The Groom She Left in Ruins

The raucous pre-wedding party had finally wound down, but my fiancé, Nolan Pierce, strolled into our future penthouse apartment with his old flame, Sienna Cole, acting as if I wasn't even there.

He was unsteady on his feet, his face flushed, a smug satisfaction in his eyes. His clothes were damp and disheveled, clinging to his skin.

He strode past me to the bar and poured a glass of water, his voice sharp with impatience before I could even speak.

"Audrey, are you going to start? I'm tired, and I don't have the patience for one of your tantrums right now."

"It was a moment of weakness. Sienna's fragile—she has a weak heart. Can't you be the bigger person here?"

"The bigger person?" I scoffed. "She has some nerve, carrying on with a man who's getting married tomorrow!"

In a fit of rage, Nolan slammed the glass down on the bar. "Shut your mouth!"

"Sienna is unwell. Don't you dare say another word to upset her, or this wedding is off!"

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1

The moment he finished speaking, a private medical team rushed into the apartment and began resuscitating the woman by the pool.

Nolan immediately followed them, not even sparing me a second glance.

Sienna Cole lay in Nolan's arms by the infinity pool overlooking the Manhattan skyline, weakly clutching his hand.

"Nolan, I've become such a burden to you, but I just wanted to see you one last time before I... go..."

The air hung heavy with the reek of alcohol and chlorine. Discarded clothes and empty glasses littered the poolside—the blatant evidence of their tryst.

"I'm so happy I could be with you before I die... On your wedding day... could I come? Just to watch from a distance?"

"Don't say that!" Nolan clutched Sienna tighter, tears welling in his eyes as he wheeled on the doctors. "Save her, damn it! Save her!"

He turned back to her. "Sienna, you're going to be okay. I promise, I'll always protect you."

They kissed desperately, as if the world were ending and this was their last goodbye.

Bile rose in my throat as I watched the farce unfold.

All of New York knew that Nolan Pierce was my weakness.

For him, I—a new-money tech magnate—had contorted myself to fit into his world, bending over backward to please him.

I even defied my family, who had always opposed our marriage, and endured their cold stares, all just to become his bride.

I had given Nolan my whole heart, only for him to grind it under his heel.

"Audrey, are you blind? Don't just stand there frozen," Nolan roared, his eyes flashing with irritation.

"Call the best cardiologist in New York, now! If anything happens to Sienna, it's on you. Do you understand me?"

When I didn't move, Nolan's face darkened. I had never openly defied him in front of others before.

"We're getting married tomorrow, and you choose now to pull this stunt?"

"You still remember we're getting married?" I stared at the skin exposed by his open shirt and let out a contemptuous sneer. "You must have forgotten all about the wedding while you were fooling around with Sienna in the pool of what was supposed to be our home."

"I was saving her!"

I smiled calmly. "Of course. Saving her life."

"You had countless ways to save her, yet you chose the most carnal one. How selfless."

His face went from pale to crimson, but just as he was about to retort, the wedding planner and the groomsmen burst in, their voices filling the tense quiet.

Nolan's best man, Josh, burst in first, his face a mask of disapproval as he took in the chaos.