Broken Seven Times Over

I've planned seven wedding ceremonies in total, and not once has my fiance, Zachary Gardner, ever shown up for it.

The first time, his adopted younger sister, Louise Foster, bursts into tears because she lost her passport at the airport. It was the dead of winter, but he dumped me by the side of the road and left me.

The second time, Louise's dog sprained its ankle. Zachary stuffed the ring back into its box and rushed to the animal hospital to accompany her.

Every time I argue with him about it, he declares nonchalantly, "We can get married anytime, but I can't let Louise be upset."

Everyone around us agrees with him, saying that we're all family anyway, so I shouldn't be so petty. None of them has seen Zachary and Louise kissing fiercely on the dance floor.

Today is the seventh wedding ceremony. Once again, he turns to leave after getting a call.

I grab the corner of his shirt and say in a choked voice, "If you leave this time, Zachary, I won't marry you anymore."

He stops in his tracks and peels off my fingers.

"Wait for me," he says before rushing off.

What he doesn't know is that this time, I won't be waiting for him any longer.

My boyfriend, Zachary Gardner, had been involved with his adopted sister, Louise Foster. He even jilted me seven times for her.

During the last wedding ceremony, when I forced him to make a final choice between me and her, he ultimately chose Louise.

When Zachary got back to the house, I was sitting dazedly on the couch, still in my wedding gown. Our eyes met, but neither one of us spoke.

"Claire."

Louise stuck her head out from behind Zachary. With a pitiful look on her face, she said to me, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called Zach on your wedding day. But I didn't expect him to love me so much that he'd actually come over to accompany me…"

Although it was an apology, every word was thick with boastful smugness.

"You can drop the act. It simply annoys me," I replied with an icy scoff.

Immediately, Louise's eyes watered, and Zachary took pity on her at once. He pulled her into his arms before turning back to me with a cold stare. "You went too far, Claire. It's just a wedding ceremony. We can just hold another one next time."

The way he could state that so matter-of-factly made me chuckle self-mockingly.

"Zachary, have you forgotten what I said to you? I said that if you walked out of the venue, there wouldn't be another wedding ceremony."

Zachary frowned as he looked at me with a flicker of disappointment in his eyes.

"Claire, it was Lulu's graduation ball today. That's an extremely important event. Her friends would've teased her for not having a date. Since I'm her older brother, I can't just ignore that."

As I exhaled heavily, my gaze landed on my phone—and the video I received from an anonymous sender.

In the video, Zachary had his arms wrapped tightly around Louise as he bent down to kiss her fiercely. Everyone cheered wildly, saying that they were the sweetest couple there. Even after hearing those comments, he didn't bother correcting them. He simply kissed her harder.

In the past, he always claimed that this was just a formality. I used to believe him. But now, I no longer wanted to fool myself or put up with this situation.

I looked Zachary dead in the eye and said coldly, "You know me. I don't say things I don't mean. I'll tell our relatives that the wedding has been called off. I'll also be moving out of the house in three days."

For a moment, Zachary froze. He knew that while I had a gentle personality, I was a decisive person who stuck to my decisions.

Once, a patient had come in with a blade pierced through his heart. Every doctor present had shaken their head, thinking he was beyond hope. I was the only one who decided to try my best till the very end to save him.

When the patient's heart started beating again, everyone was stunned. They stared at me in shock. Who would've thought that I, Claire Stewart, the quiet doctor who always stood in the corner, would suddenly burst into action when it mattered most?

Thus, for the first time, Zachary had a panicked look in his eyes. After glancing between Louise and me, he chose to come up to me. However, the moment he took his first step, Louise covered her face and began wailing.

"It's all my fault that you and Claire are arguing, Zach! Just forget about me. After all, we're not related by blood. Mom and Dad, who adopted me, are both dead anyway. It's time for me to leave…"

Zachary froze when he heard her mention their parents. He immediately turned around and began consoling Louise, "Don't cry. Please don't cry. I'll never forget about you. I love you the most in the whole wide world! Even if I have to leave everyone else, I'll never leave you."

Sneering, I got up and marched straight to my bedroom before slamming the door shut.

Zachary didn't come after me. After all, it always took a great deal of effort for him to placate Louise. By the time he came knocking on my door, I was almost fast asleep.

He let out a heavy sigh before saying impatiently, "Stop kicking up a fuss, Claire. You know that Louise is the only family I have left."

It was precisely those words, "the only family I have left", that became the reason why I was abandoned countless times.

"You're right, Zachary. She's the only family you have now. I won't be marrying you, so I won't become part of your family either."

Once I finished speaking, I opened the door and tossed out the wedding ring. As I closed the door, he instinctively stuck his hand out to stop it from closing and ended up getting his fingers trapped. He winced in pain, but I ignored his bloodied fingertips and swung the door shut anyway.

"What should we do, Zach? Claire seems to be really mad."

Joe Newman, Zachary's butler, stepped in to comfort Louise. "Don't worry, Ms. Foster. Ms. Stewart is just throwing a tantrum. I've been working here for almost five years now, and she's said similar things at least ten times. But despite that, she has never stopped wanting to marry Mr. Gardner, has she?

"In any case, her family has gone bankrupt. Life would be very hard for her if she left Mr. Gardner. You have nothing to worry about."

He kept his voice down, but I heard him anyway. Each word he uttered felt like a dagger stabbing through my heart.

Soon, Louise stopped crying, but I couldn't hold myself back from finally shedding a tear. I did the same the last six times Zachary bailed on our wedding ceremony. I would always hide in a corner and cry my heart out after dealing with the aftermath of the ruined wedding ceremony.

With each crying spell, I lost some of the anticipation I had for our wedding—and my love for Zachary as well.

Now, after the seventh time, I no longer felt any love for him. My heart was empty, but I didn't feel sad about it. Something new would always come along to fill it up.

After roughly wiping my tears away, I pulled out my phone and called Dr. Ezekiel Lane, my former superior.

"Dr. Lane, it's about that medical relief program you mentioned. I'm calling to tell you that I'm willing to join the team."