I Cancelled The Wedding While He Paid For Her Dream Dress Chapter 06

I Cancelled The Wedding While He Paid For Her Dream Dress Chapter 06

The train pulled into Silverpine under a sky so blue it almost looked unreal.

I dragged my suitcase through the station doors. Outside, a man in a black hiking jacket leaned against a mud-streaked SUV, watching me.

“Dr. Whitlock. Did you see the video?”

I recognized him immediately. He was the director from the Nat Geo documentary credits.

Reid pushed his sunglasses up. Calm and unhurried. “I’m Reid. Your director told me you were heading up here for the project. Turns out I need a consultant, so the timing works.”

“The crew’s staying at a lodge nearby. There’s a room open. I’ll take you over and let you get settled.”

I hesitated. “I owe you. For the video.”

Reid’s eyes dropped to my lips, probably noticing the lack of color, and he held out an oxygen canister. “Breathe first. Thank me after you know you’re not going to pass out.”

We drove to a mountain lodge tucked behind Founders’ Row, down a narrow alley I would’ve missed on my

own.

The courtyard was small. Prayer flags were strung along the wall, fading in the sun.

I dropped my bag and heard it. Fast, shallow panting from the corner.

A stray Great Pyrenees mix lay curled against a wooden crate, its tongue turning purple, front paws

twitching in small, tight spasms.

I dropped to my knees and pressed two fingers to its chest. “Blanket. Oxygen. Everyone back up.”

Reid leaned against a post, watching. Then, without a word, he handed me a heavy blanket and his portable oxygen canister.

When the dog stabilized, the lodge owner let out a long breath. “Mr. Ellington, where’d you find this one? Hands like a surgeon’s.”

I glanced up at Reid, wondering how the owner knew him so well.

He half-smiled. “He was my guide back when I was shooting wildlife docs. We co-own this place. And the

‘Mr. Ellington’ thing, ignore that. It’s just an old family name. It means nothing up here.”

Over the next few days, Reid drove me to the wetlands outside the city and the edge of the glacier.

He never asked about Callum. When he caught me scrolling through the trending headlines with that empty look, he’d just push the camera into my hands. “Look at the snow line. Better view than whatever trash is on

that screen.

I laughed. The first real one in days. “Are you always this blunt?”

Reid adjusted the lens. “Bepends on the person. Trust me, this is me being polite.”

Callum had turned his corporate office into a war zone.

Brielle stood in the doorway, crying. “Callum, everyone’s coming after me online. You can’t just shut me out like this.”

Callum didn’t look up. He was refreshing flight searches again and again. “Maren’s in Silverpine.”

Something crossed Brielle’s face. “You’re going after her?”

He grabbed his coat. “I have to bring her back.”

Brielle grabbed onto him, both hands around his arm. “Then what happens to me? You said you’d always protect me.”

Callum shook her off. No gentleness. No hesitation. “We’ll deal with it when I get back.”

The altitude hit him the second he landed. His lips went blue, his head splitting. He got in a cab anyway and went straight to the lodge.

I was in the courtyard, crouched beside the Pyrenees mix, one hand steady on its neck.

Callum stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame for support. His eyes were bloodshot, his breathing shallow and labored. “Maren. I found you.”

I didn’t stand. “Who gave you this address?”

He took a step closer, voice scraped raw. “That doesn’t matter. I gutted the whole house. Everything’s new, And I bought the clinic that set of state-of-the-art surgical tables you wanted.”

I gave the dog one last pat and stood. “That’s not what this is about, Callum. I’m not coming back.”

He reached for me. “I know you’re still upset. Brielle’s gone. I kicked her out. We can start fresh.”

Reid came out of the lodge, a camera battery still in one hand, and stepped right between us.

Callum’s jaw tightened, then his expression changed. He recognized him.

“Mr. Ellington?”