Chapter 4
Top floor of the Four Seasons Hotel.
Siena was breathtaking in a custom–made wedding gown, her beauty almost unreal.
She clung to Jared’s arm, her smile radiant as she basked in everyone’s well wishes.
Jared wore a perfectly tailored black suit, tall and striking.
The way he looked at Siena–with that deep focus and tenderness–was once so familiar to me.
Now, that gaze was a dagger, stabbing straight into my numb heart.
I wore a simple slip dress, my face bare, utterly out of place in this glittering celebration.
Holding a glass of champagne, I stood in the farthest, darkest corner.
The emcee’s voice rang out across the hall, “Distinguished guests, let us witness together the engagement of Mr. Jared Hurlow and Ms. Siena Lisburn…”
Jared and Siena exchanged a smile so sweet it seemed to overflow from the giant screens.
“Mr. Hurlow, do you-”
A sudden surge of jealousy flared in my chest. Without thinking, I swung my arm and sent the towering champagne display crashing down!
Crash!
Chapter 4
The shattering sound echoed through the entire ballroom.
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Crystal flutes toppled and exploded, champagne cascading everywhere.
A torrent of wine splashed squarely onto Siena’s priceless white dress, crimson liquid spreading like wildfire across the delicate fabric.
Siena’s scream pierced the silence.
The room froze.
Every eye—shocked, appalled, judgmental, some even gloating-
All fixed on me.
The tenderness on Jared’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by fury and disbelief.
He whipped his head around, his glare like a blade, zeroing in on me in the shadows.
He shoved Siena aside and stormed over, his anger radiating off him as he seized my wrist in a bruising grip.
“Amelia!”
He growled, “Have you lost your mind? You just had to make a scene, humiliate us in front of everyone?!”
Pain shot through my arm, but I only frowned slightly.
Staring into his handsome face, twisted now with rage, I let a slow smile curve my lips.
Not in anger, not in sorrow, but in utter release.
I rose up on my toes, ignoring the suffocating tension rolling off him, and leaned close to his flushed ear
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My breath was warm against his skin; my voice was soft, eerily calm.
“Congratulations, Jared,” I whispered.
“You finally get to marry your first love.”
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I swept my gaze across the silent, stunned crowd, then back to his furious
eyes.
“This is my wedding gift to you…
“Do you like it?”
Jared’s pupils constricted, his grip on my wrist tightening painfully.
His lips parted, as if to roar something at me.
But in that instant-
“Countdown complete.
“Return protocol initiated.”
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in my mind—right on cue.
And as Jared stared at me as if he’d seen a ghost, my body began to dissolve, breaking apart into a thousand tiny, shimmering blue lights.
Like fireflies on a summer night, the lights slipped through his grasp and drifted upward, free at last.
My smile froze on my lips as I gazed into the void.
“I’m going home. Goodbye… forever.”
The rage on Jared’s face shattered, replaced by pure terror and confusion.
He instinctively reached out, grabbing at the scattered lights.
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But his hands closed on nothing but empty air.
“Amelia?!”
His voice cracked in panic, raw and desperate.
A second later-
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The lights vanished completely, dissolving into the domed ceiling of the grand ballroom.
Gone like mist, without a trace.
All that remained was the stunned silence and the mess on the floor. And Jared stood frozen in place, hand outstretched, eyes hollow and empty.
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