Chapter 3 3

St. Catherine's Cathedral stood majestic against the clear blue sky, its Gothic spires reaching toward heaven as if in judgment of the farce about to unfold within its hallowed walls. White roses and orchids adorned every surface, their perfume sickeningly sweet in the summer heat.

Ethan Chen hadn't slept in three days. Three days of watching his mother improve under the miraculous treatment, while his own life disintegrated. Three days of unanswered questions and crushing betrayal. Three days until he couldn't take it anymore.

He slipped into the cathedral through a side entrance, avoiding the security personnel Harold Montgomery had stationed at every main door. The rehearsal dinner had been lavishly covered in society pages, and only twenty-four hours remained before Olivia would become Mrs. Alexander Reed.

Twenty-four hours to stop the biggest mistake of both their lives.

He found her alone in the bridal preparation room, standing before a full-length mirror in a simple white slip dress, clearly there for a final fitting of her wedding gown, which hung nearby in all its extravagant glory. When their eyes met in the reflection, she gasped, spinning around.

"Ethan!" Her voice was a strangled whisper. "You can't be here. You have to leave, now!"

Despite everything, the sight of her still knocked the breath from his lungs. But something was different; the vibrant spark that had always animated her face was extinguished, replaced by a dull resignation that even perfect makeup couldn't conceal.

"Not until you tell me the truth," he said, crossing the room and closing the door behind him. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you love him."

Panic flashed across her features. "The guards will be checking this room any minute. Please."

"One truth, Olivia. Then I'll go." He moved closer, close enough to catch the familiar scent of her perfume. "Do you love him?"

Her eyes darted to the door, then back to his face. "It doesn't matter what I feel. The wedding is tomorrow. Everything's arranged."

"That's not an answer." Ethan's voice softened. "I know you, Liv. Better than anyone. Something isn't right. Is your father forcing this? Is it about my mother's treatment? Because if it is...."

"Stop." The word emerged sharp, almost vicious. "Stop trying to create some noble narrative where I'm being forced into this. Nobody's forcing me to do anything."

"Then why?" Ethan pleaded. "Why throw away what we had? Why agree to marry a man you barely know?"

She took a deep breath, something shifting in her expression, hardening, cooling. When she spoke again, her voice had taken on the practiced, polished tone he'd always hated, the "Montgomery heiress" voice she used with people she didn't trust.

"You really want the truth? Fine." She lifted her chin. "I was slumming, Ethan. Playing savior to the brilliant but poor boy. Helping your family made me feel good about myself, like I was making a difference."

Each word landed like a physical blow. Ethan took a step back, searching her face for any sign that she was lying. "You don't mean that."

"I do." Her blue eyes turned glacial. "It was fun for a while, playing house with you, pretending we could make it work. But reality check: we were never going to have a future. You were drowning in debt. Your mother was dying. Your sister needed tuition. And what could you offer me? A tiny apartment and a lifetime of struggle?"

"I offered you love," Ethan said quietly.

Something flickered behind her eyes, pain, regret? before disappearing. "Love doesn't pay bills, Ethan. Love doesn't buy the treatment your mother needs."

"So it was about the money." The realization burned through him.

"It's always about money." Her laugh was brittle. "My father taught me that. I just took too long to learn the lesson."

Ethan felt something breaking inside him, the last fragile hope that there was an explanation, a reason that would make sense of her betrayal. "If our relationship was just charity work for you, why help my mother at all? Why not just walk away?"

Olivia's mask slipped for just a second, vulnerability bleeding through before she visibly reinforced her cold demeanor. "Consider it a parting gift. Something to remember me by when you're back to working three jobs to keep your family afloat."

"I never asked for your charity."

"No, but you needed it." Her voice turned cruel. "And now I'm done. I've found someone who can give me the life I deserve, security, status, and respect. Alexander understands how the world really works."

Ethan stepped closer, studying her face with an intensity that made her shift uncomfortably. "Say his name again."

"What? Alexander?"

"Say it like you love him," Ethan challenged. "Say it the way you used to say mine."

Olivia's composure wavered, but only for an instant. "I don't owe you performances, Ethan. I don't owe you explanations. What I owe myself is a future, one that isn't weighed down by your problems."

Each word hit its target with brutal precision, and Ethan suddenly understood she was doing this deliberately, making herself hateful, ensuring he would walk away and never look back. The realization didn't lessen the pain.

"So it was all a lie?" he asked, voice hollow. "Every 'I love you,' every promise, every plan we made, all fake?"

"Not fake." Something genuine finally broke through her facade, a flash of the real Olivia. "Just... temporary. A chapter that's ended."

The door opened suddenly, startling them both. Eleanor Montgomery stood in the doorway, her expression carefully neutral except for the slight widening of her eyes at seeing Ethan.

"The seamstress will be here in five minutes, darling," she said to Olivia, her gaze never leaving Ethan. "Mr. Chen, I believe you were just leaving."

