Chapter 19: Go to Matt

Cora stared at Dina, stunned.

“How could… how could it be like this?” She hadn’t expected that answer. “But the card you gave me was 1216! Dina, what’s really going on?”

Seeing her hook sink in, Dina pressed a hand to her face and began to sob theatrically.

“Oh God! We must’ve both been drunk and mixed up the keys. But Cora—if you marry Julian, what about me? What about Matt? How can you be so selfish? Have you even thought about Matt?”

Her words hit like a hammer.

All the feelings Cora had been burying deep down clawed their way back to the surface.

“Matt’s only been abroad for two months and you’re already marrying another man!” Dina sniffled, squeezing out two neat tears. “He gave you everything. He trusted you. And this is how you repay him?”

Cora’s face went white.

Dina stepped forward and grabbed her in a sudden hug, weeping louder.

“I’m sorry I slapped you. I just can’t accept this! Please, Cora, give Julian back to me. I love him. I need him. You have Matt—what do I have? Nothing!”

Cora’s tears spilled over.

“But what can I do? I’m already… ruined. I’m carrying Julian’s child. If I don’t marry him, they’ll take the baby from me. What choice do I have?”

By the end she was sobbing, voice breaking.

Dina stroked her hair, voice soft and insidious.

“Then go to Matt. He loves you, you love him. Tell him everything—that it was just a mistake, a mix-up, not betrayal. He’ll forgive you. He’ll take you away. He’ll even accept the child. You don’t like Julian, Julian doesn’t like you. If you marry him you’ll be miserable forever. Isn’t that true?”

Cora’s heart leapt.

Yes. Dina was right.

She didn’t love Julian. He didn’t love her. A marriage between them would be a life sentence of pain.

But Matt… Matt had loved her since college. They had so many beautiful memories. If she told him the truth—if she begged him—maybe he’d forgive her, take her away, raise this child with her.

For the first time in months, hope surged through her veins.

Her chest filled with a reckless kind of courage.

She pushed Dina away, tears streaking her face, and bolted.

Barefoot, gathering up the hem of her wedding gown, she sprinted for the door.

⸻

Outside, the guards spotted her immediately.

“Mrs. Watson, the ceremony is about to begin. Please return to the lounge.”

Cora didn’t hear them. She could only think of Matt.

She burst toward the side door, veil flying, makeup running down her cheeks.

“Move! Let me through!”

The bodyguards closed ranks, blocking her path. No matter how she shoved, she couldn’t budge them.

Her hands shook. Desperation clawed at her throat.

“Let me go or I’ll hurt myself!”

She yanked a sharp hairpin from her veil and pressed it against her own belly.

“If anything happens to the Watson heir,” she hissed, “can you afford it?”

The guards froze.

They exchanged panicked looks. No one dared move.

And then, behind her, a voice cut through the tension—low, cold, and absolute.

“Can you afford it?”

Cora’s body went rigid. She turned slowly.

Julian was walking toward her, his expression like carved stone.

“I… I just—” Her voice faltered.

“You ran out like this, ruining your image, risking the baby,” Julian said, his aura crashing down like a storm. “All for one reason. You want to see your ex-boyfriend.”

He stopped in front of her, eyes glinting.

“Fine,” he said at last, voice calm but dangerous. “I’ll let you see him. If he’s willing to take you and your child away, our marriage contract will be void.”