Morgan and Eloise’s eyes swept frantically across the dressing room, desperately searching for their daughter—Leslie, the bride of the day.
Instead, the only person standing inside was Sylvia.
She stood rooted to the floor, clutching the cream-and-green bouquet tightly in her hand.
Her face wore the same confused expression as though she had only just realized something was terribly wrong.
The wedding dress was on the bed, the jewelry and shoes placed beside it.
A glance and one could tell it was a careful arrangement.
Everything was exactly where it should have been…except for the bride.
Leslie was nowhere in sight.
Silence swallowed the room, an eerie silence, the kind that made one’s heartbeat thunder inside their ears.
And judging from Sylvia’s expression, it was clear she hadn’t seen Leslie when she entered…
otherwise, she wouldn’t still be clutching that bouquet.
Morgan slowly turned his head, his eyes scanning every corner of the spacious dressing room as though Leslie might suddenly step out from behind a curtain.
But she didn’t, Morgan’s chest tightened.
His throat became unbearably dry as countless terrifying possibilities rushed through his mind.
He couldn’t bring himself to accept the truth gnawing at his heart.
“Where is your sister?” Morgan asked, his voice trembling slightly while his thoughts spun furiously as he imagined the worst-case scenario.
Eloise hurried past her, lifting the hem of her dress as her anxious eyes darted around the room.
“Leslie?” Her voice echoed through the empty dressing room.
“Leslie!” She called louder this time, her fist clenched so tight, her nails dug into her palms.
There was no answer.
Her breathing became increasingly uneven.
“Sylvia…” She turned sharply.
“Tell me quickly,” her hand grabbed Sylvia’s.
“Where Leslie?
Where is your sister?” Sylvia’s gaze dropped to her hand, a bitter smile curled her lips and she slowly shook her head.
“I…
I…” she stammered.
I don’t know,” she forced herself to answer.
Morgan turned around in the room again, his gaze swept every corner of the room and then instantly locked onto the spot.
The place where Sylvia had been standing when they came in, then shifted to the paper on the table.
With slow, steady steps, he walked over to the table.
His hand stretched across the makeup kits before he picked up the piece of paper.
He unfolded the paper and his eyes immediately scanned the handwriting reading through the content.
The color drained from his face, his pupils shook violently and his lips parted, yet no words came out.
His breathing became ragged.
“No…
Impossible…
impossible, it can’t be true,” he muttered incoherently, his hand tightened around the paper.
Eloise rushed toward him, her heart pounding wildly.
“Morgan!” She grabbed his arm.
“What happened?” “What is it?” “What did she write?” But Morgan remained frozen.
His eyes stared blankly, his fist curled tightly around the paper, his jaw twitched slightly.
“Morgan!” Eloise’s voice rose another octave.
“Answer me!” Receiving no response, she snatched the paper from his trembling hands.
Her fingers shook so violently that she struggled to unfold it.
Sylvia’s brow furrowed as she took a step back.
She had a feeling the contents of the paper were not simple.
And judging from Morgan’s expression, it couldn’t be that her sister had fled her wedding.
The thought of that possibility caused Sylvia’s blood to run cold.
A chilling sensation seeped through her bones and fear settled heavily in her chest as she watched Eloise expression.
She took a few steps back, ready to flee the room because that was practically the right thing to do, but the trembling voice of her mother as she read the note made her freeze.
At some point, Sylvia thought it was simply her curiosity but she waited for her to finish.
She needed to know what Leslie had written.
She wanted to ask why she hadn’t bothered telling her she was leaving.
She wanted to ask why she had agreed to the arrangement when she understood the implications, only to end up fleeing.
Questions flooded Sylvia’s thoughts one after another.
Finally…
Eloise swallowed hard before reading the letter aloud, her voice cut through the silence “Dad…
Mom…
I am sorry for disappointing both of you.
But I cannot marry Damian Evercrest.
My future is still bright, and I refuse to tie it to a blind and crippled heir whose life is already ruined.
I know you will hate me for this, and I accept that.
I promise I will work hard and make the Quinn family proud in my own way.
But I cannot sacrifice my life for the company.
Forgive me.
Leslie.” Sylvia’s ears rang.
She turned toward the door, her hand gripping the knob, when the firm grip of her father clamped around her wrist.
“Sylvia…” Her body froze as she stared at the hand gripping her wrist tightly.
“You have to help us.” Eloise snapped out of her tears and rushed over, holding Sylvia’s arms.
“Please, my daughter, you have to help your mom and dad…
okay?” Sylvia shook her head.
“I’m sorry, Mom.
It was already so difficult for my sister.
Do you think mine would be any less?” She dared not imagine it.