Olivia seized the interruption like a lifeline. "Yes, he was." She turned her back on Ethan, addressing her reflection in the mirror rather than facing him directly. "Goodbye, Ethan. Don't come to the wedding tomorrow. Don't try to contact me again. Build your life and leave me to mine."

"Olivia..."

"I believe my daughter has made herself clear," Eleanor said firmly. "Security is just outside."

The threat was implicit. Ethan stood paralyzed for a moment, searching for something, anything, that would break through Olivia's wall. But her back remained turned, her shoulders rigid, her reflection showing no emotion at all.

"Be happy, Liv," he said finally, the words costing him everything. "I hope he's worth what you've sold yourself for."

As he walked away, he heard a small sound, something between a gasp and a sob, but he didn't look back. Couldn't bear to. The crushing weight of finality settled over him. It was really over.

What Ethan didn't see was Olivia crumpling to the floor as soon as the door closed behind him, her mother rushing to lock the door before anyone could witness her daughter's breakdown.

"Pull yourself together," Eleanor hissed, helping Olivia to her feet. "Alexander will be here any minute."

"I can't breathe," Olivia gasped, tears streaming down her face. "I can't do this, Mom. I can't."

"You can and you will." Eleanor's voice was steel wrapped in silk. "Think of Grace Chen. Think of the treatment that's already begun. Would you throw away that woman's life now?"

Olivia shook her head mutely, struggling to control her sobs.

"Fix your makeup," Eleanor instructed, already moving toward the door. "I'll stall Alexander."

Left alone, Olivia leaned against the wall, her legs barely supporting her weight. She had done what was necessary, made Ethan hate her thoroughly enough to stay away. To let her go. To save his mother without feeling indebted to her.

It was the kindest cruelty she could manage.

Outside the cathedral, Ethan walked blindly, the beautiful summer day a mockery of his shattered world. Everything she'd said played on endless repeat in his mind: slumming...charity work...drowning in debt...what could you offer me?

Had he been a fool all along? So desperate for love that he'd imagined depth and sincerity where there was only pity and amusement?

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the black SUV trailing him until it was too late. When it pulled alongside him in the empty parking lot, he barely registered the danger before two men in dark suits emerged, moving with practiced efficiency.

"Mr. Chen." The first man was built like a linebacker, his voice surprisingly cultured. "Mr. Reed would like a word."

Ethan tensed, already calculating his escape routes. "I have nothing to say to him."

"It wasn't a request." The second man produced something from his jacket, a flash of metal that briefly caught the sunlight.

Before Ethan could react, a third man approached from behind, and everything went black.

When consciousness returned, it came with searing pain. Ethan found himself propped against a wall in what appeared to be an underground parking garage, blood dripping from his split lip, ribs screaming in protest with each breath.

Alexander Reed stood a few feet away, examining his own knuckles with mild distaste before pulling a monogrammed handkerchief from his pocket to wipe them clean.

"You know, I almost respect your persistence," he said conversationally. "Pathetic as it is."

Ethan tried to rise but was immediately pushed back down by one of the men flanking Alexander.

"I saw your little scene with my fiancée," Alexander continued. "Quite touching, in a desperate sort of way. But ultimately futile."

"If you're so secure in her feelings, why the thugs?" Ethan managed to say, tasting blood.

Alexander smiled, a cold, shark-like expression. "Insurance. See, tomorrow I'm marrying the woman who will solidify my position with Montgomery Industries. The merger of our families is worth billions. I can't have some lovesick nobody interfering."

"She doesn't love you."

"Love?" Alexander laughed. "I don't need her love. I need her name, her connections, and her body in my bed. All of which I'll have tomorrow."

Rage gave Ethan strength he didn't know he possessed. He lunged forward, only to be caught by Alexander's men and rewarded with a brutal punch to his already tender ribs.

"Consider this a friendly warning," Alexander said, straightening his designer suit. "Stay away from Olivia. The wedding will proceed. And if you attempt to interfere again, these gentlemen won't be nearly so gentle."

He nodded to his men, who delivered several more calculated blows before stepping back.

"Oh, and Chen?" Alexander paused before entering his car. "Olivia told me everything about your little romance. How she pitied you. How she found your desperation charming in a way. Like a stray dog begging for scraps." His smile turned vicious. "She'll think about you sometimes, I'm sure, when she's in my bed, enjoying the lifestyle you could never provide."

As Alexander's car pulled away, Ethan remained on the cold concrete, pain radiating through his body, but nothing compared to the agony in his chest. The final confirmation of Olivia's betrayal, spoken through Alexander's cruel mouth, crystallized into something new: hatred.

Not just for Alexander and Harold Montgomery, but for Olivia herself. For making him believe. For using his mother's illness. For turning his love into a joke between her and her wealthy fiancé.

That night, as Grace Chen slept peacefully, her treatment ensuring a future Ethan had once thought impossible, he made a vow. He would become someone they couldn't dismiss. Someone with the power to return every humiliation tenfold. Someone who could destroy the Montgomery empire and everyone who had profited from his pain.

Even Olivia.

Especially Olivia.