ISABEL’S POV.
The reception felt worse than the wedding.
At least during the ceremony, I had something to focus on.
Walking down the aisle, keeping myself from tripping, making it through the vows.
Now there was nothing to distract me.
Only hundreds of people.
Hundreds of eyes.
Hundreds of reminders that I was standing in a place that had never been meant for me.
I stood beside Damien near the center of the ballroom and forced a smile onto my face as another group of guests approached.
The ballroom itself was breathtaking.
Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
Fresh flowers decorated every table.
Soft music drifted through the room.
Everything was elegant.
Perfect.
But none of it belonged to me.
It had all been planned for Victoria.
The flowers were her favorite.
The color scheme was hers.
Even the giant display screen near the stage showed photographs from Damien and Victoria’s engagement party.
Every time I looked at it, I felt another crack form inside my chest.
The smiling woman in those pictures should have been standing here.
Not me.
“Congratulations, dear.”
I blinked and looked up.
An older woman was smiling politely at me.
Beside her stood a man who looked to be her husband.
“Thank you,” I said.
The woman nodded.
“We were all so excited for Victoria and Damien.”
My smile stiffened.
“Of course, today’s circumstances were unexpected.”
Unexpected.
That was a nice way of saying your sister ruined everything.
The woman quickly turned her attention back to Damien.
“We’re happy everything worked out still.”
Everything worked out.
I almost laughed.
Nothing had worked out. Not for me.
Not for Damien.
Not for anyone.
The couple eventually moved away, replaced by another group.
Then another. And another.
The conversations blended together after a while.
Everyone knew Victoria.
Everyone had stories about Victoria.
And everyone seemed eager to remind me of that fact.
No one said anything cruel, but they didn’t need to. Every sentence carried the same message.
“You don’t belong here.”
Victoria would have fit perfectly into this world.
She loved attention.
She loved luxury.
She could walk into a room and instantly become the center of it.
People naturally gravitated toward her.
I was the opposite.
I preferred books to parties.
Quiet evenings to crowded events.
I had never wanted a life like this.
Yet somehow, I was the one standing here.
Not Victoria.
Me.
A wave of applause suddenly filled the room as someone began a toast.
I barely listened.
The words about love and happiness felt like a cruel joke.
I still couldn’t understand how Victoria and Ethan had done it.
How long had it been happening?
How many times had they smiled at me while hiding the truth?
How many lies had I believed?
The knot in my throat tightened.
I swallowed hard and forced the tears away.
Hours passed.
More photographs.
More greetings.
More smiles that never reached my eyes.
At some point, I realized Damien was gone.
I hadn’t seen him leave.
One moment, he had been standing a few feet away, speaking with a group of guests, and the next, he was nowhere in sight.
I glanced around the ballroom.
Nothing.
Not that I minded.
If anything, the distance was a relief.
Being married to him was already overwhelming enough. I didn’t need the constant reminder standing beside me.
After another round of forced smiles and awkward conversations, I decided to escape for a few minutes.
A bathroom break sounded like heaven.
I quietly slipped away from the crowd and headed toward one of the side hallways.
At first, I thought I knew where I was going.
A few minutes later, I realized I had absolutely no idea.
The ballroom seemed endless, connected to a maze of corridors and private rooms.
I frowned and slowed my steps.
Maybe I should turn back.
Just as I was about to do exactly that, voices drifted toward me.
I would have ignored them, but then I heard the name Blackwood.
My feet stopped.
The voices were coming from farther down the hallway.
Curiosity got the better of me.
Slowly, I moved forward.
The corridor eventually opened onto a set of glass doors leading outside.
Beyond them was a private garden illuminated by soft golden lights.
And standing in the middle of it was Damien.
He wasn’t alone.
An older man stood facing him.
The man looked to be in his sixties, dressed in an expensive suit. His silver hair was neatly combed back, and there was something about him that immediately put me on edge.
Maybe it was the way he stood.
Maybe it was the way he looked at Damien.
