Chapter 80 Left At The Altar.

Chapter 80 Left At The Altar.
Jaxon’s P.O.V

The music had started minutes ago. At first, I hadn’t thought much of it‐ hhese things were always dramatic, drawn out for effect. The bride would take her time while the guests whisper as the anticipation builds. It was all part of it. And so, I stood there at the altar, my hands clasped loosely in front of me, my posture straight, and the most composed I'veever been. Today, I was every inch the man expected of me.

But as the seconds stretched, something started to feel off in a way I couldn’t quite place at first. The music which should have flowed smoothly, began to slow awkwardly, dragging out longer than it should have, before restarting again as if someone behind the scenes was scrambling to fix a mistake that wasn’t supposed to happen.

A murmur rippled through the crowded garden, it was quiet at first at leaset for a while. My gaze shifted, scanning the rows of guests without moving my head too much. My mother sat stiffly in her seat‐ lips pressed into a thin line. On the other hand my father leaned slightly towards one of the men beside him, whispering something under his breath, and I could feel his growing anger all the way from where I was standing.

Alex wouldn’t do this to me... She wouldn’t stand me up like this‐ not here, not in front of all these people. Not after everything. Not after every fucking thing we’d already had to endure. There was no way she would put herself‐ and my family through another embarrassment, especially not something this public‐ this fucking scandalous.

This wasn’t something that could be brushed over or buried. This would stick, it would follow us‐ it would stain my name in a way I wouldn’t be able to scrub clean, no matter how much power or money I threw at it.

And Alex knew that.

She chose me. She said it‐ looked me in the eye and said it.

So where the hell was she?

My jaw tightened as the seconds kept dragging on, unease creeping in beneath my skin, twisting into something dangerously sharp in my guts. My pulse pounded in my ears, loud enough to drown out the murmurs rising from the crowd. My fingers curled at my sides, nails pressing into my palms as I fought to stay calm.

My eyes moved to the path again, the one Alex was supposed to walk down, it remained empty.

I exhaled slowly through my nose, forcing myself not to loose my shit here‐ infront of all these people.

The garden, packed with our business associates shifted on easily, all of them seated neatly around those decorated tables as if this were just another one of our polished, picture‐perfect charity events. But this wasn’t that. This was suppose to be a million dollar wedding, a spectacle, something people would talk about, something that was being watched and quietly documented in real time. I could feel the weight of doom pressing down on me, hundreds of eyes fixed in my direction, cameras catching every second of what will be in every magazine, on ever tabloid...

Lens picking up every shift in my expression, every fucking moment that dragged on longer than it should have. The murmurs were loud now, less subtle, less polite, and I knew exactly what they were thinking without having to pick up on a single word.

My gaze shifted, scanning the tables until it landed on Enzo seated towards the front. Katherine was leaning in close to him, saying something quickly, her hands moving slightly as she spoke. I couldn’t hear a word from where I stood, but I didn’t need to. I could see it all over her face‐ she looked troubled, nervous even. Like she was trying to explain something and to Enzo, it wasn’t adding up. He seemed to be fucking pissed.

His jaw was tight while his shoulders were rigid, and whatever Katherine was saying clearly wasn’t helping. He must've felt my eyes on him because he turned his head and looked directly at me. And for a second, everything went completely still.

Because he didn’t say anything. Not like he needed to when it was written all on his face.

He just shook his head firm and final.

My stomach fucking dropped.

It was clear that something was wrong. Before I could even process it properly, Enzo was already pushing back from his chair, his movements sharp and abrupt as he stormed off in the direction of the house. Katherine followed right behind him, almost scrambling to keep up, her dress catching slightly as she moved.

I didn’t think much of it before i started after them. Stepping down from the altar, I ignored the crowd completely‐ the whispers that were no longer being hidden set my blood ablaze as anger clouded my vision. The speculation was now out in the open about a missing bride, about cold feet, about whether she had just left me standing there like a fucking idiot.

Out of the corner of my eyes I caught my father rising from his seat like he was about to follow. I could care less about him, he could wait.

I rounded the corner and stepped into the foyer, and that’s when I heard Enzo’s voice.

“Are you fucking serious right now?” I froze for half a second, my brows pulling together as I stepped further inside the foyer.

Because that‐ that wasn’t something I’d ever heard before. Enzo has never raised his voice at Katherine. Not like that‐ not fucking ever.

But he was now, while Katherine stood in front of him visibly shaken, her eyes already filling with unshed tears as she tried to say something, her voice quieter and almost breaking into sobs. She looked like she was on the verge of falling apart right there in front of him.

And for a second, I almost turned around. Almost walked back out, told myself this had nothing to do with me, that maybe Alex was still somewhere in the house, maybe something stupid had happened‐ a wardrobe malfunction, something small that was fixable, that didn’t feel like this.

But then Katherine spoke again and whatever the fuck left her mouth‐ it stopped me cold in my tracks.