Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Four
Aurora’s POV

The morning of the wedding was quiet.

My nerves have shot up from one to hundred in the span of an hour.

I was seated in the dressing room of the reception with Jennifer and her sister, who had flown in from Korea just to be present.

Her cute little twins, Hea in and Min ho were going to be my flower bearers today.

Min ho looked so cute in his little suit, and it almost made me cry.

Nico was still going through treatment and unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to come, I still haven’t found the courage to tell him that his mum was getting married.

Overall, my whole mood has been sour. Jennifer has been trying to keep me busy with small talks all morning, but my thoughts have been all over the place.

She was telling me about how the wedding planner's assistant must think she was royalty, and I just nodded mindlessly to whatever she was saying.

Today was supposed to be cheerful and overall but I was so anxious for a reason.

Suddenly everyone’s phone in the room started pinging loudly at the same time.

The playful banters and gist suddenly simmered into rumors. At first, I tried to ignore it. 

I had promised myself that I wouldn't look at anything until after the wedding but when Jennifer froze and gasped so loudly, I knew something major had happened.

“What is it?” I asked quietly, my heart hammering loudly in my chest.

She looked up, alarmed—and way too quickly to see her point. “It was nothing, just a celebrity gist.”

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Let me see.” I demanded, my hand outstretched.

“It’s really nothing, focus on your make up.” I looked around the room to see that everyone was suddenly refusing to meet my eyes and doing anything and everything.

“Jennifer…” I warned.

I stood up, ignoring the makeup artist’s protest and snatched the phone from her hand.

My eyes fell on the headline and for a second the world shifted from beneath me.

“Future Mrs. Grey has a hidden son with her lover.”

Right below the headlines was a collage of pictures. One of me and Nico, one of Dr. Freeman. All arranged to look like some twisted story.

My knees wobbled, and I grabbed the edge of the table to steady myself.

I felt my blood pressure spike as all color washed from my face.

“What is this?” I asked no one in particular, my voice shaking.

Jennifer quickly stood up and took the phone from me. “Aurora, listen to me, this is just another setup. Calm down.”

“How am I supposed to calm down when the whole world is reading this right now? It’s just a few hours to the wedding. Oh my God.” 

I clutched my chest as if that would settle my raging heartbeat.

Jennifer clapped her hands together sharply. “Everyone out. Now,” she ordered.

The stylist and makeup artist left without arguing, and when the door shut, Jennifer turned back to me.

She put her hands on my shoulder and looked directly into my eyes. 

“Aurora, listen. This is all a lie, I know it’s a lie, Conan will know that too. Fuck what anyone else thinks.”

“I can’t breathe, Jen,” I whispered, gripping her arms tightly as my chest rose and fell too quickly.

The door opened suddenly, and both of us froze. Conan stepped inside, and just the sound of the door clicking behind me made me freeze.

Jennifer glanced at the door, ready to yell at the person. Her face relaxed when she saw who it was.

“Conan, she—” she started.

“Leave us,” his voice was calm and controlled.

My chest tightened.

Jennifer heisted, glancing between us before sighing in defeat.

She squeezed my head and slipped out, leaving me alone with him.

I swallowed hard, my palms sweating as I looked at him.

“Conan, I can explain, I swear it’s not—”

He stepped forward, and before I could finish, he leaned down and kissed me.

The kiss was firm, silencing me mad when he pulled back, his eyes locked on mine.

“I know,” he said, his breath fanning my face.

Tears blurred my vision. “You knew?”

“Did you think I would marry someone without a background check? It didn’t matter to me then and it doesn’t now.” 

I gasped in shock. What had I not thought of that? He was a billionaire of course he could find out anything about anyone of his choice.

“But I lied to you.”

“Yes, and I don’t care. We are walking down the aisle together, Aurora. Nothing and no one will stop us.”

I let out a shaky breath and nodded, trying to anchor myself with his words.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Minutes later, I stood at the entrance of the hall with my arm in his. 

The doors opened, and gasps rippled through the crowd as everyone saw us walking together. Whispers filled the room, eyes glued to us, but Conan’s grip on my hand was firm. I focused on him, on each step, reminding myself that I wasn’t alone.

When we reached the altar, I could still hear the low buzz of murmurs, but then everything faded when the vows began. 

His voice was strong, unwavering, and when it was my turn, my hands shook but I pushed through every word. The moment we sealed our vows with a kiss, I felt a strange mix of relief and defiance. The world could say whatever it wanted, but this was real.

After the ceremony, we had our first dance. The music played softly, and even though I felt the eyes of the crowd on me, I let myself sink into the moment, letting Conan lead me across the floor. 

When the dance ended, we started moving around the room, greeting guests and exchanging polite words. Some smiled warmly, others gave tight, judgmental looks, but we kept moving.

Then, a woman stood out in the middle of the crowd. She was wearing a long white dress. It was a universal rule not to wear white to a wedding unless it was a color code. 

That could only mean one thing; this was definitely intentional.

People whispered as she made her way closer. She stopped in front of Conan.

“Conan, congratulations on your… wedding,” she said in a sultry voice before leaning up to kiss Conan on his two cheeks.

He smiled at her before someone called his attention away from us.

She turned to me, the fakest smile I've ever seen on her face. “And you must be the bride.” she said as her eyes roamed my body with a condescending look on her face. 

“I'm Vanessa. You can say that I'm a… friend.” 

I scoffed at her words. “Sure. Now if you would excuse me.”

Her eyes flashed like she had expected me to react differently, but before she could even say anything else, Jennifer was there, carrying two glasses of red wine. With a quick, “Oops,” she tripped just enough to spill the wine all over her dress. 

Gasps filled the air as Vanessa shrieked. “You bitch. Are you blind?” 

If I thought Vanessa had the fakest smile, but nothing beats the fake apologetic look on Jennifer’s face.

"Oh my god. I'm sorry,” she said and acted like she was trying to help her clean it off, but she only ended up pouring the second glass down the front of her dress– accidentally of course.

Vanessa screamed once more and rushed out, embarrassed, while Jennifer gave me a little smirk from across the room.

I almost laughed.

But the laughter died as soon as I caught sight of someone else. At first, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but no, standing in the crowd near the back was a face I had not seen in years. Clarissa. My sister.

I froze. 

She looked almost the same, though older, sharper. Her eyes locked with mine, and for a moment, everything else around me disappeared.

What was she doing here?