He Left Me at the Altar for His First Love, I Ruined Him Chapter 04

He Left Me at the Altar for His First Love, I Ruined Him Chapter 04

Stella put on my wedding dress.

It hung a little loose on her.

Elias found some clips and pinned the back himself.

“Beautiful.”

He looked at Stella the way you look at someone you’ve been waiting for.

I sat on the corner of the sofa, scrolling through a booking app on my phone.

“Clara, thank you for lending me the dress.”

Stella gathered the hem, stepped over to me, and gave a little spin.

The tulle caught a glass of red wine on the side table, knocking it over. A dark stain spread across the white fabric.

She glanced down.

“Oh no. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Before I could say a word, Elias was already shaking his head.

“Just send it to the cleaner. It’ll come out.”

He looked at me.

“Don’t start over this. Not today.”

I looked at the stain spreading through the tulle and smiled.

“Don’t worry. I won’t.”

I lifted my phone and snapped a photo of the stain.

“That’s going in the damage report.”

Elias said nothing, but his mouth pressed into a thin line.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Stella looked at Elias.

Elias sighed and patted her shoulder.

“It’s fine. Clara won’t make a big deal out of it.”

Stella gathered the skirt and drifted back to the mirror.

“After I’m done with the photos, I’ll give it right back.”

“Keep it.”

I locked my phone screen.

“It’s yours.”

It was already ruined.

Elias came toward me, tension pulling at his face.

“You don’t mean that.”

“You spent six months getting that made. You can’t just give it away.”

I stood up.

“Take your time with the photos. I’m heading out.”

“Where are you going?”

Elias blocked my path.

“Home to get ready.” I looked at him. “We’re still going to City Hall this afternoon, aren’t we?”

Something in Elias unclenched.

“Go on.”

He glanced at his watch.

“I’ll stay until Stella’s done with the photos, then I’ll come get you.”

I picked up my case and headed for the door.

Stella’s cousin rushed in from outside.

She crashed right into me.

My bag went flying. Everything inside spilled across the floor.

An antique cameo brooch skidded across the tile.

My mother’s. The only thing she left me.

I was going to wear it to City Hall.

Then her cousin’s heel came down on it.

A sharp crack.

The delicate shell cracked into three pieces.

Elias was there in two strides.

He looked at her cousin.

“Are you okay?”

“Did you twist your ankle?”

The cousin shook her head and hid behind Stella.

I knelt there holding the broken pieces.

“This was my mother’s.”

Elias’s face went cold.

“Clara, don’t use your dead mother to guilt-trip people.”

Every inch of me went cold.

“Look at her. You’re scaring them.”

“Clara, stop making a scene and apologize.”

A laugh tore out of me.

“Elias.”

“She broke the only thing my mother left me.”

“And you’re telling me to apologize?”

He wouldn’t look at me.

“She didn’t do it on purpose.”

“It’s a brooch. I’ll buy you a better one.”

I clenched the broken pieces.

“Okay.”

I nodded.

“Then you won’t mind, since nothing I do next will be on purpose either.”

Elias blinked. He didn’t get it yet.

I turned and walked out.

Behind me, the photographer called out that the backdrop wasn’t level.

Stella frowned. “Can you shift the backdrop to the left?”

The crew guy hesitated. “It just went up. It hasn’t been sandbagged yet. I wouldn’t move it.”

Elias looked at Stella.

“Move it.”

“If anything goes wrong, I’ll take the responsibility.”

I stopped in the doorway. “Elias, that thing isn’t stable.”

“Since when are you an engineer?”

Stella touched his arm.

“Forget it. I don’t need the photos.”

Elias set his jaw.

“We’re taking the photos.”

He braced his hands against the base and shoved it left himself.

The wood groaned.

The whole backdrop came down.