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Chapter 11
When Graysen received the package, a voice in his mind told him not to open it.
His hand holding the package began to tremble uncontrollably.
Just then, Eleanor stepped forward, her tone cold as she asked, “Where’s Caroline? On such a
special day, she couldn’t have gone on a mission, could she?”
Graysen’s brow furrowed. He turned to glance at the bomb squad’s table, and indeed, a few familiar faces were missing.
He remembered this happening once, even on his own birthday.
Caroline had been late because of an emergency mission.
As he thought of this, the knot in his chest slowly loosened.
Eleanor’s eyes shifted, and she tentatively suggested, “Since Caroline isn’t here, why not have Marlene fill in? We can’t keep the guests waiting for the bride.”
Graysen scanned the room. Apart from the teammates who knew the bride, the rest of the guests were unfamiliar.
Without hesitation, he made his decision and nodded, shoving the small package into his pocket.
Marlene’s eyes lit up, joy and smugness practically spilling from her. She immediately took Graysen’s hand and led him to the stage.
Meanwhile, the teammates who recognized the bride swapped confused glances.
“What’s going on? Wasn’t it supposed to be Caroline? Why is it Marlene now?”
Bewilderment spread across everyone’s faces, until Violet, clearly uninterested, spoke up. “Caroline doesn’t want him anymore.”
One person, still in disbelief, blurted, “Impossible. She loved Graysen so much. How could she miss the chance to marry him?”
Violet scoffed, her tone dripping with sarcasm as she said, “What’s so great about a guy who plays both sides? Marlene treats him like treasure, but Caroline? She’s not interested. A scummy man and a scummy woman, that’s the perfect match. Caroline deserves better.”
Her words were loud enough for everyone to hear, and Graysen, standing on the stage, couldn’t
miss them.
His brow furrowed, and he glared at Violet, his voice tightening. “What do you mean? Where’s Caroline? Didn’t she go on a mission?”
Chapter 11
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Violet laughed derisively, her eyes full of pity as she looked at him.
She said, “Mission? She’s gone to Noredge. She doesn’t want you anymore. Whoever you marry, she’s not coming back.”
“No… that’s impossible.” Graysen’s face turned pale, his eyes red as he denied it repeatedly, unable to believe that the woman he loved would just leave him.
At that moment, he completely forgot how many times he had abandoned her for others.
Violet, pitying him, offered a suggestion, “Why don’t you call Kieran?”
Graysen dialed Kieran’s number.
A few minutes later, his hand dropped limply by his side as disbelief filled his eyes.
Eleanor, noticing his reaction, scolded sharply, “I knew that woman was unreliable, yet you still treated her like a treasure. Get up there with Marlene and finish the ceremony!”
She shoved the dazed Graysen toward the stage. Under the formal guidance of the emcee, they went through the entire process.
The guests were confused.
The groom looked like he had lost someone, while the bride beamed with joy.
The contrast between their emotions made the atmosphere strangely tense.
After the ceremony ended, Graysen, as if losing his mind, continued to call Caroline non–stop.
But all he heard from the other end was the repeated voicemail.
After dozens of attempts, he finally accepted it. Caroline was gone.
She had completely left him.
Graysen’s mind raced. “But why? Seven years… How could she just walk away? Why is she being so
heartless?”
He repeated the questions in his mind over and over, the phone slipping from his hand and crashing
to the floor with a loud thud.
Slumping against the bedroom door, his body slowly gave way, tears falling from his eyes, soaking his shirt. His gaze fell on the black wedding suit. He suddenly remembered something and quickly pulled out the small package from his pocket.
Rummaging through the drawer, he finally found a pair of scissors. When he saw that the sender was Caroline, he opened it with the utmost care, as if handling a precious artifact.
But when he saw the card and the blood–soaked paper inside, his mind went blank.
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He stared, disbelieving, at the medical report, then kept flipping between the report and the card for ten minutes, as though trying to convince himself it wasn’t real
Finally, his breath caught as he choked back a sob, gazing at the bloody paper bag,
The note inside was clear and direct. “Graysen, I’m letting you have Marlene. You’ve always wanted a child, and now it’s here. But because you chose to protect someone else, it’s gone before it could even see the world. The money in the bank account is to cover the years you’ve spent on me. From
now on, we’re even.”
