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

Chapter 3

Leia

Karson stood by the window turning eyes away from everyone and all I could think was that the weight of the situation pressed upon him just like me. How could he stand there so disconnected from the moment, the very moment when my life was just crumbling to pieces? Questions swirled in my mind.

Why was he here? Had he and his family not done enough? How much had they played a role in this troubling event? Was he complicit in the dirty deed now done with? Why just stay here when he knew what had happened? He had always hated me from the beginning. He always ignored my presence and looked at me with despise.

Staring at the letter I received, all I could do was wonder whether he had been the one to deliver it. Though it was handed to me by someone from room service, I couldn't shake the responsibility of having brought the letter into the hotel. Right now, I was grateful that we had chosen separate hotels because I knew I would have been raging mad and breaking down to pieces if there had been a confrontation with the person who sent the letter. Karson could not be this cruel but the thought disappeared from my mind as soon as it entered. Even though he hated he couldn't have been this cruel.

I had never expected Derek to betray me like this. Yet here I was sitting here, a jilted bride.

As I grappled with my thoughts, the realization dawned on me that just a few short miles away, a church stood filled with guests adorned in their best wedding attire, eagerly awaiting a ceremony that would never happen. The panic instantly pulsed through my veins it almost felt like everything was enclosing on me.

People would have started to suspect that something was amiss. The absence of the groom at the altar and the missing presence of his family's members was surely not just going to rise suspicions among the assembled guests but everyone might have guessed it by now.

The reality of the situation sank in. The groom's absence, the uncle's unexpected presence, and the entire family's no-show at the church would only spark rumors and questions about my family and character. The repercussions were far-reaching; my family's reputation would have already been tarnished by now All my loved one turning their back on me. Aunt Laura would be devastated by the news. No! I couldn't add more to her troubles. She was already battling her cancer.

Why did he had to do this to me? I screamed internally.

'My God! He couldn't have cut it any finer, could he?' my uncle raked out angrily.

'No,' Karson decided to answer that one, though his voice sounded deeply constricted, I couldn't just believe anything that came from his mouth especially because he was Derek's uncle. He was the man Derek had run all the time for advice. Had he run to him for this also? The question swirled in my mind punching me in my gut as the new reality set in.

Yet the more I stared at him I couldn't help but wonder if Karson was in shock as much I was. Seeing him standing there, his typically sun-kissed complexion appearing oddly pale beneath the golden tan he always boasted, I couldn't shake the feeling that he, too, must be reeling from the unexpected turn of events. Clad in his formal black suit, clearly dressed for a wedding, he seemed completely normal but worried. It was evident he hadn't anticipated Derek's actions to be quite so crass but had he predicted something like this to happen?

Turning my eyes away from him I didn't so much as move. All I could do was stare at my reflection in the mirror, my eyes—dark, dark brown under normal circumstances—looked so pale on my face that they seemed utterly bottomless. I couldn't see much. As I looked inwards, staring into the cold, dark recesses of my mind where horror, hurt and humiliation were waiting to grab hold of my once all-encompassing numbness of shock that had worn off.

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