Chapter 20
Just as Bryce felt himself start to waver, a woman’s voice broke in.
“Bryce! My engagement party is tomorrow. Are you really planning to leave me behind and run off to find Yara?”
It was Yelena. She’d come over hoping to talk some sense into him, but she hadn’t expected to walk in on this conversation.
She was the one who didn’t want to be with Bryce, but now she looked stunned and hurt, her eyes filling with tears.
“Bryce, you always said you loved me. Are you really not coming to my engagement party? Are you choosing Yara over me?”
Seeing her, Bryce suddenly knew who he should choose. Yelena was getting engaged to someone he had never even met the very next day.
For Yelena, he had endured the family’s harshest punishments, even agreed to marry Yara and then divorce her. But after all these years, Yelena still didn’t have the courage to leave the Dalton family and choose him. Yet, she kept insisting she loved him.
He didn’t know why, but he felt nothing for her anymore.
At that moment, he finally understood what he needed to do. He had to find Yara and tell her how sorry he was.
He looked at Yelena and said coldly, “I’ve done enough for you. It’s just an engagement party, not a wedding. It doesn’t matter if I’m there or not. After all, I’m just your brother, not your husband.”
With that, he gave a short, bitter laugh.
Hearing this, Yelena’s face turned crimson.
“I thought you’d understand me, Bryce. After everything I said the other day, didn’t you hear any of it? Even if we can’t be together, I still love you. If you want to get back with Yara, fine, but not tomorrow! Please, come to my engagement party, okay?”
She tried to play the sweet sister like she always had, but Bryce finally saw through her. She didn’t love him enough to be with him, but she also couldn’t let go of him. All she wanted was to keep him close and stop him from finding his own happiness.
He ignored her pleas, his mind now only on Yara.
He rushed to pack his things, eager to get to the airport. But Yelena grabbed the hem of his shirt, tears welling up in her eyes.
“It’s too late now. Yara is going to marry her brother, Jason.”
The news hit Bryce like a punch to the gut. He’d spent the last month drowning in misery, ignoring everything happening in the world around him.
He didn’t know about Yelena’s engagement or the other news, but he never expected things between Yara and Jason to progress so quickly.
He stopped in his tracks and turned back to Yelena. “When is their engagement party?”
Yelena bit her lip, refusing to answer.
Bryce snapped, “When is it?”
Startled, Yelena finally blurted out, “Tomorrow.”
No wonder she’d insisted he come to her engagement party. She was trying to make sure he’d never have another chance with Yara.
He stared at Yelena, realizing for the first time that he hardly knew at all.
Yelena couldn’t hold back anymore and broke down sobbing. “Is it so wrong for me to do this, Bryce? You’ve always loved me the most, but now, you suddenly love Yara. What am I supposed to do? I don’t want you to leave me. Can’t we just go back to how things were before?”
bryce didn’t have a single word left for her. He shook off her hand, letting her fall to the floor. Then he walked away without looking back.
For 20 years, he’d thought Yelena was the most important person in his life, and never imagined he could love anyone else. But fate didn’t care about what he wanted.
He bought the first ticket he could get to Husten. He was determined to win Yara back and let the whole world know he truly loved her.
After an overnight flight, Bryce made it back to Husten just before Yara’s engagement party began.
At the Spencer residence, Yara had just finished getting dressed and was about to leave when Bryce suddenly burst through the door
Everyone froze, caught off guard by his appearance, especially since he was the ex–husband. The first to recover were Yara’s parents. They stayed composed and smiled politely.
“Bryce, you must have come all this way to wish Yara well. Thank you for making the trip.”
Bryce was still out of breath from running. When he saw Yata in her dress, his heart ached. He forced himself to smile at her parents.
“That’s right, I came all night just to be here. I’d like to talk to Yara alone for a minute, if that’s okay?”
Chapter 21
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