Mr. Right after Mr Wrong: A million-dollar upgrade

Chapter 2

Karson

No one moved, no one spoke, the horror that was every young woman's worst nightmare jamming the very air that surrounded them. As the weight of the revelation settled in the room, the air thickened with an oppressive silence. Leia's tearful gaze remained fixed on the damning words etched on the notepaper. She tried to speak, but all that could be heard were choked sobs.

She dropped into the nearest chair, her face turned chalk-white with shock. Pressed between her knees and half-buried in the soft folds of pure white silk and delicate lace were her hands. Ice-cold and numb, I had held them for a second as they crushed the single sheet of notepaper Derek had just grimly sent to her.

'Dear Leia,' it said. Dear Leia...fuck how could he write that. Dear Leia

I couldn't understand how could he do this to her today. My sister-in-law, Ophelia, would have done something horrible to her in a blink of an eye but how could Derek do this to her on their wedding day? Was he the same man who had confessed his undying love for her and was ready to leave the business for her? I had warned him again and again, against this marriage. He had said that I was just envious of the love they shared, of him, because I had never been loved like that. How fucking wrong he was.

Women approached me for my money, status and all my name could give them. I wasn't envious of them but of the loyalty Leia had for him. Leia had never batted her eyes at any man besides Derek, my eyes had followed her movement and there was an undying loyalty towards the man she loved. Derek could have done this anytime before the wedding but today of all days, why the hell?

I was mad at him, raging mad to have him rob of his inheritance. This stunt of his was surely going to cost him. With one look at Leia when he had introduced her to me, I had warned him to leave her alone but damn fools just went against my words and dated her. The news of his wedding was nothing less than a shock to me.

Every now and then people would stare at me. The atmosphere crackled with a mix of anger, disappointment, and disbelief.

It could have also been because I was the only man from his family to be still standing here. I felt a surge of anger, not just at Derek, but at the absent members of our family who chose to distance themselves from the unfolding drama. It was as if they were not a least concerned with what was happening and just going on with their lives.

I knew they were resting in the hotel rooms sipping coffee without any concern about what was happening here. They were snobs, sitting on the high chair thinking they were rich enough to order the world around.

What they fucking forgot was that I was the one who owned the pretty little wealth they were so proud of. I wanted to walk back to the hotel and kick all of them out.

'Why?' Her uncle's harsh cry broke into the terrible silence, sounding hoarse and stricken and grievously bewildered.

Amidst the heavy silence, Leia's uncle, who had been a father figure to her voice broke through the stillness, a harsh lamentation echoing the collective shock in the room. "How could he do it?" he cried out, his words hanging in the air like an accusation.

Nobody answered him. Leia couldn't, not with the tears that ran down her cheeks, and I obviously wasn't prepared to. The others in the room remained speechless, grappling with the enormity of the situation.

The weight of responsibility fell heavily on my shoulders. I wanted to confront Derek, to demand an explanation, and to make good of whatever remained of the shattered relationship. As I gathered my resolve, I couldn't help but wonder if love could really crumble under the weight of secrets and betrayals.

It felt as if the room had become a house of emotions, all of us fighting our own demons.

I saw Leia clutching the note, her hands trembling as if trying to understand how the words on a paper could unravel the life she had known. My heart ached for her. I could feel myself drawn towards her, all I wanted was to hold her to be a balm to the wounds my nephew had inflicted on her but deep down I also felt a relief that she wasn't married to him.

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