Chapter 4

Today was the much-anticipated bachelorette party. The music was loud, laughter filled the air, and guests danced and mingled. Despite the event being for Arielle, it quickly turned into a joint celebration for both families. Arielle couldn’t help but overhear snippets of conversations. People were talking about Gabriel’s handsome cousin and how he was engaged to a woman who was also at the party. 

Good for him. She had moved on, and so had he. They both had. Everyone had. 

"Arielle, meet Emmaline. She is Gabriel and Zachary’s friend," Sophia said, nudging her lightly. "Who knows? Maybe you will end up becoming family one day." She winked as Crystal laughed along.

Arielle smiled politely, though her mind was elsewhere. 

“How I wish my Zach married someone like Emmaline,” Crystal sighed wistfully.

Arielle didn’t need to hear that again. She had moved on. So why did it sting?

Then, Emmaline appeared dressed in a stunning red dress while holding a large present for Arielle. But as she caught sight of the bride, her expression shifted to one of shock. She took a step back, as if she had seen a ghost.

“Emmaline! What’s wrong?” Crystal asked, her face full of concern.

“Auntie, I feel suddenly so nauseous,” Emmaline said quickly, her face pale and she bolted away from the crowd. She rushed toward the washroom, but on the way, she collided with Zachary.

“Emma, what is wrong?” Zachary asked, looking genuinely concerned. But before he could get an answer, Emmaline simply shook her head and ran off in the opposite direction.

“Does she know you?” Maya asked Arielle, sensing the tension in the air.

“Maybe... I’m a ghost of her past,” Arielle replied with a forced chuckle but it didn’t reach her eyes. She closed her eyes as her heart hardened as painful memories flooded her mind. That moment, the one she had buried deep within, resurfaced and the day everything she had ever dreamed of was ripped away from her. Emmaline was the trigger and the catalyst to that horrible memory. It had been five years and yet, Arielle wasn’t ready to forgive her. Not for taking everything. Not for leaving her in the ashes of a broken heart.

As the party continued around her, Zachary stood quietly in a corner as his gaze was fixed on her. His presence seemed to fill the space while pulling at her with an intensity she couldn’t shake. A moment later, Gabriel approached him and offered a cigarette. 

"Oh, I forgot—Dr. Hawthorne doesn’t smoke or drink," Gabriel chuckled, as if it was a joke.

"Smoking is injurious to health," Zachary responded, his voice flat as he grabbed the cigarette from Gabriel’s hand and lit it himself. He took a slow drag, his eyes still lingering on Arielle from across the room. "She doesn’t like the smell of tobacco."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, intrigued but not pressing the matter. "Oh?"

Zachary didn’t answer as the words were trapped somewhere deep inside him.

“Are you marrying Emma?” Gabriel asked, his voice casual but there was something deepe hiding behind the surface. 

"Who told you that?" Zachary asked, his tone guarded and a hint of unease creeping in.

"Everyone is talking about it. You have always said you would marry a civil servant, and she is one, isn’t she?" Gabriel shrugged as if it was a simple fact. 

Zachary chuckled softly, though the sound held no humor. "You all misunderstood me." He didn’t elaborate. He couldn’t. The truth was far more complicated than anyone could understand.

“What do you think about my fiancée?” Gabriel asked, his tone was casual even though there was a slight edge to it.

Zachary’s gaze softened as he looked at Arielle across the room while his thoughts were drifting somewhere far. “She is very gorgeous.” The words felt heavier than he intended. Her wild green eyes met his for a split second, and in that brief moment, he felt that old pull, the one that always made it impossible for him to look away. Her smile was a memory he couldn’t escape. The faint dimple in her cheek would always make him want to poke it, just like he used to, and she would glare at him, just like the old times. 

Gabriel studied him, and asked. “Do you know her?”

Zachary’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I don’t. I don’t know her anymore.”

He meant every word but it hurt him to admit it. In that single glance, he saw the stark contrast between the Arielle he remembered and the woman she had become. The girl who once wore her heart on her sleeve. She was so open, so vulnerable but now had built walls around herself. The Arielle he knew had been an open book and so easy to read. But this Arielle? She was a fortress. The only person who knew her now was herself. No one could break through her. 

She was different. She had changed in ways he couldn’t even begin to describe. Her body, once so thin, had filled in all the right places, making her even more stunning than before. Her waist-length brown hair was now dyed jet black and cut into a sharp blunt style that accentuated the angles of her heart-shaped face. She was still beautiful but there was something more to her beauty now. It was the kind of beauty that carried scars and stories, the kind that left an impression but was unreachable, like the moon, so beautiful from a distance but untouchable.

Gabriel’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Then, don’t eye what doesn’t belong to you.”

Zachary's eyes narrowed, his voice colder than he intended. “You break her heart, and my knuckles will meet your cheek, dear cousin.”

Gabriel didn’t even turn around. “That day won’t come. I’m not you,” he said, dismissing Zachary’s words as if they were nothing but air.

Zachary’s fists clenched, but he stayed silent.