Whatever it was, it made me hesitate near the doorway.
Neither man had noticed me.
“I still don’t understand it,” the older man said.
“I gave you every opportunity, Blackwood.”
Damien remained silent.
The man let out a short, bitter laugh.
“My daughter was willing to overlook your obsession with the Hart girl.”
The older man continued.
“Then the girl runs away.”
His lips curled slightly.
“I thought perhaps fate had finally intervened and you would come back to your senses.”
Damien’s expression didn’t change.
Not even slightly.
The older man’s eyes hardened.
“Instead, you married the spare.”
The words struck me like a slap.
The spare.
As if I were nothing more than an extra piece being used to fill an empty space.
For the first time, Damien spoke.
“Be careful, Victor.”
The words were cold.
The older man smiled.
“Or what?”
Damien looked at him, and the older man’s smile faded almost immediately.
I couldn’t explain why.
There was simply something unsettling about the way Damien stared at him.
Finally, Damien spoke again.
“You should know by now that I don’t respond well to threats.”
The older man’s jaw tightened.
For a moment, neither man spoke.
Then the older man took a step forward.
“My daughter should have been standing beside you at that altar today.”
His voice was no longer calm.
It carried a great deal of frustration beneath it.
“Tiffany should have been wearing that ring.”
Damien didn’t answer.
The older man scoffed.
“Instead, she’s sitting at home humiliated, crying her eyes out while you parade around with a substitute.”
Something dark flashed across his face.
“You humiliated my family, Damien Blackwood.”
Still no reaction.
The man shook his head.
“I expected better from you.”
“And yet,” Damien said evenly, “here we are.”
The older man’s eyes narrowed.
For the first time, genuine anger showed on his face.
“You think this ends here?”
Damien said nothing.
The man laughed bitterly.
“Maybe marrying Victoria would have been forgivable.”
He paused.
“But marrying her sister?”
His expression twisted.
“You actually lowered yourself for this.”
My cheeks burned.
Every instinct told me to leave.
To turn around and pretend I had never heard any of this.
But I couldn’t move.
The older man pointed a finger toward Damien.
“You will regret this. I promise you that.”
Damien didn’t even blink.
“Perhaps.”
The answer seemed to catch the man off guard.
Then Damien tilted his head slightly.
“Or perhaps you’re forgetting who you’re speaking to, Victor.”
The older man went still.
The tension between them felt almost tangible.
For a brief moment, I wondered if the man was about to explode.
Then his gaze shifted past Damien and landed on me.
My shoulders tensed.
A slow smile spread across his face.
Not a pleasant smile or a friendly one.
The kind of smile that made my skin crawl.
“Well.”
The word drifted through the night air.
“There she is.”
Damien turned, and our eyes met instantly.
For a second, neither of us moved.
His expression was unreadable, but I could feel the weight of his gaze.
The older man’s smile widened.
“The replacement bride herself.”
I wished the ground would open beneath me.
He took a slow step in my direction.
“Tell me, Mrs. Blackwood.”
The title sounded wrong coming from him.
Mocking.
Cruel.
“I see you decided to join us?”
A chill ran down my spine.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
The garden had become painfully silent.
I looked from the older man to Damien.
Neither of them looked away.
I could tell whatever existed between these two men was bigger than a disagreement over a marriage.
Much bigger.
For the first time since this whole thing began, I felt something that had nothing to do with Ethan. Nothing to do with Victoria.
I felt fear.
Not for what had already happened, but for what could happen.
Without saying a word, I turned around and walked back into the building.
I could still feel their eyes on me as I disappeared down the hallway.
And no matter how hard I tried, one question refused to leave my mind.
What exactly had I gotten myself into?
The rest of the reception passed in a blur, and throughout it all, Damien barely spoke to me.
We stood together when necessary.
Posed for pictures.
Thanked guests.
That was it.
The distance between us felt enormous despite the fact that we were standing side by side.
Neither of us seemed interested in closing it.
