Skipped At The Altar, Taken By His Uncle novel Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Pay My Appearance Fee

After Whitney said that, she turned and walked out, leaving everyone in the private room exchanging confused glances.

Someone let out an awkward laugh. “Whitney is so humorous, isn’t she?”

“Carter, don’t be mad. Just sweet-talk her a bit. She’ll come around,” someone else chimed in.

Another guy scoffed, “Why bother? Carter, don’t spoil women. If you do, they’ll just walk all over you.”

“Shut up.” Carter’s face was icy cold. He was sick of their endless chatter.

Emily’s heart skipped a beat. She thought, ‘When did Carter start defending Whitney? Has she already taken my place while I was gone?’

Emily bit her lip, speaking in a gentle voice, “Carter, are you worried Whitney will be mad? I can say sorry to her, okay?”

She poked his waist with her finger, her voice sweet and a little whiny. “Don’t be mad, Carter. See? You scared everyone.”

When they were little, Emily loved poking Carter under the table. He could never stay mad at her when she did that.

Just like always, Carter’s cold look softened. “I’m not mad. Milly, I could never be mad at you because of anyone else.”

Emily lowered her gaze, her cheeks flushing. “Me neither.”

Everyone started joking around and making light of the situation, and the tense air Whitney had left behind quickly disappeared.

*****

Whitney headed straight for Carter’s home. It was the house Carter’s grandfather, James Harris, had sent them as a wedding gift.

“Ma’am, you’re back.” Linda Torres, the maid, looked a bit surprised.

”Weren’t they supposed to get their marriage license today? Why did Madam come back alone?’ Linda wondered.

Whitney went straight upstairs. She hadn’t brought much stuff with her. A single suitcase was enough to hold everything.

As she passed Carter’s study, she noticed his tablet sitting on the desk.

When Whitney once came and tried to binge-watch some shows on Carter’s tablet, he suddenly blew up at her for no reason.

She’d always thought he just hated people touching his stuff, but today, she saw Emily fiddling with Carter’s phone.

Whitney walked into the study. She tapped the screen to wake it up, yet it required a password.

She took a deep breath and entered Carter’s birthday first.

It was the wrong password.

Then she entered her own birthday. Still, it was wrong.

On her third attempt, Whitney recalled that Emily was born on Labor Day.

She quickly Googled it and saw that Labor Day that year was on September 2nd.

With slightly trembling fingers, Whitney entered 0902. This time, the password was correct.

She swallowed hard, feeling the bitterness filling her mouth.

The tablet was wiped clean without a single app.

Trusting her instincts, Whitney tapped into the photo album.

Her heart skipped a beat upon seeing the 3,344 photos, all of which were memories of Emily and Carter.

Some were solo shots of Emily, while others showed the two of them together.

However, Carter always avoided taking pictures with Whitney together. The only photo they took together was the wedding portrait hanging in their bedroom.

Carter once claimed that he hated taking pictures, but in these 3,344 photos, he looked genuinely happier than when he was with Whitney.

Whitney shut off the tablet, leaving no trace she’d ever been there.

Linda couldn’t help but be curious as she watched Whitney drag her suitcase downstairs.

She asked, “Ma’am, you just got back. Are you already leaving for another trip?”

Knowing that Whitney was a lawyer and always traveling for work, Linda just figured she’d be on a business trip again.

Whitney paused, muttered a “yeah”, and left without a trace of emotion on her face.

*****

Carter didn’t come back to the place he shared with Whitney until the next day.

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