Abandon You Choose Dragon Chapter 09
His head snapped toward the sanctuary entrance.
That scar.
He remembered the night of the fireworks. Her falling to the ground, her palms pressing into the hot debris.
He remembered turning away from her to help Chloe up.
He remembered that she hadn’t made a single sound of pain.
The cigarette lay on the ground. A buzzing filled his ears, like a swarm trapped inside his skull.
The person inside was—
“It’s Iris!!!”
…
On the other side of the sanctuary, the Moon God’s blessing was complete.
Chloe was surrounded by her family, fussed over, cooed at.
The bridal procession waited to escort her to the groom.
The other bride had no family present. Her groom had quietly taken her away.
No one had so much as glanced in that direction.
I sat in Rex’s car.
The white veil was folded neatly on my lap.
He glanced at me through the rearview mirror, his gaze lingering on my face for just a moment.
“You’re really going through with this?”
I looked out the window.
The old oak’s shadow slid across the glass in patches.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves in broken pieces, falling onto the white veil on my knees.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
James was right about one thing. When I made up my mind, I meant it.
Either I swallowed every last drop of humiliation and became what they wanted me to be.
Or I tore it all down and started over.
Maybe this stubbornness had cost me more than it gave. But I couldn’t change it. Not in this lifetime.
I’d chosen to follow the Moon God’s guidance and marry the male who caught my moonflower. I wasn’t planning to look back.
Rex was quiet for a while. The car slowed.
He turned to me, something careful in his voice—testing the waters.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll treat you the way I treated my last three mates?”
I turned to face him.
“Then why don’t you tell me what happened to them?”
The corner of his mouth curved up, just barely. He didn’t answer the question.
The car picked up speed again.
The SUV rounded the last bend smoothly. Ahead stood a yard of white brick and tile.
Roses climbed every wall, their scent drifting to me on the breeze.
He didn’t answer. I didn’t ask again.