99 Bloody Lashes And A Bullet To His Hear novel Chapter 17

The guests erupted into shocked whispers.

“Isn’t that Dominic Reed?”

“Did he just say ‘don’t marry him‘? Is he trying to stop the wedding?!”

“My God, the Sinclair heir just woke up, and now this drama at his wedding…”

The murmurs swelled like a rising tide. Ariana dug her nails into her palm, half–convinced she was hallucinating.

Dominic… here? Why?

She watched him approach step by step. His suit was creased as if he’d slept in it, dark circles beneath his bloodshot eyes suggesting he hadn’t properly rested in days.

“Don’t marry him,” he repeated, his voice barely recognizable.

Ariana’s fingers trembled slightly, but she forced herself to remain composed: “Dominic, what are you doing here?”

She could hear the ice in her own voice: “Aren’t you afraid your precious Mia will be jealous?”

Dominic flinched as if she’d struck him, his eyes filled with intense pain.

“I got it wrong,” his voice was rough with emotion. “Ari, three years ago, the person I fell in love with was you, not Mia. All this time I’ve been blind and foolish, loving the wrong person.”

“Do you remember rescuing that bird’s nest at the charity gala three years ago? That day, I fell for you at first sight, but I mistook you for Mia.”

Ariana’s pupils dilated.

Of course she remembered that day–wearing a white dress, climbing a tree to save a precariously balanced nest. When she climbed down, she’d glimpsed a man standing in the distance, but assumed he was just a passerby and hurried away.

That had been… him?

Seeing her stunned silence, Dominic pressed on urgently: “I’ve discovered everything–how Mia has been manipulating me all along. You were the one suffering in the Reeves household, not her. She drugged your mother, causing her and your unborn sibling’s deaths. She’s tormented you since childhood, fabricated false reports to steal your study abroad opportunity. I’m so sorry–I didn’t investigate properly. I failed you…”

Each word he spoke sent another sharp pain through Ariana’s heart.

All the past injustices and suffering, so casually laid bare, as if a simple “I got it wrong” could erase years of heartache.

By the end, he could barely stand, clinging to his composure only by digging his nails deep into his palms.