His Secret Wife Was My Best Friend Chapter 08

His Secret Wife Was My Best Friend Chapter 08 The Missing Bride

On the wedding morning, a fine drizzle fell over Northcote.

The weather did nothing for Gareth’s mood.

He stood scowling at the mirror. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t get his tie to sit neatly. Even the start of the day seemed to be going wrong.

His irritation grew.

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Daphne slipped out of bed in her thin–strapped nightdress and gently straightened the knot for him.

“Don’t be upset,” she murmured. “It’s only for appearances.”

Gareth caught the hand resting on his chest. “Doesn’t this hurt you?”

Daphne pressed her lips together, suppressing her resentment and letting only a little vulnerability show.

“It’s all right. If it’s what’s best for you, I don’t mind.”

He kissed her fingers.

“Come with me to the wedding venue. I hope Cecily doesn’t cause any trouble today.”

As Gareth’s car pulled up at the Sutton estate, where the wedding was supposed to take place, he was still giving his assistant instructions.

“Don’t move the afternoon meeting. I’ll put in an appearance at the wedding, then head back to the office.”

He hadn’t finished when someone knocked on his window.

Cecily’s mother stood outside, looking grim.

“Mrs. Sutton, where’s Cecily? Tell her to hurry. We should be getting started.”

Mrs. Sutton sat on the sofa, visibly angry. Beside her stood the wedding planning manager, wearing an uncomfortable expression.

“I couldn’t find Cecily this morning,” her mother said. “Then the planners told me she’d canceled the wedding some time ago. What exactly did you do, Gareth, to make my daughter refuse to marry you?”

This was hardly the first she’d heard of Cecily’s refusal. She had simply assumed her daughter had canceled in a fit of temper.

Now that the matter was public, however, she had no intention of letting the Suttons take the blame.

Gareth’s face darkened with every word.

“She’s gone? That’s impossible. I saw her yesterday.”

Mrs. Sutton raised an eyebrow. “You did? Then perhaps you can tell me what happened yesterday.”

His mouth opened, but nothing came out.

He couldn’t admit that he’d humiliated Cecily in the hospital, then taken her to the bungee platform on Westmere Ridge and forced her over the edge despite her terror of heights.

He had assumed that once the wedding was over, everything that had happened could be dismissed as a couple’s petty quarrels. But now…

He had never imagined gentle, easygoing Cecily would put an end to the whole arrangement.

He turned angrily to the planner. “When did she cancel? How could you keep something this important from me?”

The manager looked aggrieved. “Ms. Sutton called two weeks ago. Her family has handled all the arrangements. I’ve never discussed them with you, and I had no

way of knowing what you’d been told.”

Two weeks. That was roughly when Cecily had discovered his affair with Daphne.

The thought sharpened his unease. He rushed upstairs to her bedroom.

Everything was tidy. Most of her belongings remained, including the designer bags and other gifts he’d bought her. The diamond ring from their engagement lay on the desk.

She had left it all behind.

The realization sent a chill through him.

How could she be so ruthless? The Hollises had deep roots in Northcote. Did she really think she could find a better fiancé? Why was she so determined to prove a point?

He called her, but an impersonal recorded voice was the only answer.

“The number you are calling is currently unavailable.”

He raked a hand through his hair. Then her mother’s furious voice rang out downstairs.

“She leaves me with this disaster, and now she thinks she can resign? Tell her to get back here immediately!”