He Left Me at the Altar for His First Love, I Ruined Him Chapter 05

He Left Me at the Altar for His First Love, I Ruined Him Chapter 05

I spun around.

Elias threw himself over Stella, shielding her with his body.

The heavy wooden frame crashed into my shoulder and back.

Stella screamed. “Elias! Clara’s bleeding. She’s bleeding a lot!”

Elias’s head snapped toward me.

“Clara?”

Disinfectant. First thing. Sharp and chemical, burning at the back of my throat.

I opened my eyes to a white ceiling.

My right shoulder screamed every time I took a breath.

The door opened.

Elias walked in with a bouquet and a paper bag from the café downstairs.

His eyes were bloodshot. He looked like he hadn’t slept.

When he saw my eyes open, he crossed the room in three steps.

“You’re awake?”

He dragged a chair to the bedside and sat.

“The doctor said nothing’s broken. Just deep tissue bruising. You’ll need to take it easy for a few weeks, and you’ll be fine.”

I looked at him and said nothing.

“Does it still hurt?”

He reached for my face.

I turned away. The room spun, but I didn’t care.

His hand hung in the air for a second, then dropped.

“Everything happened so fast yesterday.”

His voice was careful, measured.

“Stella was right next to the backdrop. I was right next to her. I moved before I could think.”

“I couldn’t get to you in time.”

“I know.”

He pulled a document from his bag.

I glanced at it.

A printed invoice. The damage report for the dress.

“Clara, what is this?”

His voice was low, laced with anger.

“Stella’s already been through hell, and you’re slapping her with a fifty-four thousand dollar bill over a dress?”

I looked at him.

“Your name is on the contract.”

“The bill goes to you.”

His knuckles went white around the chair arm.

“We’re supposed to be getting married, and you’re doing this?”

I kept my voice very quiet.

“Elias, what makes you think I still want to marry you?”

He went completely still. He stared at me like he’d never seen me before.

A long silence. Then he breathed out, and when he spoke again, his voice had softened.

“Owen left her at the altar yesterday. Stella’s devastated.”

He said it like he was announcing a schedule change at work.

“Her apartment is a dump. She can’t heal in a place like that.”

I looked at the document in his hand.

“So what?”

“The new house we bought, we haven’t moved in anyway.”

He put the document on the bedside table.

“I’ll let her stay there for a while.”

“After we’re married, we’ll stay at your apartment for now.”

I’d put up half the down payment on that place.

He’d said the company needed the clean credit history for loan purposes, so the deed went in his name. He’d add me after the wedding.

“She really likes the big balcony off the master bedroom.”

“Just clear your things out of the master suite and bring them back to your apartment.”

So while I was unconscious, he’d already moved her in.

I almost laughed.

Before we’d even made it to City Hall, he’d given Stella my wedding dress and handed her the keys to our home.

He was watching me, waiting, not a flicker of guilt on his face.

Like it was just logistics.

“Okay.”

I nodded.

His shoulders dropped.

“See? I knew you’d understand.”

He stood up and straightened the blanket over me.

“Get some rest. I’ll go handle the discharge paperwork.”

He walked out.

Elias came back with two cups of coffee.

“You’re cleared to leave.”

He handed the coffee to me.

“I’ll drive you home.”

“I’m fine.”

I pushed the blanket off and swung my legs over the side. Pain tore down my back, but I stood anyway.

“I’ll grab a cab.”

“You can barely move your arm.”

He wasn’t asking.

“Stop being difficult. Just let me drive you.”

I didn’t argue. I got in the car.

The car was silent.

He didn’t mention City Hall.

He didn’t ask about the pain.

He pulled up outside my building.

“I’ve got a meeting this afternoon.”

“You okay going up on your own?”

“No problem.”

I popped the door open with my left hand.

“Clara.”

I was halfway out when he said it.

I looked back.

“Once Stella’s doing better, I’ll take you to pick out a new brooch. A better one.”

His voice was soft.

“I know yesterday was rough on you.”

I looked at his face.

I closed the car door.

I turned away from the car and opened my phone. I canceled our honeymoon tickets. Then, I booked a one-way flight to Northwood.

Letting him off easy wasn’t an option anymore.