Prologue

"Naomi, I'm leaving." 

His bluntness astounds me and leaves me speechless. I stand before Denzel, my soon-to-be husband, in my wedding gown. I eye him up and down and my heart sinks.

"Why aren't you dressed?" My voice comes out sharper than I intend. I feel pathetic inside but it appears as if I'm angry at him.

"We've to postpone the wedding. I have an important business to tend to." Denzel's words come out in a hurry. It feels as if he just can't wait to leave.

"What is so important that you're postponing our wedding?" My tone keeps getting harsher.

There's a lengthy pause before any of us speaks.

"I've found her." 

The tears involuntarily slither down my cheeks. The ache in my chest intensifies and her name clouds in front of my eyes. Layla. 

I angrily stomp towards him. I put my hand on his shoulder and turn him sideways to bring us eye to eye. My face feels hot from anger but his only shows urgency—urgency to get away from me to get to her.

"Why? What does she mean to you that you're so eager to cast me away and run to her?" I burst out.

"She means something to me!" 

Anger flashes in his electric blue eyes for once. It's probably the first time I've witnessed the great Denzel Flynn losing his cool, and it breaks my heart. My next question comes out in a hushed, broken voice.

"And I don't?"

Denzel doesn't say anything. He approaches me carefully and perches a kiss on my head.

"I promise I'll make everything right when I return." He doesn't wait for a response and jogs out of the room, leaving me to my destructive thoughts

I've been planning for this day since the first time we met. But, in spite of the many preparations and planning, this day still came to suck in the end. 

It's been around a year since Layla disappeared but Denzel managed to find her. In the past, when people mentioned that he loved his ex more than me, I didn't mind. Of course, I'd never imagined that he'd choose the ex over me.

And for the first time in a whole year, I doubt if he'd ever loved me. Or was I just another distraction from the pain of losing his beloved ex?

My knees buckle but before I can fall, a pair of arms wrap around me. And I instantly give in to the warmth of my best friend.

"Shh...it's okay." Marcus coos me as if I'm an infant as I cry into his warmth. He's my closest confidant.

I begin to utter incognizable sentences into his chest. He calms me down. Marcus was outside the door all this time and heard everything Denzel had said.

"I wanted to punch that smug face of his so bad, I can finally do it now without getting you mad." I snort at his comment. Marcus and Denzel have visible tension between them, neither of them likes the other. They only try to act civil for my sake.

I'm distracted for solely a moment before I remember Denzel and what just happened.

"Marcus...it hurts. It hurts so bad. He never loved me." I whine through my cries. The pain is heartbreaking, nothing painful I've been through in my life can amount to this feeling of betrayal.

Marcus brushes my hair and speaks softly. "Will you stay here and wait for him?"

I blink, wiping my cheeks. I haven't thought of that. I don't know what I want anymore since the wedding has been postponed. There is no choice for me but to wait for him.

Denzel Flynn is the sort of man no one would willingly mess with in their right mind. He's the youngest billionaire in Vancouver, someone who destroys establishments as easily as toys and has ties with the underworld.

Marcus appears flushed and calculating wordlessly. And then, he begins out of nowhere.

"What if..." Marcus trods on with his words carefully as if the wrong choice of words can lead him to jail. "You have a choice now. Would you like to leave with me, Naomi?"

He gazes down at me hopefully and I stand there dumbstruck with terror.