We Planned Nine Weddings, All Canceled For His Superstitious Childhood Friend Chapter 05

We Planned Nine Weddings, All Canceled For His Superstitious Childhood Friend Chapter 05

Julian’s smile froze, his expression full of disbelief.

“No way! She was locked in the lounge. Who could she possibly have married?”

“The lounge door was smashed open!”

“Look at Instagram!”

His friend held the phone up in front of him.

The marriage certificate on the screen was impossible to ignore. In the photo, I looked calm and

relieved, while Elliot stood beside me with a warm smile and unmistakable tenderness in his eyes.

Julian’s fingers began to tremble, and a sudden emptiness opened inside him.

He stared at the photo, shaking his head frantically.

“No… no way. It has to be fake.”

Mara had loved him for ten years. How could she turn around and marry someone else?

And of all people, Elliot Vaughn-the boy she had grown up with.

If there had ever been anything between Mara and Elliot, they would have gotten together years ago. Why would she spend ten years chasing Julian, only to marry Elliot when she had been one step away from finally becoming Julian’s wife?

It had to be fake.

She must have Photoshopped a picture of herself with Elliot just to get under his skin.

The thought calmed him enough to pull out his phone and call me immediately.

The first call was rejected.

The second was rejected too.

So was the third.

The fourth went straight to voicemail.

She had blocked him.

The last shred of reassurance he had been clinging to collapsed, and panic surged through him.

Sienna noticed the change in his expression and hurried over, gently tugging at his sleeve.

“Julian, what’s wrong? Our families and all the guests are still waiting for us to make the rounds/

Julian barely seemed to hear her.

“Julian!”

She pulled harder.

“I need to go out for a minute.”

Julian started toward the exit, but Sienna immediately stepped in front of him. Her eyes reddened.

“You can’t just leave me here alone. Everyone is watching. What do you think people will say about/ me if you walk out now?”

The guests nearby had already noticed something was wrong. Curious, suspicious looks began

drifting their way.

Sienna glanced at the marriage certificate on the phone and continued in a soft voice.

“This has to be one of Mara’s little stunts. She’s upset because I finished the ceremony in her place. That’s all this is-she’s being petty. We were trying to help her, and this is how she reacts.”

“Julian, don’t let her get to you. If you walk out now, you’ll humiliate the entire Prescott family in front of everyone. And I just did another reading. If we stop the wedding halfway through, it’ll bring

terrible luck.”

“Once the ceremony is over, I’ll go with you and we can talk to Mara. She loves you too much to stay mad. Once she cools off, she’ll come back.”

Julian’s expression remained tense.

His friend quickly agreed.

“Exactly. Mara’s just trying to sabotage the wedding. Give it a little while and she’ll come crying back, begging you to take her back.”

Julian kept staring at the photo of the marriage certificate.

Little by little, the strange fear inside him was smothered by everyone’s reassurance–and by the

arrogance he had carried for years.

It had been ten whole years.

Mara had given up her career for him. She had bent over backward for him, compromised again and

again, and put up with almost anything.

There was no way she could simply let him go.

Julian took a deep breath, forced down his agitation, and tossed the phone back to his friend. The

coldness returned to his face.

“Fine. We’ll finish the ceremony first. Let’s see how long she can keep this tantrum going.”

He slipped an arm around Sienna’s waist again and turned back toward the room full of celebrating

guests, settling once more into his role as the groom.

After I posted to Instagram, Elliot wanted to take me to the hospital and have my injuries checked

again.

I stopped him.

“There’s something more important first. After everything Julian did to me, how could I not give

him a little surprise in return?”

Elliot understood immediately.

He pulled out his phone and made a call.

Not long afterward, we drove back to the wedding.

The heavy ballroom doors flew open.

A blast of cold air swept into the noisy room, and every guest turned toward the entrance.

I stood in the doorway with Elliot beside me, calm and composed. Our fingers were tightly

intertwined, and several bodyguards stood behind us.

One of Julian’s friends was the first to speak, his voice dripping with mockery.

“See, Julian? Told you Mara couldn’t let go. She even brought another guy along to back her up, just to make you jealous!”

“Pathetic.”

A flicker of satisfaction rose inside Julian.

He took my return as proof that I still couldn’t let him go, that no matter what happened, I would

never truly leave him.

Then his gaze dropped to my hand intertwined with Elliot’s, and anger flared in his eyes.

Even if he was sure I was only provoking him to make him come back to me, how could I be holding

another man’s hand?

Whispers spread through the ballroom.

Replacing the bride on the wedding day had already raised plenty of questions, but the Prescott

mily carried enough weight that no one had dared say

much.

Now the woman who was supposed to be at the altar had shown up in person with another man, and everyone was waiting to see what happened next.