Chapter 3

3

The cab driver dropped me off at my destination.

I paid the fare and got out.

Before leaving, the driver looked at the run-down neighborhood and gave me a sympathetic look.

"Sweetheart, a girl like you shouldn't live in a place like this. Go home to your parents."

Those words hit me like a needle to the heart.

I stood there, my eyes stinging.

Home?

Where was my home?

My throat tightened as my memory dragged me back six years.

Back then, I had the warmest home in the world.

My parents treated me like a treasure. They even set my wedding date on my birthday.

They wanted that day to be a double celebration for me.

They had spent months traveling the country to find the perfect custom wedding dress.

My mom had stroked my cheek, her eyes full of love. "We searched everywhere to find the one that fits you best."

"Our baby deserves to be happy forever," she had whispered.

I was so lost in the romance that I didn't realize that would be our last conversation.

On the way back from picking up the dress, my parents were in a horrific car accident. They both died instantly.

They didn't even get to say goodbye.

The guilt and grief shredded my soul.

It was my fault. If it weren't for me and my wedding, they would still be alive.

During that dark time, Finnick never left my side.

He handled the funeral and held me while I screamed and cried.

"Wren, stay strong. Your parents wanted to see you happy. Don't let them down."

I believed him.

To honor their memory, I forced myself to go through with the wedding.

That day, I put on the dress that cost my parents their lives and walked toward the ballroom.

But as I passed the private lounge, I saw something that would haunt me forever.

Inside, two bodies were tangled together in a heated embrace.

I gasped, covering my mouth in horror.

"Finnick, are you really going to marry her?" Quinn's voice was shaky, filled with tears.

"Yes," Finnick replied, his voice cold and emotionless.

"Then what about us? Finnick, I really love you."

"You're the only one I love. Marrying her is just to get the shares her parents left behind. Just bear with it for a little longer, Quinn."

His words were like a dagger to my soul.

I heard my heart shatter into a million pieces.

I was wearing the dress my parents died for.

I was walking the path they hoped would lead to my happiness.

And there was my fiancé, plotting how to bleed me dry of my last bit of value.

My blood turned to ice. My heart felt like it had stopped beating.

I wanted to burst in and scream at him.

I wanted to ask him why he was doing this to me.

But in the end, I just turned and walked away.

I was a coward. I didn't even have the courage to confront him.

Falling from heaven to hell only takes a second.

I wandered back to my dressing room like a ghost, looking at myself in the mirror.

How pathetic.

The dress that carried my parents' final blessing was now a cruel joke.

A desperate, tiny thought grew in my mind.

Maybe I heard wrong?

Maybe he has a reason?

Maybe I should give him one more chance...

After all, I had nothing left but him.

Back then, I still had a tiny sliver of hope.