te was thick with the sce

to be the happie

urner then, "Abby" to

or, the white lace of my wedding dress a sta

he door

mother or my

ndon Hayes

n't sm

the bride before the ceremony," I s

right in front of me, his gaze fixed on the delicate diamond necklace around my

ack," he said,

, what are you

skin as he unclasped the necklace. I was too s

palm for a moment before his

er eyes red-rimmed as if she'd been crying

nd without a word, he fastene

eckl

fut

s now

oice finally returned, but it

o me, his expres

marry y

ding is

, his voice softening. "I'm

from a terrible movie. My own cousin, who was supp

anaged to

There's a curse, Abby. A psychic told Seraphina's mother. If I don't marry her,

wedding, destroying my life,

don's chest. "I'm so sorry, Abby. I didn't w

as as hollow

back at me, his eyes now filled with a strange kind o

conspiratorial whisper. "Once the danger from the curse has passed,

to wait. To put my life on hold while he played hero i

ther saw the scene-me in my dress, Brandon holding Sera

trage. They all expected me to break down, to scream, to beg Bran

tears ne

heartbreak was a cold, hard stone

life with, and I saw a stranger. A weak, arrogant man easil

you remember the arrangement wit

ential alliance through marriage that had been on the back burn

ou don't

steady and firm. "Call

his jaw slack. This was not the reaction he had an

scoffed. "You're just upset. You

in of anything in my life," I

the wedding dress. My mother rus

oor. I walked to my closet, pulled out a simple dress, and put it on. I

l "Abby" Turner e

Europe, leaving behind the wreckag

ears p

onger knew me

art curator, happily married, and si

, William, speak with his assistant. He was tall and kind, with a quiet strength tha

rs, for one reason only: William's grandfather, the patriarch

ng as a completel