Prologue.

“The dress is beautiful, Isabella.”

Joan’s brittle fingers battled around the zips of the white flowing gown wrapped around her best friend. Isabella looked into the mirror before her with blood-filled cheeks and a rain of anxiety washing over her face.

She heaved in a deep breath so the zip could go all the way up and then Joan backed away.

“You’re beautiful” Her voice was gentle and Isabella’s hands fell to the table. “Am i making a mistake?” The bride asked with worry in her eyes.

“Every twenty two year old is out there, making a life for themselves. A name—am i making a mistake getting married to Colton?” She asked, genuinely and Joan took her hands, although it wasn’t the first time that day that Isa had panicked.

And she looked into her hazel brown eyes.

Maybe she was right to panic.

And right to worry about getting married too soon, but if there was one thing Joan knew, it was how much Isa loved Colton. And how ecstatic he’d be at the pinnacle of the altar.

And often times, she wished she had that. She wished she had loved someone enough to want to get married to.

“You’ll be alright, Isabella. I know how much you love Colton and by tomorrow, you’ll look back and realize all of this anxiety was unnecessary” Joan whispered, and they both scoffed. She withheld the tears in her eyes to not ruin the makeup.

“I’ll go see what is going on downstairs” Her best friend pulled away in the knee-length floral bridesmaid’s dress and closed the door behind her.

Isabella was left alone, and she gazed at her reflection in the mirror for a brisk second—that is until her phone buzzed against the table. It was Kayla, Colton’s secretary.

He was a senior partner at one of the local firms and she often contacted Kayla when she wasn’t able to reach him. But never the other way around. And although his secretary was to be in attendance, she worried why she would call.

She picked it, placing the phone to her ears and Isabella’s lips fell wide open at the sensual noises that she heard. “What?” She gasped aloud, perhaps she might have been butt-dialed. But some sense of intrigue seeped into her veins that she didn’t hang up.

“Fuck me.”

Loud moans echoed from the phone as Isa pushed a hard lump down her throat. It was obvious Kayla was having sex, because she recognized that shrill voice. In fact, both the voices. Her brows suddenly crinkled in despair. “It can’t be possible” She was quick to mutter, disregarding her gut feeling. But the words that came next rang a migraine throughout her head.

“Deeper, Colton. Deeper.”

“We won’t ever do this after today” Kayla was breathless and Isa let go of the phone. It crashed into the ground with a thud. Her heart was troubled—maybe it was possible. It couldn’t be her Colton, the man she trusted with her entire life and loved so dearly.

He’d hate her so much to cheat on her own wedding day.

Grasping her dress, Isabella made her way through the door with swollen cheeks. She wouldn’t believe until she sees with her own eyes.

She wouldn’t cry until then, not when Colton was just down the halls from her. Pacing towards the door that held the bitter truth, she finally heaved a deep breath.

Her life was going to change once she opened that door.

She wanted to knock but then realized it wouldn’t really be smart. Instead she twisted the knob and pushed it open. And behold, her eyes met the both of them, naked in each other’s arms. Colton was in his wedding tuxedo and Joan, in her bridal dress.

They stopped for a second with Kayla muttering a laughter. She had done it on purpose—calling Isabella to see the man she was about to marry breathing down her neck.

“How could you?” Her heart trembled as she let go of the door.

“Isa” He called but she ran away, and almost bumped into her step-mother.

“What is it?” Samantha asked, seeing her stepchild’s troubled face and Isa was about to rip off the gown from her body. She had never felt so disgraced. “Hey” Samantha pulled her and she snapped.

“He cheated on me, with his secretary” She yelled.

“What kind of man cheats on his wedding day?”

Samantha wasn’t fazed, but all she did was heave a sigh and Isabella stepped backwards. “You knew, didn’t you?” She covered her lips.

“I heard the sounds, Isabella listen to me” Samantha urged, grasping her hands.

“You can’t turn your back now, not when everyone is waiting downstairs for you. Imagine what your father would say, imagine what the whole town would say” Her step-mother cried, always thinking of the impression she gave others and the tear slipped down Isabella’s face.

“You’d bring disgrace to our name. I’m afraid you have to get married today. It’s bad enough we already gave you away at this age, think about us”

“And what about me?” There was a crack in Isabella’s voice as Samantha let go of her hands.

“You already made a choice, and that was to marry him. Whatever love you had then, find it” Samantha’s voice grew evil and Isa realized then, she didn’t have a choice.

The white veil covered her reddish face as Isa held the tears at the brink of her eyes. The congregation stood, eyes darting to the aisle she walked on. A distance from her was Colton, hands folded in front of him with his innocent gaze.

Was she really about to still marry him after what he had done?

A few more steps led her to the altar, and her silver pumps buried into the floral carpet.

“Do you, Colton Chambers take Isabella Evans to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, to guide and protect, till death do you part?” She fastened her veil so no one would see her swollen eyes.

He turned to her with his pretend charm. “I do” The applause overshadowed his voice before the priest turned to her.

“And do you Isabella Evans, take Colton Chambers to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, to love and respect till death do you part?” He asked, and his words were followed by a grim silence. One very loud, ironically. She scoffed from her lips, battling mentally what she was about to say next.

And she wrinkled the bouquet of flowers in her hands, like a fuse, she sparked. “You bastard!” She gritted through her teeth, throwing the flowers in Colton’s face. He was in shock and so was the rest of the people.

“Isabella” Her father’s voice thundered in her ears as she faced the priest.

“He cheated on me!” She turned to face the stoic expression plastered between his brows and Samantha shook her head next to him. Isabella was perplexed at the silence.

“He cheated on me with her” Pointing across the hall to Kayla, she yelled. For the next few seconds, no one said a word to defend her, not the priest and not even her father as he pocketed his hands.

She shook her head in the grim realization that everyone might have known and she was just being the idiot—being oblivious.

But it ended that day.

She ripped the veil off her face, revealing the smeared mascara around her eyes and her washed lipstick. She might as well crash the entire wedding, because there was no coming back after that.

Climbing down the altar steps, she pulled off her shoes and Joan stood by the door. “If you walk out of there—“ Her father’s voice halted her. “Never came back” He threatened and tears stung the back of her eyes, the last of them.

She turned back to him and heaved a deep breath from her lips, before she nodded.

And without saying another word, she ran through the cathedral doors, slamming it behind her. She was done with this place, and she made up her mind to spend one last night before leaving this city that caused her the greatest pain of her life.