Sylvia huffed angrily at every thought of it.
Though things had taken a drastic turn in a direction she never planned on, that didn’t mean she would let herself be walked over.
She already believed that being forced to take someone else’s place in a wedding she never wanted was the greatest concession she would ever make.
But instead of showing her even the slightest bit of understanding, that arrogant man had looked at her as though she were some kind of disgrace.
How could she bring herself to swallow such an insult.
It was already good enough that they would not be meeting again tonight.
Otherwise, Sylvia honestly was not sure how much longer she could tolerate him without saying something she might even regret later on.
She closed her eyes briefly to suppress her anger.
Seconds later, she exhaled softly, and her shoulders sagged lightly as she thought of something… a soft smile bloomed on her lips.
At least for the first few nights, she would be able to survive peacefully without any more interference from that arrogant jerk, but if he dared to trespass this… Unfortunately, the moment Damian entered her thoughts again, irritation immediately returned to her face as everything that had transpired at the wedding flashed through her mind again like a stream of nightmares.
The jerk never appeared at his own wedding, yet somehow, he had still managed to show up upon her arrival just to make her entire evening miserable.
Shouldn’t he have just died in that accident rather than live to disrupt her peaceful life?
The thought came so naturally that Sylvia was startled herself.
She quickly shook her head, refusing to dwell on it.
Whatever Damian had done, she did not actually want him dead.
She was simply angry.
Very, very angry.
Just remembering his existence at that moment left Sylvia with only one desire—to erase every single memory of the day’s events from her mind.
Unfortunately, that was impossible.
No matter how hard she tried, the faces of her parents and that arrogant jerk seemed to have been permanently imprinted on her mind.
Sylvia shook her head and decided that she was done thinking about him and about them.
She grabbed the pajamas and closed the closet door before placing them carefully on the bed.
She then turned around and reached behind herself.
With great difficulty, her fingers found the zipper of her wedding gown.
Gritting her teeth slightly, Sylvia slowly pulled it downward.
The zipper descended little by little, and the heavy fabric gradually slipped from her shoulders, revealing the fair skin beneath it.
She drew in a deep breath as the curtain fluttered gently beside her.
A calm breeze filtered through the slightly open window and brushed against her skin.
For the first time that day, Sylvia felt the tension in her lungs loosen and realized that she could finally breathe.
At least the wedding ceremony was over.
Even though it had succeeded in binding her life to that arrogant jerk, the endless stares, whispers, and humiliation were finally behind her.
It was all over.
For tonight, at least, she could finally be alone.
A few seconds later, the wedding gown slipped completely from her body and pooled around her feet.
Sylvia carefully stepped out of it and stood there in her deep red lingerie.
The delicate fabric hugged her figure comfortably, and for the first time since morning, she felt like herself.
Her body was exhausted from the long and stressful day, so she stretched slowly, trying to release the tension that had settled deeply into the muscles of her arms and back.
She rolled her shoulders once, then slowly tilted her head from side to side.
The gentle breeze continued to caress her skin, offering a small sense of comfort after the suffocating atmosphere she had endured all day.
Feeling the cool air against her face, Sylvia slowly lifted one hand and gently pulled at the hairpin holding her hair together.
The pin slipped free.
Her chestnut-brown hair immediately tumbled down from its carefully arranged style, falling around her shoulders in soft, loose waves.
Sylvia shook her head slightly, allowing the strands to bounce gently against her skin.
She ran her fingers through the loose waves and released a small, contented sigh.
She was finally alone.
She was ready to enjoy the gentle air for a few more moments before going for a bath when… Click.
The door was pushed open.
Sylvia froze.
For the briefest second, she wondered if she had imagined it.
Perhaps the exhaustion had finally begun to affect her.
Then she heard the quiet movement of wheels against the floor.
Her brows drew together as the sound grew closer.
And the next second, Damian wheeled himself into the room.
His wheelchair rolled quietly across the tiled floor, while the tip of his cane struck the ground with a faint tap as he moved farther into the room.
Sylvia slowly turned around and her eyes widened just as her entire body stiffened.
For several seconds, neither of them moved, and neither of them spoke.
The air between them seemed to freeze completely.
Damian sat stiffly in his wheelchair, his expression remaining unreadable as he faced the direction of the room.
Sylvia stared at him in disbelief.
Several words rushed to the tip of her tongue, but before she could utter even one of them, she felt a slight breeze graze her skin.
Her brows furrowed.
Then, almost instinctively, her gaze dropped, and her heart stopped literally.
She finally realized that she was standing almost completely naked in front of the man she had spent the entire evening insulting in her head.
Her face immediately turned crimson.
For a moment, she could only stare at herself in horror.
Then her embarrassment exploded.
“Ahhh!” Her resounding scream tore through the entire estate.
In a panic, Sylvia hastily bent down, grabbed the wedding gown from the floor, and pulled it against her chest, desperately trying to cover herself.
Damian’s expression flickered slightly at the sound of her scream before quickly returning to its usual calm.
His hand instinctively shot backward, and he immediately pushed the door shut behind him.
The click of the closing door echoed through the room.
For a moment, there was complete silence.
But that wasn’t the same for Sylvia’s little heart; it pounded wildly against her chest as humiliation burned through her entire body.
How did this happen?
Of all the people who could have walked through that door at that exact moment, why did it have to be Damian?
And of all the possible moments for him to come, why did he have to come back when she was changing?
Sylvia wanted nothing more than for the floor to open beneath her and swallow her whole as she stood frozen behind the wedding gown, her face still burning with embarrassment.
Damian remained beside the closed door.
Neither of them spoke.