She was only twenty and was still hoping to climb the ladder of success and become the world’s best researcher.
She had yet to reclaim the scholarship her parents had taken away from her and handed to her brother.
She had yet to begin her life.
How could she allow herself to be thrown into the Evercrest hellhole?
Though they were a powerful family, the stories from the grapevine proved they weren’t simple.
Sylvia’s heart pounded even harder.
“Sylvia, I have always known you are different from your sister…
you are brave and kind,” Eloise said as beads of tears rolled down her cheeks.
Sylvia’s heart tightened, but she dared not back down.
She had to maintain her stand.
She couldn’t allow herself to be traded for the company’s glory.
She gently pulled her wrist free from her father’s grip and stepped back, putting a clear distance between herself and her parents.
“Dad, Mom, I am sorry, but I really can’t help you.” She turned and pulled the door open.
Just as her feet stepped into the hallway, her father’s voice drifted through the doorway.
“Sylvia, if you leave here today, your grandmother’s medication stops.” Sylvia’s head snapped toward him.
“What?” She stared at their faces.
“That is your mother.” Morgan simply shrugged.
The pain vanished from his face.
“But you’re the one she loves most.” He smirked.
“I really wonder if you would let her die.” Sylvia’s hands curled into fists, and her breathing grew heavy.
She stared at her parents’ faces.
The faces that had been tearful and filled with sorrow moments ago were now draped in coldness.
Sylvia’s eyes blurred as she looked at them both.
It seems she never truly knew them.
“Do you really hate me that much?” Eloise sighed.
“You child, we don’t hate you.
But think about it.
The Evercrest family is already downstairs waiting for the bride, and your sister…” She shrugged indifferently.
“God knows where she has run off to.
We can’t possibly offend the Evercrest family.” Listening to Eloise talk about her sister running away, Sylvia couldn’t help but wonder where all the love they had for Leslie had gone.
Was it so shallow?
“Mom, Sister ran away because she couldn’t bear to hand over her future to such a man,” she defended almost instinctively.
Eloise scoffed.
“Who cares why she ran away?
What I’m telling you is…
you’re marrying in her place.” Sylvia nodded, then lifted her eyes to meet their gazes head-on.
“Then you might as well keep dreaming.” Eloise laughed, her voice cold and brittle.
“Don’t be in such a hurry, little princess.
You might as well take a look at this.” She unlocked her phone and held out the phone to her.
“…before making your decision.” She finished.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she took the phone from Eloise and she regretted it immediately.
Her grandmother’s tired face appeared on the screen.
Several medical equipment lined the screen.
A nurse stood beside the bed, one hand resting on the oxygen mask covering her face.
The message was crystal clear.
If she rejected the marriage, the nurse would remove the oxygen mask.
Then came the terrifying thought.
She might not even make it to the hospital before her grandmother is gone forever.
Sylvia’s heart clenched painfully.
Her hand trembled, and just before the phone slipped from her grasp, Morgan took it from her.
His lips curled into a cold sneer.
“So…
Do you still think you have a choice?” Sylvia nodded.
“Is this how you treat your own mother?” she snapped.
She had never imagined the man she called her father would be so heartless as to threaten her with his own mother’s life.
Morgan gave a dismissive shrug.
“Who made her your grandmother?” Sylvia exhaled slowly.
“I can still walk away.
After all, she’s your mother.” “Really?” Morgan asked as he closed the distance between them.
“Then I dare you to walk away and lose her forever.
Can you live with that guilt?” Sylvia’s fists clenched.
“Morgan Quinn, don’t go too far.” “I already have.
What can you do about it?
The Evercrest family is downstairs waiting for their bride, and your grandmother is waiting for your decision.
The choice is yours.” Sylvia slowly closed her eyes.
The happy memories she had shared with her grandmother flooded her mind.
They were among the happiest moments of her life.
Even after her scholarship had been taken away, her grandmother had stayed beside her, comforting her through the pain.
She had promised to tell Sylvia something on her twentieth birthday.
But just a month before then, she had fallen down the stairs…
And that was it.
Her eyes snapped open.
“I’ll marry him…
but I have my conditions.” Eloise smiled deviously.
“You don’t get to bargain with us, my lady.
You marry Damian, and we take care of your grandmother…
fair deal.” Sylvia knew she lacked the power and standing to protect her grandmother at the moment… she swallowed hard.
Her son might no longer want her, but Sylvia still needed her.
She had been her confidante.
Her friend.
She couldn’t lose her now.
Her thoughts raced.
It’s just a marriage.
Damian stays in his lane, and she stays in hers until the right time comes for her to leave.
No strings attached.
No emotions.
No love.
That should be simple enough.
Having made her decision, she drew in a deep breath.
“Deal.”