Chapter 3
Unlike his passive-aggressive jabs at me, Jaxson’s gaze towards Willow Jenkins was laced with genuine concern.
He draped his jacket over Willow’s shoulders. “Why are you apologizing to her? She brought this on herself, didn’t she? If she wasn’t so utterly intolerant, how could your health, which was already improving, have deteriorated so badly?”
“But since Willow’s pleading for you, I’ll begrudgingly forgive your rudeness towards her. Just kneel down and apologize to Willow right now, and maybe I’ll even consider showing up at the wedding…”
“I won’t kneel.”
I calmly ran a hand through my wet hair, trying to look less like a drowned rat. “Jaxson Hayes, I won’t kneel, and I won’t marry you. Don’t show up at my wedding in three days. I don’t want to cause any trouble for myself or my husband. Since neither of us intends to honor the engagement, I hope we can both inform our families.”
“From now on, the Millers and the Hayes are officially done. We go our separate ways.”
Jaxson frowned, his arm, wrapped around Willow Jenkins, suddenly tightened. “Aubrey Miller, what do you mean? I’m telling you, my patience has limits. You better not test me. This is your last chance. Are you sure you want to talk to me with such attitude?”
I pulled my gaze from his hand, scoffing softly. “Jaxson Hayes, though nothing but poison has come out of your mouth this past year, you did say one thing right.”
“As the city’s most sought-after woman, I’ve never lacked for suitors.”
So, Jaxson, do you understand? I was never indispensable to you.
I took one last look at the varying expressions on the faces in the private room, then turned and walked towards the bar exit.
“Aubrey Miller, if you leave, we’re really over!”
My steps never faltered as I left the bar, leaving Jaxson’s infuriated barks behind me.
Back home, the adrenaline that had kept me upright finally crashed.
My body, which hadn’t fully recovered, had been doused with cold water and then walked for so long in the night. I burned with fever for two days straight before I barely felt human again.
When I finally woke up, I saw my dad, a hesitant, almost uncomfortable look on his face.
I propped myself up, took a sip from the water a housemaid handed me. “Dad, is there something you want to say?”
My dad silently watched me, then, fingering the pack of cigarettes for a moment. “Your engagement with that Hayes boy…”
I finally remembered what I had forgotten. My gaze fixed on him, unwavering. “Dad, I don’t want to marry Jaxson Hayes.”
My dad looked at me in astonishment. His favorite cigarette pack slipped from his grasp, clattering to the floor.
“Aubrey, are you serious?”
I nodded, then handed him the marriage certificate from my bedside table. “Dad, I’m not throwing a tantrum. I’ve truly moved on from Jaxson. Sorry, I was afraid you wouldn’t agree, so I acted first and asked for forgiveness later.”
My dad looked at the man’s name on the marriage certificate, falling silent for a moment. “Aubrey, you still say you’re not throwing a tantrum. If you wanted to Photoshop something to piss off that Hayes boy, you should have found someone believable! It’s not that I’m looking down on you, but the chances of Darian Thorne from Thorne Industries marrying you are lower than the Earth exploding tomorrow.”
I watched him in silence.
Okay, if I wasn’t the one involved, I probably wouldn’t believe it either.
After all, who would have thought that Darian Thorne, a titan in the business world, secretly loved reading alpha billionaire romance novels?
And even more surprisingly, he loved the ones written by an obscure writer like me.
But before I could explain, a mocking voice interrupted me.
“Darian Thorne? Aubrey Miller, you’re not saying your new groom is Darian Thorne, the CEO of Thorne Industries, are you?”
0Jaxson Hayes held the marriage certificate, scrutinizing it for a moment, then carelessly tossed it aside. “Aubrey Miller, if you’re going to lie, at least come up with something more convincing. You seriously expect me to believe this level of nonsense? Who is Darian Thorne? He’s someone you could ever hope to ‘climb up’ to?”