A Wedding That Never Was Chapter 06
When Olivia arrived home in the early hours of the morning, she was completely drenched by the torrential rain.
Pushing the door open, she saw Alexander sitting on the sofa. Too exhausted to even look at him, she headed straight upstairs.
Footsteps hurried after her, and the man wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. Alexander’s voice carried a hint of heartache: “Why didn’t you call me to pick you up? You’re soaked to the bone.”
It would be a miracle just to get ahold of you.
Olivia sneered inwardly, pushed him away, and walked into the bathroom.
When she came out wrapped in a bathrobe, Alexander was waiting for her with a bowl of warm soup.
In truth, Alexander was a very responsible man. He had taken care of her consistently for over a decade, and it was exactly this that made her mistakenly believe it was love.
She sat down in silence. Alexander stood behind her, gently blow-drying her hair. Once finished, he quietly washed the intimate clothes she had changed out of.
Then he brought over a cup of medicine, blowing on it to cool it down before feeding it to her: “Be a good girl and drink your medicine. The wedding is in a few days, we can’t have you looking sickly when the time comes.”
Olivia drank the medicine sip by sip, but her eyes remained completely devoid of emotion.
Alexander, we are never going to have a wedding…
The next day, she went out to apply for her visa. Just as she walked out of the administration hall, she bumped into Alexander and his interns.
Alexander’s gaze swept over the hall behind her, asking in confusion: “What are you doing here?”
Her tone was flat: “A younger girl from the dance troupe is going abroad for a competition. I’m here to help her with the paperwork.”
He didn’t ask any further. After all, he could never imagine in his wildest dreams that the person going abroad was actually Olivia herself.
An intern behind him suddenly leaned in: “Mrs. Sterling, we’re going on a team-building trip today, you should come with us!”
“Let’s go. I’ll drop you off at home later anyway.”
Olivia didn’t refuse, silently following the group.
Eventually, the group arrived at a bungee jumping site. Olivia subconsciously glanced at Alexander. Didn’t he say before that he hated extreme sports the most?
“Wow, why is this team-building so intense!”
An intern next to her answered with a face full of excitement: “Because Chloe loves extreme sports, of course! Not just bungee jumping, Mr. Sterling even rode the horror roller coaster with Chloe!”
Olivia listened in silence, smiling bitterly to herself.
When it was time to put on the gear, Alexander was the first to help Chloe suit up, checking it repeatedly, terrified of making even the slightest mistake.
Only after Alexander had everything sorted did Chloe seem to remember her: “Oh, I’m so sorry, Mrs. Sterling. I’m just so used to Mr. Sterling helping me out that I forgot you were here this time. You won’t blame us, will you?”
A sour ache gripped Olivia’s heart. She took a deep breath and shook her head.
Looking down at the gear in her arms, she sighed, crouched down, and quietly put it on herself.
While waiting in line for the staff to check their equipment, Alexander leaned in close to her and whispered: “Chloe is a bit timid. You go down first later to show her how it’s done.”
But he had forgotten that she was terrified of heights.
Just as she was about to refuse, Chloe suddenly sidled up to her. Her eyes glued to the small charm hanging at her waist, she asked curiously: “Ms. Bennett, your charm is so unique. Can I take a look?”
Olivia instinctively shielded the charm, but a grinning intern next to her had already reached out and snatched it away.
“Don’t be so nervous, Mrs. Sterling. You can’t take these little trinkets bungee jumping anyway. If it really gets lost, no one will take responsibility.”
Olivia’s face suddenly turned deathly pale, and she shouted, “Give it back to me!”
Seeing this, Alexander frowned, his tone laced with obvious displeasure: “It’s just a little trinket, isn’t it? Is there a need to lose your composure like this? If Chloe likes it, just let her have it. I’ll buy you a hundred more later.”
Seeing that Alexander was about to hand it to Chloe, she took a sudden step forward and reached out to snatch it back.
Chloe reached out but suddenly pulled her hand back: “Since Ms. Bennett is so reluctant, I won’t look at it.”
Because of Chloe’s dodging hand, the charm slipped and fell off the cliff.
“No!”
Olivia didn’t hesitate for a second. Following the falling charm, she leaped out into the void.
As her body plummeted rapidly, she realized her safety carabiner wasn’t fully locked!
Olivia struggled desperately, her body slamming hard against the rocky cliff walls, leaving her knees mangled and bloody.
Just when she thought it was completely over, the safety rope suddenly pulled taut, catching her with a massive force.
Olivia hung miserably in mid-air, fresh blood dripping endlessly from the wounds on her knees. Gritting her teeth and enduring the piercing pain, she looked up at the jumping platform.
In the past, if she merely tripped and fell, Alexander would panic, scoop her up in his arms, and be heartbroken.
But now, up on the platform, Alexander was holding Chloe tightly in his arms, comforting her from the shock.
From beginning to end, he never once glanced down the cliff.
Later, it was the site staff who emergency-activated the equipment and pulled her back up. The professionals she hired also managed to find the shattered charm. Its outer shell had been smashed to pieces, and the inside was completely empty, its contents long blown away by the wind to who knows where.
Clutching the broken charm, Olivia knelt on the ground, her whole body trembling like a leaf, yet unable to cry out a single sound.
In this lifetime, she would never forgive Alexander again.
