The wedding hall was drenched in music, flowers, and laughter-yet to her, it felt like the cruelest silence.
Tears streamed down Jennifer's face, her lips trembling as she clutched the edge of the hem of her dress with trembling fingers. Her entire body shook, not from the cold, but from the agony that refused to let her breathe. She stood frozen near the altar, eyes fixed on the man she had once called her future-Adrian.
Please..." Her voice cracked, broken into shards. "Don't do this to me, Adrian. We were supposed to be together. You promised-you swore you loved me!" Her words echoed, raw and desperate, cutting through the laughter of guests who shifted uncomfortably at the unfolding scene.
But Adrian's eyes carried no warmth, no trace of the man who once whispered dreams into her heart. Instead, he looked at her with thinly veiled disgust.
Her father, Mr. Peter Smith, rushed to her side, holding her shoulders, whispering softly, "Jenny, enough, my child. Please, don't humiliate yourself further. He doesn't deserve you." His voice was gentle, but his hands trembled with helplessness.
Then Adrian's voice sliced through the air, sharp and merciless.
"This," he spat, glaring at Peter, "is what you deserve. For what you did to my mother."
The hall went still. Jennifer blinked, her sobs pausing in confusion.
Adrian's jaw clenched, his voice rising with years of buried rage. "She took her life because of you. You destroyed her, and now your daughter will feel the same destruction. She will suffer as my mother suffered."
Peter's face paled, his eyes widening in disbelief. "No... no, Adrian. You are mistaken. I had no part in your mother's death. I swear it. You've been fed lies." His words cracked with both fear and sincerity, but Adrian would not listen. His stare remained cold, unforgiving.
Jennifer's cries deepened, each plea torn from her chest. "Adrian, please, I love you! Don't leave me... please don't leave me like this."
But her body could no longer endure the storm inside her. Her knees buckled, her eyes fluttered shut, and before her father could hold her steady, she collapsed onto the floor with a thud that silenced the hall.
"Jenny!" Peter fell to his knees, gathering her limp body into his arms. Panic tore through his voice as he shouted for help, his old heart pounding with terror. Without waiting, he lifted her into his arms and rushed out, calling desperately for a car, for a doctor, for anything to keep his daughter breathing.....
Adrian watched, his mask of bitterness unshaken, but his chest tightened in a way he did not allow anyone to see. For a fleeting second, his facade cracked-the sight of her unconscious body pierced him with an ache he could not admit. His fists clenched at his sides, nails digging into his palms, as he forced himself to turn away.
And yet... his eyes lingered too long on the door through which she had been carried, betraying a storm he would never show.