She Dumped her Fiancé after he Postponed their wedding Ten Times

After Anna Briggs had been kidnapped, she developed aphasia.

Despite the swirling rumors, Braeden Hayes stood by her side unwaveringly.

He even defied the pressure and swiftly announced their engagement and built her an idyllic estate-a utopia crafted just for her.

It was universally said that Braeden cherished Anna as his own life.

Yet, he had postponed their wedding nine times for various reasons.

On the eve of their tenth wedding attempt, Anna accidentally overheard news of Braeden's engagement to another woman.

"Are you really planning to keep Anna in the dark forever? Luckily for your quick thinking, you managed to pull off nine weddings without a hitch."

Anna's blood ran cold instantly.

After discovering the truth, she did nothing but quietly leave.

Then she set the estate ablaze and vanished without a trace.

Braeden, however, went mad searching for her everywhere.

"Anna, I really can't live without you. Please come back with me, won't you?"

Braeden's pleas were abject, like a dog fawning for scraps.

...

On the fifth anniversary of their relationship, Anna braved the pouring rain to visit the club Braeden frequented, hoping to surprise him.

At the private room's entrance, she dabbed at her damp strands of hair.

At her follow-up appointment today, the doctor told Anna there were promising signs of recovery from her aphasia. If she kept up with the treatment, it might not be long before she fully regained her speech.

Her fingers had just brushed against the door when a male voice, laced with laughter, reached her from inside the private room. "Braeden, your wedding with Carol is just a week away. Have you thought about how to explain it to Anna?"

"That's easy." Braeden's voice, tinged with the soft warmth of wine, remarked, "I've kept her like a bird in a gilded cage in that estate for two years. As long as she doesn't step outside, she'll never know about my grand wedding with Carol."

Anna's hand stilled, the gesture freezing mid-air.

Her heart seemed to skip a beat.

Braeden continued, "Since developing aphasia, Anna has become too self-conscious to venture out. It's simply impossible for her to have discovered my new marriage."

Anna stood frozen, and her hand was suspended in mid-air.

She desperately wanted to push the door open, but a crushing sense of inadequacy and the fear of losing what little she had left stripped her of the courage to face what lay beyond.

Laughter echoed from the room, but Anna felt ice-cold. Her blood seemed to have congealed.

She remembered the nine postponed weddings with Braeden in the past two years.

The first time, he took her to his bachelor party, where she drank too much and missed the wedding.

The second time, her cat went missing, and Braeden spent the whole night helping her search for it, leading to another cancellation.

The ninth time, Braeden was on his way to pick her up when a car accident landed him in the hospital.

After he recovered, he held her tightly. "Anna, don't worry. For the tenth time, I promise you the most unforgettable grand wedding."

Anna held onto this hope and longed for it.

But she learned that he was marrying another woman instead.

The nine failed weddings had, over time, sunk Anna into a quagmire of self-doubt and emotional exhaustion.

It was Braeden who repeatedly comforted her and held her in his arms. "Good things take time, right?"

Anna trembled uncontrollably. She tried desperately to hold back tears, but they ran down uncontrollably.

Braeden's voice was heard again from the room. "I'll keep Anna on the estate forever. She'll never know the truth."

"If she hadn't insisted on coming to see you and surprising you back then, she wouldn't have been kidnapped. But let's not dwell on the past," a friend of Braeden's remarked. "You're smart enough to have postponed nine weddings."

"One can hardly blame me. The woman the Hayes family marries must be a virgin. The Moore family is our business partner, and Carol is a virgin. It leaves no room for criticism."

"A virgin? Braeden, are you saying that you've already..."

Braeden chuckled. "Do you even need to ask? We had done it for a whole night and used a lot of extra care. I personally verified it. She is a virgin."

Anna's mind buzzed.

Everything she had believed to be the most sacred love had been nothing but an elaborate fraud.

Two years ago, Braeden had spent countless nights by her side in the hospital. He had vowed to watch over and protect her for a lifetime.

She had believed that Braeden was the light of her life.

But now she realized he had always despised her.

She had thought that she could spend the rest of her life under Braeden's protection.

But he was now giving another woman the grand wedding.

