“Do you remember you saved a boy from being kidnapped when you were seven or eight?”
His words brought back a vague memory.
I recalled a boy who was held tightly by an old woman and he cried desperately.
I sensed something was wrong. I called the police, and stayed with him at the police station waiting for his family.
Even through the haze, I remembered his wide, bright eyes, and he promised that he would find and thank me.
I looked at Paul in surprise and asked, “That little boy was you?”
Paul smiled and nodded.
“Yes, it was me. My parents took me to an event, and I wandered off.
Then I met the kidnapper. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know what would have happened to me.
“I searched for you for years. When I finally found you, Charles was already in the picture. I thought it would be enough to just see you happy, but who knew he would treat you like that…”
Everything else unfolded like it was meant to be.
He came to my mom and asked for a blind date with me,
Knowing all this, I was filled with emotions.
Before we started dating, I had worried that he might care about my past with Charles, but it turned out I was overthinking it.
It seemed that the threads of fate had tied us together since childhood. After many twists and turns, we finally ended up together.
Since Paul opened up about the past, he totally lost his cool and kept pestering me to marry him.
“I’ve been looking for you for so many years. Now that you’re here, I’m not letting you go.
He even won my mom over, and she chimed in, saying, “Vicki, Paul is really great. You two should get married soon, so I can have a grandson to dote on.”
Watching their theatrical moves, I rolled my eyes, but my heart was filled with sweetness.
On Paul’s third proposal, I finally nodded and agreed.
I just never expected to run into Charles while trying on wedding dresses at the shop.
The curtain of the fitting room opened.
Just as I met Paul’s eyes, which were filled with surprise, Charles abruptly intruded into my view.
His usually perfect hair was now a mess. His clothes were wrinkled. And stubble covered his jaw. He looked utterly haggard.
He stared at me so intently, as if everyone else around had become invisible. He muttered. “Vicki, you’re mine. You can’t marry him.”
I frowned, my tone cold. “Stop acting crazy. I’m not yours.”
His expression stiffened, then he shook his head, his eyes red as he tried to embrace me. “Vicki, I know you’re still angry.
“I’ve broken off the engagement with the Morgan family. Rhoda’s father sold her to Gabriel. She’s already gotten her punishment.”
Gabriel Hayden in Washington?
Even here in Houston, I knew of this Gabriel, infamous for his brutality.
“Vicki, you look stunning in this wedding dress. Come back with me, and I’ll buy you a thousand of them, okay?” Charles said, reaching out hist hand for me.
Before he could touch me, Paul blocked his way.
“Vicki is my fiancee. Don’t you dare lay a hand on her.”
Charles ignored him, still staring at me with an entranced look. “The Harrison family is a prominent family. How could Paul not care that you just had an abortion for me! Do you really think he’ll marry you? He’s just playing with you!”
My mind exploded with a buzz.
I clenched my fist so tightly that my fingers almost dug into my palm.
A fist whistled through the air.
Paul punched Charles in the face, his voice icy. “Vicki is my fiancee,” he repeated. “Who do you think you are to talk nonsense about her!”
Charles stumbled back from the punch, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but he seemed oblivious to the pain, still laughing maniacally.
“fiancee? Paul, Stop your act here.”
He turned to me. “Think about it. How could the Harrison family accept a woman who had an abortion for someone else!
“Go with me, and I’ll treat you well from now on!”
I felt dizzy, and the painful memories flooded back like a tide. My body trembled uncontrollably.
I stepped forward and slapped Charles hard.
“You spot in others what you carry in your heart. Even without Paul, I would never forgive you!
“Just wake up. No matter what happens in the future, now he’s the one I love and choose to marry.”
Π
Paul called Charles’s parents, clenching his jaw to suppress the anger in his voice. “Keep your son in line and don’t let him appear in front of my fiancee, or I won’t hesitate to make the Gibson family go bankrupt!”
Within ten minutes, Charles’s father appeared.
His face was wreathed in apologetic smiles. He first bowed to Paul, then turned to look at me, his eyes filled with fear.
“Mr. Harrison and Ms. Solis, I’m truly sorry. We didn’t discipline Charles well and caused you so much trouble. I hope you can show some mercy and spare us.”
11
After saying that, he stepped forward and slapped Charles several times, then took him home.
Charles was reluctant to leave. He kept shouting, asking me to give him another chance.
His voice gradually faded away, and the wedding dress shop returned to
peace.
Before I could say anything, Paul hugged me tightly. “Vicki, I’m sorry. I came too late and made you suffer so much these years.”
I responded with a gentle kiss.
Three days later, Paul and I held our wedding at the largest hotel in Houston.
Outside the banquet hall, a limping man walked up and handed over a thick box containing gift money.
It contained exactly 1 million dollars.
The person in charge of registering the gifts came to me and whispered in my ear, “Ms. Solis, it’s from Mr. Gibson: He asked me to say sorry and wish you a happy marriage.”
I was momentarily dazed.
After a while, I regained my senses and said softly, “Donate this money”
Just after that, the emcee announced that the bride would be coming on stage.
The doors of the banquet hall opened slowly before me, and there stood Paul, not far away, with tears in his eyes, waiting for me.
Lifting my dress, I stepped
