Just Before My Wedding: Trapped By My Ruthless Boss novel Chapter 137

Chapter 137

MA

Chapter 137

KISAREL

Heat rushed to my face.

“That’s impossible.”

The second guard shifted, blocking more of the doorway without making it obvious. “Please step aside, ma’am. Other guests are arriving.”

Other guests…

I looked behind me, and more people were already standing in the queue, watching keenly.

“This must be some kind of a sick joke.” I scoffed in disbelief, embarrassment mixing with my cheek blush. “I work directly

with Mr. Stark,” I argued. “Can you call someone inside? Chris from reception, or Reeves, or—”

“I can’t do that, ma’am,” the first guard interrupted me. “We can’t disturb the hosts for unlisted arrivals.”

Unlisted arrivals…

Those words hurt in a way that’ll haunt me for a while.

“My aunt just walked in. She’s family. I’m family-”

“Miss.” His voice stayed flat and polite. “You’ll need to step aside. You’re holding up the entrance.”

The other guard had already angled his body as if preparing to escort me away, and there was nothing more embarrassing than that.

I thought about calling Oceans, but no. I couldn’t call him like some desperate secret that’s refusing to be shoved aside.

My eyes burned, but I forced my chin up.

“Fine,” I said, but neither guard replied as I turned and took that walk of shame.

*******

OCEANS.

Fred had his eyes on me the whole time.

I felt them the whole time I kept accepting congratulations on a marriage I knew damn well I couldn’t stomach, even though he was good at pretending he wasn’t looking.

A smile here, a polite nod there, one hand resting on his wife’s lower back as he greeted a senator’s wife near the champagne

Fucking asshole.

tower…

I stood beside Moonic near the center of the hall, my fingers wrapped around a glass I had barely touched. The champagne inside had gone warm. One of the waiters passed with a silver tray, and I set the glass down before my grip decided to disgrace me in front of three hundred people.

My eyes swept the entrance for the tenth time in as many minutes.

Still no Kiss.

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11:44 am COOMA

Chapter 132

Cuck

Where the fuck was she?

Why was she running late?

“Oceans.” A hand clasped my shoulder. I turned and saw Franklin from the board putting on a smile so wide and fake. “Magnificent evening. Magnificent. Fred really outdid himself.”

“Mm,” I said, my eyes never leaving the door.

“You’re making the right choice.” He said, and I still didn’t give him the attention he sought until he forcefully took it. “Your father would be proud.”

There. He got my attention.

I turned my gaze slowly to meet his.

“This should be the last time my father is ever brought up in any topic that has nothing to do with family,” I said in a low, gruff voice that Moon had to turn her attention to me.

“Babe… What’s going on?” She asked, clasping her palms around my arm.

Franklin smiled, a little more embarrassed than he was letting show, “I wasn’t…”

“There’ll be no next time, Frank. I promise.”

I extracted myself before he could say another word or ask me about the merger.

My eyes went to the entrance again as I circulated, shook more hands, accepted more congratulations, and smiled until my face felt like a mask..

“Oceans,” I heard Moon from behind me.

I stopped and turned, in order not to give people the gossip they would be more than glad to sell.

“What?” I almost snapped, but I ran my fingers through my hair and sucked in a deep breath.

“What’s going on? You seem not to be happy.” She pointed out the obvious.

“What gave it away?” I asked, trying not to sound as hard as I felt.

“Oceans…”

I didn’t answer. I unlocked my phone, saw no message, and locked it again so fast my thumb nearly slipped. Then I checked the entrance again.

“I’m fine, Moon.” I caught the edge in my own voice and dragged it back down. “It’s a long night. That’s all.”

“It’s our engagement.” She said it through her teeth, still smiling for the room, her hand tightening on my arm like a clamp dressed up as affection. “You’ve been somewhere else all evening. People are noticing. My father is noticing. The least you could do is look like you really want to be here.”

I looked at her hand on my arm and had to physically stop myself from removing it.

“I’m here,” I said. “What more do you want?”

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11:45 am

Chapter 137

MA

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want you to try Her voice cracked under the smile. Three days, Oceans. You vanished for three days right before tonight, and you didn’t pick up a single one of my calls. Do you have any idea how that made me look? How that made me feel?”

“Moon”

“No.” Her eyes were shining. “Let me vent it all out. I’ve been quiet for way too long.”

“Not tonight, Moon.”

“Then when?” Her hand tightened around her clutch until her knuckles pushed white beneath her skin. “When exactly am I allowed to ask why my fiancé looks like he’s being tortured at his own engagement party?”

Because I was.

Because every time those doors opened and Kiss didn’t walk through them, something ugly moved under my ribs.

She went on, oblivious of my torment. “If this isn’t what you want, then it’s fine. Maybe we could just call it off and…”

“Fuck it, Moonie!” I snapped, and a few guests around heard. “Just stop…” I lowered my voice.

“Maybe this was all a mistake…” She shook her head. “One would think you’d be grateful to the woman who saved your life… But…

That line again… That fucking line that has held me captive all these years. A line I was at the verge of not giving a fuck about anymore.

I was so tired of hearing it I could barely keep my expression intact. It had been said to me so many times, in so many small acts of leverage, that the words had worn smooth and meaningless, like a coin handled until the face rubs off.

“Don’t ever use that on me again,” I said without thinking my words through.

She blinked. “What? I wasn’t-”

“You were. You always are.” I leaned in so the room would read it as a tender word between lovers. “You’ve spent that bullet a hundred times over, Moon. There’s nothing left of it. So save it. Find another way to make me stand where you want me to stand, because I just realized that one has stopped working.”

The color drained out of her face under the careful makeup. For one second the radiant bride was gone entirely, and there was just a furious, wounded girl who’d reached for her best weapon and felt it break in her hand.

“I kept you in my head all these years… I was traumatized… I had nightmares… I even kept your watch for years, Oceans. I kept it because it was yours. Because it was the only thing I had after that night. I carried that night of my body. I begged for money to fix the scar. I lied to my parents. I swallowed all of it, and now you stand here acting like I’m using one little sentence against you.”

Her words stopped making sense somewhere around I kept the watch because it was yours.’

“Mine?”

Moonie blinked. “What?”

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