By the time the reception finally began winding down, I felt completely exhausted.
I slipped away from the crowd and stepped onto a quieter terrace connected to the ballroom.
For the first time all day, I could breathe.
The evening air felt cold, and I closed my eyes.
“Isabel.”
I turned immediately.
My mother stood a few feet away.
Her eyes were red, and she looked like she had been crying.
Behind her was my father.
For a moment, none of us spoke.
Then my mother rushed forward and pulled me into a hug.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” she whispered.
The words broke something inside me because I knew she meant them.
“I know,” I said softly.
She pulled back and cupped my face.
“I never wanted this for you.”
I looked away.
Neither had I.
My father stepped forward.
He looked older than he had that morning.
Tired and defeated.
The guilt in his eyes was impossible to miss.
“I’m sorry, Isabel,” he said quietly.
I swallowed hard.
“What happens now?”
Neither of them answered immediately.
That alone told me everything.
They didn’t know.
My mother’s eyes filled with tears again.
“Things will get better.”
I wanted to believe her.
I really did.
But after today, hope felt dangerous.
My father looked down for a moment before speaking again.
“Thank you.”
The words hit harder than anything else.
Thank you.
Not congratulations.
Not you’ll be okay.
Thank you.
Because he knew exactly what I had sacrificed.
My eyes burned.
“Dad…”
“I know,” he interrupted softly.
“I know what this cost you.”
The silence that followed hurt more than any argument could have.
Footsteps approached, and we all turned toward the sound.
A tall man in a dark suit stopped a respectful distance away.
He looked professional.
The kind of man who probably never wasted words.
“Mrs. Blackwood.”
The title felt strange and foreign.
I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to hearing it.
The man inclined his head slightly.
“My name is Carter.”
I waited.
“Mr. Blackwood has instructed me to escort you to your parents’ residence.”
My mother frowned.
“Why?”
“Mrs. Blackwood is to gather any belongings she wishes to bring with her.”
My stomach tightened.
The reality of everything suddenly felt much more permanent.
Carter continued.
“Afterward, I will transport you to Blackwood Mansion.”
I nodded slowly.
“I understand.”
My mother’s eyes immediately filled with fresh tears.
My father looked away.
Saying goodbye suddenly became much harder.
A few minutes later, I hugged them both one final time before leaving.
As I followed Carter toward the waiting vehicle, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something important had ended today.
Not just my old life.
Something deeper than that.
The drive was quiet.
The city lights passed outside the window while I sat in silence.
My wedding dress felt heavier than ever.
I stared out at the darkness and replayed everything in my head.
My entire life had changed in a single day.
I still couldn’t fully process it.
The ringing of a phone broke the silence.
Carter immediately answered.
“Yes, sir.”
I looked up.
His expression remained neutral as he continued speaking into the phone.
“Understood.”
A brief pause.
“Yes, sir.”
Then the call ended.
Carter placed the phone down, and for several moments, he said nothing.
Then he glanced at me through the rearview mirror.
“There has been a change of instructions, Mrs. Blackwood.”
I straightened slightly.
“What kind of change?”
“Mr. Blackwood has instructed me to return alone tonight.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You will remain at your parents’ residence this evening.”
Confusion washed over me.
“I thought I was supposed to move in tonight.”
“That was the original plan.”
“And now?”
“He wishes for you to arrive tomorrow instead.”
I stared at him.
“Did he say why?”
He shook his head.
“No, ma’am.”
I leaned back against the seat as my confusion only grew.
Why would Damien suddenly change his mind?
Had something happened?
I had no answers.
But as the familiar streets leading to my childhood home came into view, another emotion surfaced.
Relief.
A small one. A temporary one.
But relief nonetheless.
The car finally pulled into the driveway.
I stared at the house through the window.
Tomorrow I would enter Damien Blackwood’s world.
Tomorrow everything would become real.
But tonight, I still had one last night to myself.
And for now, that was enough.
What readers are saying 0
Share your thoughts with everyone reading this chapter.