Anna's heart felt torn into pieces, shattering to the floor.

The people in the room continued talking, but Anna no longer had the courage to listen to them.

She fled into the cold rain.

She had wanted to tell him face-to-face that she wasn't raped and that her aphasia was almost cured.

She had hoped to tell him herself that they could love like a normal couple, get married, and live happily ever after.

But it seemed that none of that was necessary now.

It was on Braeden's birthday two years ago.

Braeden was working late at night in the company, and Anna delivered the cake she had made herself.

On her way to his company, she was kidnapped by a group of thugs.

They took her to an abandoned factory where she was held for three days and nights. When she was finally rescued, her body was covered in bruises and wounds. The intense fear and trauma had left her with aphasia.

She desperately tried to explain what had happened, but she couldn't utter a word.

She could only repeatedly gesture, her hands trembling and eyes reddened, using clumsy sign language to vehemently deny that she had been raped.

But no one understood her gestures or believed she was still a virgin -not even Braeden.

Yet, he had once kissed her forehead with tears in his eyes and told her that she was the purest woman in his heart.

He had once done everything he could to comfort, protect, and accompany her.

"Everything is fake..."

Cold raindrops pelted down as Anna collapsed into the rain and became unconscious.

When she awoke, she found herself in the private hospital owned by the Hayes Group.

"What were you doing in the pouring rain?" Braeden's eyes were full of concern as he gently touched her forehead. "Luckily, your fever has gone down. From now on, I'd like you to stay on the estate. You're not allowed to go anywhere. Understand?"

Braeden's voice was gentle, and he sounded as if he felt sorry for her.

His eyebrows knitted tightly, and his eyes were red-rimmed. Clearly, he had spent a sleepless night taking care of her again.

Anna tried to say something, but her recovery from aphasia was incomplete. Her words seemed lodged in her throat. She failed to utter a single word.

In the past two years, there were various rumors about her.

Some said that when she was rescued, she was barely clothed.

Others claimed that she had been ruined during those three days in the abandoned factory.

Anna once wrote a long letter to clear her name, but in the end, she deleted it all after she finished it.

No one would believe her anyway.

Instead, they would dissect every detail of her existence as casual table talk.

Even Braeden had seemingly accepted the fact that she had been violated.

In the past two years, he barely touched her.

"Anna, I don't want you to stay trapped in the shadow. I respect you, and we'll have sex after we get married."

Anna always thought Braeden was restraining himself out of sympathy for what she had suffered.

Now she understood that he saw her as tainted.

Since that incident, Anna hadn't had the courage to face the judgmental stares outside.

To "protect" her, Braeden bought an estate on the outskirts for her.

Anna stayed there for two years. She only left for medical check-ups at the private hospital. Otherwise, she was like a bird trapped in a gilded cage and had never stepped outside the estate.

He imprisoned her in the name of love. In fact, he only thought she brought him disgrace.

A lump of raw emotion swelled in Anna's throat, thick and suffocating.

She turned her head away and forced back her tears.

Just then, Braeden's phone rang and snapped her back to reality.

He glanced at her. She had no reaction. Then he answered the call.

After a moment, he walked over to Anna and gently caressed her cheek. "There's an emergency at the company, and I need to handle it. After you finish this IV drip, the bodyguard will escort you back to the estate. Wait for me at home."

Braeden's footsteps gradually faded away.

Anna gritted her teeth while pulling out the needle from her hand.

She lifted her heavy legs and got out of bed. Then she walked to the window.

Downstairs, a woman wearing sunglasses saw Braeden get out. She smiled happily and walked to him eagerly. Then she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Braeden looked flustered, and he hastily pulled her into the car.

Yet, the car didn't start for a while.

Anna watched from above as the car began to shake rhythmically.

She held her breath, and her eyes were stung and red.

It felt like an eternity before the car drove away.

Anna's heart sank heavily.

Blood trickled from the needle mark she hadn't properly bandaged.

She remained motionless for a long time before tending to her wound and returning to the hospital bed.

"Braeden, are you really so impatient?" Anna asked in her mind repeatedly. "Do you think I'm so blind that I haven't noticed your dirty secrets? Do you think I can't live without you?"

