After Our Wedding Was Canceled, He Searched the River for the Ring Chapter 07

After Our Wedding Was Canceled, He Searched the River for the Ring Chapter 07

On my third day in France, classes officially began.

I had expected to struggle with the adjustment. Everything was unfamiliar-the language, the streets, even the classroom.

But my instructors waited patiently for me to find the right words, and my classmates offered to help me carry my floral supplies.

No one minded that I was slow.

No one told me that getting married meant I had to stop pursuing my own future.

Morning sunlight streamed through the windows of the floral design studio.

As I lowered my head to trim a white rose, it suddenly occurred to me that the world had not ended

when I left Miles.

If anything, even the air felt lighter.

After class, I walked out of the building with an armful of flowers.

The moment I reached the entrance, I saw Sienna.

She wore a beige coat and looked far more worn than the last time I had seen her.

When she saw me, she instinctively stepped forward, then stopped.

“Elena.”

I paused.

I was not surprised that she had found me.

We had grown up together. She knew which flowers I loved, knew how easily I got cold, and knew where I went to hide whenever I was hurting.

What I still could not understand was why it had to be her.

Anyone could have betrayed me.

Why did it have to be the person I trusted most?

I tightened my arms around the flowers and spoke flatly.

“What do you want?”

Sienna’s eyes reddened.

“I know you don’t want to see me.”

“But I owe you an apology.”

She lowered her head, her voice shaking.

“Elena, I know I did a lot of terrible things.”

“Some of them are so shameful that I can barely say them out loud now.”

Her fingers tightened around the hem of her coat as tears gathered in her eyes.

“I kept telling myself that one more step would get me what I wanted.”

“I forgot that the person I was stepping on to get there was you.”

She looked up at me, and the tears finally fell.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not asking you to forgive me. I just owed you those words.”

She spoke slowly, as though every word cut into her on its way out.

I watched her in silence.

Whenever she caused trouble in the past, she would stand in front of me exactly like this.

All she had to do was cry, and I would soften.

This time, I only felt tired.

“Sienna, you know what I’m most afraid of.”

The color drained from her face.

I continued quietly.

“You know I’m terrified of being abandoned by the people closest to me.”

“That’s why you knew exactly where every step would hurt the most.”

Her lips trembled, but no words came out.

I looked at her and suddenly smiled.

“You know exactly how to hurt me.”

“I know how to hurt you too.”

Sienna’s head snapped up.

I spoke calmly.

“Your mother knows.”

“She knows you fell for my fiancé. She also knows you nearly sent a bride to the hospital with an allergic reaction just so you could take credit for the bouquet.”

The last traces of color disappeared from Sienna’s face.

Her mother had always been strict. What she despised most was people who crossed boundaries

and went after someone else’s partner.

This time, Sienna did not cry.

She simply stood there for a long time before saying hoarsely, “I deserve it.”

I did not respond.

Some apologies come so late that they are nothing but words.

I turned and walked away with the flowers in my arms.

Behind me, I heard Sienna trying to suppress her sobs.

I did not look back.

That afternoon’s class was devoted to independent work.

One of my groupmates, Luc Moreau, was gentle and easygoing.

When I accidentally nicked my finger while trimming a stem, he immediately handed me a

Band-Aid.

“Take it easy. There’s no rush.”

I paused.

A long time ago, I had treated Miles the same way.

When he stayed up late revising wedding plans, I warmed milk for him. When he got so busy that he forgot to eat, I brought food to him outside his office building.

Back then, I believed loving someone meant always standing behind them.

Now I understood that a relationship that truly felt right should not leave only one person doing all

the chasing.

Luc handed me one of the tools and smiled.

“Your arrangement is beautiful.”

I looked down at the flowers in my hands and thanked him softly.

By the time class ended, the evening sky was burning orange.

I carried my finished arrangement down the steps.

When I looked up, I saw a familiar figure standing outside the building.

He wore a black overcoat. His tie was charcoal gray.

It was Miles.

He had lost a great deal of weight, and his eyes were bloodshot.

The moment he saw me, he seemed to come back to himself.

“Elena.”

I stood still, and the bouquet swayed slightly in my hands.

He walked toward me, his voice so hoarse that I barely recognized it.

“I came to take you home.”