5 years later.
"This marriage won't happen!"
The entire wedding hall erupted in chaos the moment the bride declared those words.
"You think I want to marry you?" Standing atop the altar, the handsome groom sneered as he extended his hand.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dainty hand reached towards him. Both the hands connected and their fingers intertwined.
As the tears blurred her vision, Kyra watched the scene in utter disbelief.
She glanced at the tall and handsome man whose eyes looked at her coldly, as if she was just a speck of dust in his eyes. He was still wearing the white suit that she had picked, matching her outfit but his eyes no longer looked at her with any softness.
In his arms, he held a delicate and youthful woman, her eyes radiated charms. Every move of her hands, her facial expressions, her bearing radiated warmth.
The kind of warmth that was burning down Kyra's heart like a gallant fire.
"Why…? Why?" A drop of tear trickled down Kyra's cheek.
Jackson was her childhood friend. When she was young, the only thing she had heard about marriage was that she was going to marry this person once she grew up.
After her mother's death, Jackson went abroad. Kyra expected things to change between them when her own life started to change. She was kicked out of her family with her brother, no longer bearing the family name.
But after Jackson returned from abroad 3 years ago, he confessed to her, unbothered by her circumstances. They started dating and soon, they were engaged as well.
All this while, she had never doubted him in the slightest. All his late nights and early mornings were justified by her in her own mind.
Until an hour before the wedding.
Kyra received a message from an unknown number. And when she tapped on it, all she could see was intimate pictures of her soon-to-be husband… with the woman he currently held in his arms. Livia Shen.
"Time and time again, I have tolerated you because of my parents. I honored this engagement because they pitied you," Jackson walked towards her, step by step while holding Livia in his embrace, "You, a woman who has been kicked out of her own family, do not have the moral standing or status to talk to me like that. So, lower your head when you talk to me, do you understand?"
In his eyes, Kyra saw a hatred she had never seen before. She had felt that he was detached and cold to her in the past. But at this moment, he did not hold back in showing his true feelings at all.
Lower her head? A bitter feeling curled inside Kyra and curling her fingers into a tight fist, she straightened her back even more, looking straight into his eyes, "I refuse to—"
Splash!
Red liquid dripped down her face, staining her white wedding gown as the red wine slowly bloomed on her like a flower.
Jackson's face showed no remorse upon splashing the wedding wine on his bride.
"That's unsightly!'' A gentle whisper reached Kyra's ears.
Her eyes narrowed at the gentle woman who was curled in Jackson's arms.
Livia trembled suddenly, snuggling closer to the man, "She is glaring at me like that… It is scary!"
And before Kyra could even recover from her daze, strong fingers gripped her jaw, digging into her skin.
In the next moment, she was swung off her feet and pushed back with a powerful force.
Her back crashed against a tall pillar as she landed on the floor, barely at the edge of the 10 feet wedding altar.
Her heart burned with defiance when she looked at Jackson and Livia. Why… Why make her a pawn in this game if he already had her in his heart?
What did she do to deserve such humiliation?
Why must it be like this?
She wanted to get up and say something, to irk them, to rip off the smugness off their face.
Kyra wanted to humiliate them, to silence all those whispers that rose against her:
'The bride must have done something!'
'She was even kicked out of her family. With a face like that, who knows… Maybe she had a loose character?'
'Jackson is such a gentleman. Why else would he behave like this?'
Yet, Kyra realized that she couldn't move. A trail of warm liquid trickled down the side of her head, slowly blooming another layer of crimson on her wedding dress.
As her vision spinned, Kyra saw Jackson looked her dead in the eye:
"So what if you discovered my love for Liv? You should have pretended to be blind and let this wedding happen for my parents' happiness…"
The man looked at her with a chilling gaze as he declared, "Without me, you are nothing. And I will make sure you remember that forever."
…
"Miss… Miss…."
Kyra's eyes snapped open, her chest heaved and her eyes registered to her surroundings.
"Miss, are you fine?" A young woman hovered slightly over her.