.

Because somewhere between the ruined cake and the empty bridal suite, something had changed.

Willa was no longer waiting for him.

And the thought terrified him.

***

At my parents' house, I spent the entire morning sleeping.

When I woke, my mother had placed a bowl of soup beside my bed.

“Eat something.”

I sat up slowly.

For years, whenever I was sick, I had waited for Hollis to call.

Now I realized I didn't need to.

My mother was here.

My father was here.

Home was here.

I picked up the spoon.

“Mom.”

“Hmm?”

“Did you really mean what you said in that video?”

She immediately knew what I meant.

Her eyes reddened.

“Of course I did.”

She reached over and touched my hair.

“I should have come to you sooner.”

I looked down.

“You warned me.”

“But you still loved him.”

I gave a bitter smile.

“I did.”

My mother sighed.

“Love doesn't make you foolish, Willa.”

“Staying where you're constantly being made to feel worthless does.”

I swallowed hard.

Those words stayed with me.

That afternoon, my father brought me a stack of documents.

“The Lombardi family's legal office has already contacted ours.”

I looked up.

“Already?”

“They want to know whether you're formally withdrawing from the alliance or simply delaying the wedding.”

I laughed quietly.

“Tell them I'm withdrawing.”

My father nodded.

“There's another matter.”

He placed a second document in front of me.

“The Lombardi family has been using your pastry company as part of several hospitality contracts.”

I froze.

My bakery.

The business I had built from nothing.

Hollis had helped introduce me to a few clients when I first opened, but I had handled every contract, every recipe, and every employee myself.

I had never considered it his.

“What about it?”

“The contracts were negotiated under your company.”

My father tapped the papers.

“If you end your relationship with the Lombardis, they may lose access to several exclusive supply agreements.”

I stared at the documents.

For ten years, I had protected Hollis from inconveniences.

I had covered for him.

I had kept his secrets.

I had even defended his family when they treated me like an outsider.

But my company was mine.

And I would not sacrifice it for him anymore.

“Terminate every agreement that depends on my personal relationship with Hollis.”

My father looked at me carefully.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

I signed the first document.

Then the second.

Then the third.

With every signature, I felt something inside me loosen.

Not anger.

Not revenge.

Freedom.

***

That evening, Hollis finally came home.

His mother was waiting in the living room.

She had spent the afternoon speaking with the Rossi family.

“Gianna is devastated,” she said.

Hollis removed his coat.

“I know.”

“You need to handle this carefully.”

He looked at her.

“What do you mean?”

“The Rossi family believes Willa is deliberately humiliating Gianna.”

Hollis's expression hardened.

“Willa isn't doing anything to Gianna.”

His mother raised an eyebrow.

“She canceled your wedding on the same day Gianna was publicly introduced beside you.”

“What do you think people will assume?”

Hollis said nothing.

His mother continued.

“You need to bring Willa back before this becomes a family scandal.”

He stared at the floor.

“She told me not to send anyone after her.”

“Then go yourself.”

Hollis looked up.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then his mother said quietly, “If you still want her.”

The words struck him harder than he expected.

Did he still want Willa?

He remembered her standing beside the rideshare in her wedding dress.

He remembered her quiet voice.

Turn around.

He remembered how easily she had said the wedding was over.

Hollis picked up his phone.

He opened Willa's contact.

His thumb hovered over the call button.

Then a notification appeared.

It wasn't from Willa.

It was from the Lombardi family's business office.

Several major contracts had just been terminated.

The reason was listed clearly.

Change in personal affiliation.

Hollis's expression changed.

“What did she do?”

His mother looked over.

“What happened?”

Hollis stared at the screen.

For the first time, he understood that Willa hadn't simply walked away from him.

She had started cutting herself free from everything connected to him.

And this time, she wasn't asking permission.