Wrong Bride, Real Goodbye Chapter 06

Wrong Bride, Real Goodbye Chapter 06

Ivy’s POV

I followed Liam back to Reed territory.

My job transferred smoothly enough.

New city, zero friction.

Liam used his own standing to convince his parents and the Reed family elders.

Then he brought me into Reed House.

Adrian showed up the next morning.

He cornered me outside my office building, grabbed my wrist, and tried to drag me toward his car.

“Come back with me.”

“Break the mate bond with Liam Reed right now.”

“I’m not holding any of this against you. All you have to do is”

Slap.

I cut through his delusions with one backhand.

“Back with me now?”

Adrian’s eyes went red.

“You hit me?”

His voice cracked with something raw, something loud.

“You register a mate bond with someone else, and then you hit me?”

I looked at him steadily. Almost laughed.

“Now you know how it feels?”

He flinched.

His jaw tightened. He looked away.

“That’s different.”

“What I did wasn’t serious.”

“You registered a mate bond. That’s actual commi

I nodded.

“You’re right. It’s not the same.”

“You weren’t serious.”

“I was.”

All the color left Adrian’s face.

“What?”

He asked again.

I didn’t mind repeating it.

“I thought it through before agreeing to marry Lian

“Ask me a hundred times. My answer doesn’t chan

“I chose this.”

The vein at Adrian’s temple pulsed.

“How could you do this to me?”

I tilted my head.

“Do what to you exactly?”

“Did I ever humiliate you in front of everyone?”

“Did I ever break my word?”

“Did I ever let my friends treat you like a joke?”

Three questions. Adrian’s expression locked up co

He pressed two fingers to his temple.

His lips had gone pale.

“Ivy, I know I was wrong before.”

“I acted like nothing mattered.”

“But trust me.”

“The only person I ever wanted to register with was you.”

“If this is payback, I deserve it.”

“But can we just stop fighting?”

“I miss you.”

1 really miss you.”

“From the second you walked out, I haven’t stopped regretting it.”

“I don’t know why I was such an ass.”

“I don’t know why I pushed you out the door.”

If he could go back to that night, Adrian would’ve given anything.

He wouldn’t be that selfish again.

Wouldn’t make the decision he’d been sick over ever since.

He took my hand again, his voice stripped down to something close to begging.

“Ivy, honestly.”

“Was I really that bad to you?”

“Whatever you wanted, I gave you.”

“A few broken promises. The Mate Ceremony. Other than that, I gave you everything.”

He said it like he believed it.

Like a good man wronged by circumstance.

I smiled faintly.

“Is that so?”

I pulled out my phone and showed him Bella’s screenshot from that night.

“Amazing. So good.”

I watched the color drain out of his face and asked quietly:

“So what exactly were you two doing that night?”

“She lied!”

“I never touched her.”

Adrian grabbed my hand hard. There was anger in his face and something almost wounded.

“Do you believe me?”

“I can call her right now.”

Before I could say anything, he was already dialing.

Bella picked up immediately.

“Adrian, how’d it go? Is she still being difficult?”

His voice dropped to ice.

“What did you post on social media after the Mate Ceremony? The middle of the night.”

Silence on the other end.

Adrian’s voice rose like a whip crack.

“Answer me.”

Crying came through the speaker.

All aggrieved innocence.

“Why are you yelling at me…‘

She didn’t say what she’d done.

Didn’t apologize.

Just complained about his tone.

Adrian looked like he was getting a migraine.

“Tell me right now.”

“What did that post mean?”

“I just wanted to make her mad. I wasn’t being serious.”

Click

Adrian hung up.

His expression loosened by half a degree.

“You can believe me now.”

“She was stirring the pot. I didn’t do anything with her.”

“So she lied. Does that make you clean?”

I met his eyes and smiled, soft and unhurried.

“Adrian, did you forget?”

“That piece of clothing soaked in her perfume. I pulled it out of the closet in our bedroom.”

“The list of things you’ve done isn’t exactly short.”

I looked at him and kept smiling.

“But I don’t hate you.”

“You can only hate someone you loved.”

“Adrian, I got attached. I got dependent. I even had moments of softness.”

“But that wasn’t love.”

“Not the kind you think it was.”

“Can’t you see that?”

“I don’t buy it.”

“You’re lying!”

He was breathing hard. His eyes were bright with tears.

I let out a slow breath.

And decided to say all of it.

“I was with you to get back at Liam.”

“For leaving for an overseas Pack university without telling me.”

“Honestly?”

“When I ran into you again, my first thought was: this sucks.”

“The years at Pack school when you let people mess with me. You think I actually forgot?”

“The day Bella dumped a drink on my head in front of everyone. You think I forgot that?”