He Asked If I’d Only Forgive Her When I Was Dead, So I Showed Him Chapter 03

He Asked If I’d Only Forgive Her When I Was Dead, So I Showed Him Chapter 03

“That’s all in the past. She’s known she was wrong for a long time now. When you were sick, she went straight from the hospital to a church, crawled up the steps on her knees, and brought back a blessed medal for your safety.”

“When you weren’t feeling well, she made soup and cooked for you every single day, dropped everything off, and left, terrified you’d find out.”

“You’ve been overseas too long, so I get why you don’t want to believe she’s changed. I’m not asking you to get along with her, but you can’t keep acting like this over the wedding.”

“If you want your mental health to get better, you have to change too. Just think of it as doing it for our future. Can’t you try?”

Nathan’s eyes were dark, and the look in them made my heart pound with dread.

Still, I clung to one last sliver of hope. “I can wear the dress. But can’t the bridesmaid at least be someone else?”

No matter how many times I saw that face, it still terrified me.

Nathan avoided my eyes. “Just this once. I’m doing this for your own good.”

“Then we call off the wedding.”

My eyes red, I stepped back and shoved the gown over with all my strength.

If I couldn’t even decide what dress to wear or who stood beside me at my own wedding, then I didn’t want one at all.

“Tomorrow is the wedding, and you’re saying now that you won’t marry me? Can’t you think about the bigger picture for once?”

All the blood in my body seemed to go cold.

In that instant, I understood exactly why he had waited until the last minute to tell me.

He wanted to force me to compromise for the so-called bigger picture.

I looked at him, lost and disbelieving. “Just because she’s become a better person in your eyes, does that mean I’m supposed to forget everything she did to me?”

He’d been hit right where it hurt, and he snapped. “You are impossible.”

He had only been gone a short while when my parents arrived with Blaire.

“When are you ever going to grow up? Ever since we brought you back, you haven’t given us a single day of peace!”

“If there’s conflict in a family, you talk it out and move on. We’ve accepted Blaire again. Even those friends of yours have accepted her again. So what exactly are you still being so dramatic about?”

My lips parted, but no words came out.

Blaire had once stolen confidential files from my father’s company and sold them to a competitor, nearly driving the business under.

She had drugged my mother and dumped her in a homeless encampment to humiliate her.

A male classmate who had been bullied alongside me had his arm and leg broken by her.

My best friend of many years had once been stripped in public by Blaire, and the whole thing was filmed and posted online.

And even after all that, they still forgave her.

Blaire dropped to her knees and started smashing her forehead against the floor.

“Ruby, you can hit me or scream at me all you want, but please don’t call off the wedding because of me. I never should’ve helped pick the dress, and I never should’ve agreed to be your bridesmaid.”

“I know I don’t deserve to stand in front of you. I know that. But I can’t let go of Mom and Dad. If you’re angry, take it out on me. Please don’t punish innocent people because of me.”

She kept slamming her head down as she spoke, until blood started running down her face.

My parents tried and failed to stop her. In their fury, I was shoved hard.

“Are you mute now? Say something!”

“So are you getting married or not?”

I staggered backward from the force of it and crashed to the floor.

A sharp, dragging pain twisted through my lower abdomen, and then a strange electronic voice rang in my ears.

[Well done, Host. Your family favorability score has reached ninety-five percent.]

[Once the wedding is over tomorrow, your mission will be complete, and you’ll be able to leave this story world for good.]