Taking a deep breath, she wiped away her tears.

She used her phone to schedule an appointment to cancel her ID card and household registration.

The cancellation period was seven days.

She then messaged her elder brother, Collin Briggs, who was abroad. "Collin, I need your help... Come and take me away seven days later."

He replied instantly. "Five years ago, you cut ties with our family to stay in the country with Braeden. What happened today? Has he done anything bad to you?"

Anna's throat tightened.

She wanted to hug Collin and cry.

After a while, she rubbed her eyes and replied, "No. I... I miss you all."

"Alright. I'll bring you home in seven days. Anna, if Braeden ever mistreats you, I won't let him off easily."

Anna put down her phone and felt a lump in her throat.

She was afraid that Collin had already seen through the love she pursued and found it was nothing but a shattered dream.

Over the past five years, she had been wrong.

Perhaps Anna's sudden departure from the estate had worried Braeden. When she left the hospital, some bodyguards closely followed her and feared that she might get lost.

She found it amusing.

She looked down, and a message from Braeden arrived. "Honey, things at the company are tough. I won't be back tonight. Go to bed yourself."

Anna couldn't be bothered to reply.

Just a month ago, Braeden was still planning surprises and gifts for their anniversary.

But he seemed to have completely forgotten about it.

Yet, it didn't matter anymore.

On a social media platform, Carol posted a new photo.

She was wearing a pristine white wedding dress, with a diamond-studded crown on her head.

"The guy who loves me stays up all night helping me choose my wedding dress."

Braeden was about to marry another woman, but he kept deceiving Anna.

Anna stared blankly at the photo, and her heart ached with a gnawing pain.

The style of Carol's wedding dress was once her favorite, too.

On the eve of the ninth time they planned to get married, Braeden had suddenly told her that her wedding dress had been accidentally stained by the wedding dress boss and that she couldn't wear it.

Anna had no choice but to pick another one, which was simpler and casual.

Now Anna knew that the dress had probably been reserved for Carol all along.

Anna clutched her phone tightly, and her whole body trembled with pain.

He had long decided not to marry her, but she foolishly awaited the tenth time he pretended to plan to marry her.

Carol continued to post more photos on her social media.

"A stunning sapphire ring, a gift from my husband, with a six-digit price tag."

The dazzling blue ring was around Carol's finger, and on the counter lay a diamond bracelet, tagged "Complimentary Gift".

Anna touched the promise ring she had worn for five years.

When Braeden had placed it around her finger, she couldn't stop her tears of joy.

Back then, she had treated the ring as a rare treasure and would feel uneasy even taking it off for a minute.

And now, he had placed a larger, more precious gemstone ring around Carol's finger and proposed to her.

He said she was his wife.

Anna couldn't understand how his heart could be split in two and how his love could be divided.

But she suddenly got it.

He just didn't love her.

Anna took off the ring and placed it on the bedside table.

Braeden returned the next morning.

As soon as he entered, he went straight to Anna and planted a deep kiss on her forehead. "Honey, I'm sorry. I just realized while signing documents that our anniversary passed two days ago."

Anna's heart ached dully as she listened to him continue, "I brought you a gift to make up for it."

With that, he took out a beautiful gift box from his pocket and slowly opened it.

It was a bracelet.

"Do you like it? This new pavé diamond piece from Cartier is perfect for you." Here, let me put it on for you."

Anna's heart sank heavily.

It was the same "complimentary gift" she had seen in Carol's photo the night before.

She controlled her trembling hands and let Braeden clasp the bracelet onto her wrist.

"Oh, by the way, the bracelet was a bit large, so I had them remove a diamond and make it into a ring. It's for me. Now we have a matching set of couples' jewelry, don't we? It's unique, just for us," Braeden said excitedly. He was oblivious to Anna's growing pallor. "I installed a discreet tracker in the bracelet and a receiver in the ring, so I can see what you're up to anytime. I'm sorry, honey. I'm too busy and often not at home, so this is my way of protecting you. You don't mind, do you?"

Anna held her breath

and gestured to reply to him. "I don't mind. Thank you."

Braeden smiled brightly and gently stroked Anna's hair. "My good girl."