Chapter 9: The Bride Who Never Arrived

Dante stumbled backward, his gaze hollow as he stared at the hotel entrance in utter disbelief. The wedding had been canceled.

"Ms. Ford canceled the wedding herself," the hotel employee added quietly.

Maria's expression turned icy at once. She questioned Dante, "What's going on? Today's the wedding day, but where is she? Didn't you say that everything had already been arranged?"

Dante's throat was all clammed up. It took him a while to squeeze out the words, "I don't know…"

For the first time, he realized that he truly knew nothing about my plans.

He had never asked which ballroom I'd booked.

He had never checked the guest list.

He had never looked at the wedding invitations after telling me to handle everything myself.

He had simply assumed that no matter how badly he treated me, I would still be waiting for him at the altar.

Maria stared at her son in disbelief.

"You don't know where your own fiance is on her wedding day?"

Dante's face turned pale.

He immediately pulled out his phone and called me.

The call went unanswered.

He tried again.

Nothing.

Then he opened our message history and sent me a message.

"Nina, where are you? Everyone is waiting for you."

There was no reply.

Dante's fingers tightened around his phone.

"Maybe she's angry and went home," one of his friends suggested.

"I'll go back and get her," Dante said immediately.

Maria grabbed his arm before he could leave.

"Stop. Before you do anything else, tell me what happened between you two."

Dante avoided her gaze.

"Nothing happened."

Maria's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing? Then why would a woman cancel her wedding two weeks before the ceremony and disappear on the wedding day?"

Dante remained silent.

He didn't know how to explain it.

How could he tell his mother that he'd asked his fiancee to accept another woman carrying his child?

How could he explain that he had taken Isobel on a romantic trip days before his wedding?

How could he admit that he'd even taken wedding photographs with another woman?

At that moment, Dante suddenly remembered the way I had looked at him during breakfast several days earlier.

Calm.

Detached.

Almost indifferent.

He had thought I was simply angry.

Now he realized that I had already made my decision.

His phone suddenly vibrated.

For one brief second, hope flashed through his eyes.

But it wasn't my message.

It was a notification from the airline.

A delayed message from his assistant appeared beneath it.

"Miss Ford's flight departed two hours ago. Destination: Laran, Etolia."

Dante's expression changed instantly.

"Laran?"

Maria looked at him sharply.

"What is she doing there?"

Dante couldn't answer.

He remembered my conversation with Julia.

He remembered hearing me say that my wedding had been called off.

He remembered asking, "Who's leaving?"

And I had lied to him.

No.

She hadn't lied.

She had simply stopped explaining herself to someone who never listened.

Dante suddenly turned and rushed toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" Maria called after him.

"To find Nina."

But before he reached the door, his phone rang.

It was Isobel.

Dante stared at the screen for several seconds.

His mother's eyes followed his gaze.

"Don't answer it," Maria said coldly.

Dante hesitated.

Then, for the first time in years, he ignored Isobel's call.

He walked out of the hotel.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, I stepped off the plane in Laran.

The cold air hit my face as I pulled my coat tighter around myself.

There was no wedding dress.

No bouquet.

No groom waiting at the airport.

Only a small suitcase and a new beginning.

Julia was waiting outside the terminal.

The moment she saw me, she ran over and hugged me.

"Nina! You actually came!"

I smiled.

"I told you I would."

"Professor Moore has already prepared your laboratory access. You'll start orientation tomorrow."

I nodded and looked toward the unfamiliar city ahead.

For the first time in years, I felt like I could breathe.

Back in Manhorne, Dante was still staring at the empty wedding hall.

The flowers he'd never chosen were still arranged around the entrance.

The guests were slowly leaving.

The wedding cake remained untouched.

And the woman he had always assumed would wait for him was gone.

His mother approached him quietly.

"Dante, what did you do to her?"

He lowered his head.

For the first time, he had no excuse.

Then Maria noticed the envelope in his hand.

"What's that?"

Dante looked down.

It was the pregnancy report he'd received weeks ago.

He had kept it hidden because he never thought it mattered.

Now, looking at the report, he suddenly understood the weight of his decision.

He had wanted Nina to accept everything quietly.

He had expected her to remain his fiancee while another woman carried his child.

He had believed her love was unconditional.

But love was not the same thing as permission.

And forgiveness was not something he could demand.

That night, Dante returned to the apartment alone.

The silence inside was suffocating.

He walked into the living room and saw the calendar hanging on the wall.

The tenth had been crossed out.

Beneath it were five words written in my handwriting.

"Let's break up, Dante."

He touched the words with trembling fingers.

Only then did he realize that I had said goodbye long before he noticed I was gone.

His phone vibrated again.

This time, it was a message from Isobel.

"Dante, where are you? I need you."

He stared at the message for a long time.

Then he slowly turned off his phone.

For the first time since Isobel had returned to his life, Dante didn't immediately run to her.

Instead, he sat alone in the dark apartment and wondered whether the woman he had taken for granted would ever come back.