I Was the Bride They Voted Out Chapter 03

I Was the Bride They Voted Out Chapter 03

I didn’t look at Ryan again.

I walked past the balloons and presents toward the door.

Olivia chased after me and grabbed my arm.

“Nina, where are you going?”

“We all flew back from Santorini. We haven’t even eaten yet, and we came all this way to celebrate your birthday. What more do you want?”

Her nails scraped my wrist, leaving a burning sting.

I shook her off and pushed the door open.

As it closed behind me, I heard someone mutter inside.

“It’s just a wedding. Why’s she making such a scene?”

The elevator descended.

In the mirrored walls, my face was deathly pale, a red mark still visible on my neck from the necklace.

I blocked Ryan, Olivia, and all those mutual friends.

When I arrived at the office, the receptionist looked surprised.

“Ms. Bennett, I thought you took leave today?”

“Came back to handle something.”

I went straight to Director Harrison’s office.

He slid a document across the desk.

“The Ashford project is urgent. Sign this, and you leave next week.”

I took the pen, my fingers still shaking.

When I signed my name, the final stroke pressed so hard it left a tiny tear in the paper.

I stared at that tiny rip and felt myself exhale.

By afternoon, I was wrapping up my handover.

My phone buzzed in my bag all day.

I ignored it.

Until my assistant, Emily Parker, walked in with coffee and froze at the door.

“Ms. Bennett…”

“I think you should see what’s online.”

She held out her phone.

The screen showed a new video from the same Santorini wedding blogger.

[Dream Wedding Update: Bride Reduced to Tears by Groom’s Obsessive Ex of Fifteen Years.]

In the video, Claire Whitmore wore her wedding gown, red-eyed, leaning against Ryan.

The voiceover dripped with indignation.

The narrator spoke with fake sympathy.

“Apparently, the groom once took responsibility for a former partner who had no parents.”

“Even after their relationship ended, she refused to let go and continued harassing him after his wedding.”

The comments flooded in.

[Being parentless isn’t an excuse to steal someone’s husband.]

[That ex is seriously unhinged.]

My fingers went numb, unable to scroll.

Below that, Olivia’s repost:

“Known her for years. Some people really do mistake kindness for entitlement.”

Rachel posted too:

“My brother’s too soft-hearted, which is why he got dragged along all this time. I just hope she’ll let two people who truly love each other be happy.”

My stomach convulsed.

I rushed into the restroom and threw up again.

In the mirror, my eyes were bloodshot, my lips completely colorless.

Outside, I heard hushed whispers.

“That’s Ms. Bennett, right?”

“She looks perfectly normal. So how could she cling a guy for fifteen years?”

I turned on the faucet, letting the water drown out their voices.

But every word still found its way into my ears.

After pulling myself together, I went back to the meeting room to continue the handover.

But by the third page, my voice caught in my throat.

Emily handed me water.

The cup clicked against my teeth.

I swallowed and kept going.

I couldn’t stop now.

After the meeting, Director Harrison called me into his office.

Several anonymous emails sat on his desk.

“Nina, the Ashford project team received complaints about you.”

“They claimed you’re emotionally unstable, and that your personal life has become a public controversy.”

“They don’t think you’re suitable for this assignment.”

I stood there, my fingertips turning cold.

My phone lit up.

Two messages from an unknown number.

“Nina. Stop making this harder than it has to be.”

“See? Without me, you’ve got nothing.”