Part 3Regret Came Too Late

This was the wedding of the year, crawling with reporters. The second they saw me, a frenzy of camera flashes blinded me.

My brother stalked toward me. “What are you doing here?” he hissed. “Useless guards, can’t even watch one girl! Look at you! Did you do this to yourself just to ruin this for us? Is this how desperate you are for a headline?”

My mother rushed over, her face a mask of worry. “Audrey, what happened? Is that… is that blood on your dress?”

“Yes, it’s blood. My blood. Lily’s people beat me half to death. I barely escaped.”

My father slapped me, hard. The taste of copper filled my mouth. “You shameless brat! You just can’t stand to see your sister happy, can you?”

My mother grabbed my arm. “Audrey, you said Lily’s people did this?”

My brother pulled her away. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s paint. She’s always been a drama queen, pulling stunts for the cameras!” He seized my wrist and started to drag me away.

I stumbled and fell. As I hit the marble floor, my broken leg was exposed to everyone. A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

The bone of my shin had pierced the skin, a jagged white shard against the bloodied flesh. I had dragged myself here on that leg.

A normal person would have passed out from the pain.

But the system, in its mercy, had activated a pain-dampening protocol. I felt nothing.

My mother covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face. “Audrey… oh god, you’re so badly hurt!”

For a second, I saw a flicker of pity in my father’s eyes. “How did you let this happen to yourself?”

Even my brother, who had been spitting venom just moments before, was speechless.

Cade pushed through the crowd and saw me lying there.

“Audrey?”

I lifted my blood-streaked face to look at him. “Perfect timing. I have a few questions for you.”

Lily arrived, a vision of angelic purity in her white gown, her face stained with tears. “Audrey, this is the most important day of my life. Must you destroy it?” she sobbed, her body trembling. “Why do you hate me so much? You’ve already stolen everything that was mine! All I wanted was Cade! Can’t you just let us be happy?”

My brother reached for me. “I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“Brother!” Lily’s voice was a desperate wail. “The ceremony is about to start! You’re leaving?” She looked at me, her eyes full of poison. “This is just one of her tricks. Do you really believe I would do this to my own sister?”

My brother dropped my hand as if it were on fire.

“Audrey, you are sick,” he spat. “To frame your own sister, you would mutilate yourself like this. Go to the hospital on your own. And don’t worry, the Blackwood family has no use for a cripple. We’ll pay for the best doctors to fix your leg.”

I knew then that nothing I could say would matter. I gritted my teeth and pulled myself to my feet.

“I just have a few things to say. Then I’ll go.”

My eyes found Cade. “Our entire relationship… it was just a bet with your friends, wasn’t it? You never had any real feelings for me. Yes or no?”