Chapter 1 001

AURELIA

"I'm going to be honest with you, Aurelia. I don't have the intention of getting married to you."

The coffee cup slipped from my hand slightly, dropping onto the table. A few drops of the content slipped out as my lips shook.

"Wh...what?"

"I don't want you to be tricked into agreeing to love me," Theron, my supposed fiancé to whom I'd been engaged for five years, said calmly. I had always known he'd been a calm man, and maybe that was what made the punch in the gut deeper. The fact that he sat opposite me, in his suit and tie, so neatly fixed around his neck, made me feel a stirring in my stomach.

"Why are you telling me this now? When it's just three days to the wedding?"

"Because I'm not attending it."

The flat tone sent the stab deeper, slicing against my heart effortlessly. My fingers trembled slightly, and I folded them into fists.

"Theron, we've been dating for five years and...and," my voice shouldn't tremble, "you are just telling me you can't marry me. That doesn't make sense."

"It does," Theron said. "Logically, the fact that I am breaking up with you before the marriage is better than you coming into a loveless marriage itself."

Loveless.

My heart pounded recklessly against my ribcage, "Y...ou don't love me?"

"I tried to," his palm smoothly went over his dark brown hair, just like it did whenever he was frustrated, "but, Aurelia, no matter how I act, my heart knows the truth."

"And it took you five years to find that out?" My voice had gone slightly higher, pulling the attention of those at the nearest table. They glanced at us and then back to their food.

Theron's eyes narrowed. "I thought you knew."

"Thought I knew?" I repeated, pressure building at the back of my eyes. I blinked, trying to keep the tears out of my eyes, but how could I?

I've had a crush on Theron for years, ever since my family moved into the city the moment their business boomed and they became millionaires. When the news of the proposal came between our families, I'd been excited, rushing over to meet him. He hadn't looked too excited about the news, but he hadn't pushed me away.

He had been with me throughout the biggest milestones of my life: my high school graduation, my award-winning art in college, my 25th birthday had proudly been sponsored by him, with dandelions lining up the place...so why, why exactly was he saying this? Why had he done all of that if he wasn't interested in me, if he didn't love me?

"This is a joke, right?" My own voice sounded ridiculous even as I spoke. I knew Theron; he didn't do jokes. He had hardly smiled since the first day I knew him, to the extent that I could count how many times he had smiled in my presence on one palm. But still... I hoped Theron would say that there was a camera somewhere and all of this was a prewedding joke to make me laugh.

"Aurelia.." My name almost came out as a groan from his lips. The kind someone would say when their younger sister was acting out of character. "I'm being serious. This is not a joke."

"I wanted to tell you in time, because I won't be available for the wedding. I didn't want to leave you hanging on the altar," he spoke like he was doing me some kind of favour, by informing me just three days to the wedding that he wanted out.

"Where are you going?" I asked, a crooked smile tilted my lips as I stared at him. The pressure kept building up, and I swore to myself that I would disappear into the floor before I cried in front of Theron. He had never seen me cry before, because I thought that would upset him, but it was different this time. The reason I wasn't crying was that I wanted my pride intact even as I walked out of this building.

"On a vacation," Theron sipped out of his coffee, "it's been long overdue."

"I've never seen you on a vacation, Theron," I said. "But you are going on one when we are supposed to be getting married. Isn't that crazy to think?"

"I expected you to understand, Aurelia," he said in a dismissive tone, like my concerns meant nothing to him. "Don't drag this out."

"I'm not dragging anything out, Theron. I just didn't expect you to be this stupid and selfish!" I shot. "This can destroy the perfect image you have tried to keep clean all these years and my own love..." I trailed off, biting my tongue slightly.

Don't be stupid, you can't blackmail him into marrying you, Aurelia. He was right. Breaking this crazy situationship was better than getting married.

I grabbed my bag, getting up from my seat with more force than necessary.

"I need your help, Aurelia," Theron's voice came coolly.

I scoffed. "You are ridiculous. You broke up our engagement and expect me to help out? You must be sick in your head to do that."

"Please," his voice came again, making me freeze on my feet.

Even now...now when he had betrayed me so deeply, Theron still had control over my heart. Because how could I suddenly wrench out the heart I'd given years ago in just one day?

I bit my lower lip tightly before I asked the question. "What do you want?"

Just one thing, just this last thing. At least, I'll be able to pay for him fighting my bullies off when I was in high school. Maybe after doing this last thing, I would dare to take my heart back from him. And if I couldn't, then I would pull it out of me and cut off the cords... letting him hold it forever.

His throat bulged slightly as he swallowed. For the first time, Theron was nervous.

"Could you tell the press that you broke off the engagement?"