Before the divorce was finalized, however, Damian had made a request of Natalie.

He would be giving her a large sum of money. However, the catch was that she had to attend his wedding with Cheryl and stay by her side for the rest of the preparations and frills and fancies, including trying on wedding dresses, wedding shoes, and ring shopping.

Also, Natalie was to be Cheryl's only bridesmaid.

He would only truly let Natalie go after she'd fulfilled everything.

Natalie simply couldn't understand why he would make her do this. Wouldn't it be awkward for him to have his ex-wife at his wedding?

However, soon, she quickly found out the reason why.

Everything he did for Cheryl had been things that he'd promised he'd do for Natalie. And now, Natalie was forced to witness with her own eyes as he fulfilled all of his promises to her, but with another woman by his side.

Back when she and Damian got married, there was no wedding ceremony and no wedding photos. He had simply taken her to the town hall to register their marriage before living together.

That marriage was nothing but just a fever dream—it was also his revenge on her. It was meant to hurt her. So, he naturally didn't need to put his heart into it.

Now, he was about to begin a new life with another woman, and his marriage would finally be a happy one.

While Cheryl tried on wedding dresses, Natalie sat by the side, watching her change into wedding gown after wedding gown in the boutique.

The wedding dresses were already stunning in the display windows. However, when Cheryl wore them, they seemed to look even more ethereal than ever.

It was no wonder that they said every woman's dream was to try on wedding dresses. Wedding gowns really looked and felt different when they were being worn.

Damian stood below the tiny stage, watching Cheryl with doting eyes as she changed into outfit after outfit and giving her reassuring nods every single time.

The staff around them were full of praise for Damian.

"Mr. Abbott really adores you, Ms. Garcia! You don't usually get a groom who's so attentive whenever accompanying his bride to choose a wedding dress!"

"You're both a match made in heaven! You're perfect for each other!"

"Mr. Abbott must spoil you rotten, Ms. Garcia! These wedding gowns all cost a fortune each. Regular people would never even dare to touch them in the display window!"

Cheryl lowered her head shyly and glanced occasionally at Natalie.

"Yeah… Dam really treats me very well."

After they were done trying on wedding dresses, the three of them then made their way to the beachside venue where their wedding ceremony would be held.

It was Cheryl's idea to have the ceremony there. She said that she loved the sea, and that the ceremony would first be held on the beach before they moved onto a yacht that night for the reception and afterparty. It would be a free and easy yet romantic wedding.

After getting on the yacht, Damian began discussing details with the staff there while Cheryl and Natalie rested on the deck.

For some reason, Cheryl happened to catch sight of the locket that Natalie had carefully tucked away.

Back when Natalie first received the locket, she had excitedly shown it to Cheryl first, so Cheryl naturally knew what it was and how much it meant to them.

Her face fell at once as she snatched the locket from Natalie without another word.

"Didn't you say you were going to break up with him? Why are you still holding on to this locket?"

Natalie anxiously tried to get the locket back from Cheryl.

"It's just a locket. Give it back to me."

Cheryl grew even more resentful when she saw how nervous and anxious Natalie was about the locket. She flung it to the ground in fury and stomped hard on it.

"If you're going to break up with him, then you should be severing all ties with him completely! What is the point of this lingering attachment?"

The opal locket shattered into pieces instantly. However, before Natalie could even get upset about it, Cheryl suddenly grabbed her and jumped into the sea with her.

Neither Natalie nor Cheryl could swim, and the icy seawater slowly engulfed them completely.

Natalie stared at the glimmer of light above her head. Her mind was completely blank.

She recalled falling into the water once when they had only just gotten together. Back then, Damian had been so anxious and worried about her that he jumped into the icy creek in the wintertime without any hesitation to save her.

And when he finally realized that she was safe and sound, his eyes turned so red it looked like he was bleeding.

That had been the first time she'd ever seen him cry for her. He hugged her so tightly and told her that he thought he was going to lose her forever.

He said that the one thing he was most afraid of in his life was losing her.

The second time she saw him cry was when she told him that she was breaking up with him. He had never stared at her with such a small, helpless expression on his face before.

He wouldn't stop asking her if it was something that he did and behaved like a child when he begged her not to leave him or abandon him.

Now that the situation was different, would he still come to save her?

Natalie didn't know, and she didn't feel confident whatsoever.

The seawater gurgled in her ears, but she couldn't hear anything.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the light, but it rushed toward Cheryl next to her instead.

At the very least, she didn't end up drowning in the sea. The yacht staff pulled her back onboard, and the first thing she saw was Damian tenderly hugging Cheryl in his arms. He anxiously checked her body for any injuries.

He happened to turn around and look at Natalie, who'd just been fished out of the sea in a bedraggled manner. She also happened to meet his gaze then.

Natalie's eyes were hollow and looked like shattered stars in the sky, making his heart clench inexplicably.

Damian averted his gaze and looked away.

"Don't look at me like that. Cheryl is now the love of my life. Saving her was the right thing to do.

"I've already stopped loving you a long time ago. Did you really hope that I would still save you like how I used to in the past without a care in the world?"

Natalie sniffled softly and nodded, saying, "It's fine. This is fine. It's good that you don't love me anymore."

It was really a good thing that he didn't love her anymore.

After getting back, Damian threw the mansion's property deed in front of Natalie and said, "This mansion reeks of you, and it's not suitable for me and Cheryl to continue living here anymore. I'll buy a new mansion for her with brand-new everything.

"I don't want this place anymore either because it's too disgusting for me. You can have it.

"Cheryl and I are having our wedding tomorrow. Pull yourself together and make sure you're there for the ceremony. After that, you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want. It won't have anything to do with me anymore!"

Natalie didn't reject his offer and simply nodded.

"I wish you a lifetime of happiness from the bottom of my heart, Damian Abbott."

He trembled slightly as he walked out of the mansion, but he still never looked back at her.

Natalie had been sincere about her well-wishes for his happiness. However, she wouldn't be able to make it for the wedding tomorrow.

She had only just received word from her direct supervisor that the date of her staged death would be tomorrow, and she was expected to report back for duty on a new mission. So, Natalie couldn't attend the ceremony anymore.

On the day of the wedding, Natalie stood in the mansion that once belonged to her and Damian and looked at her phone. Damian had been sending her countless text messages since a while ago, urging her to hurry up.

"Natalie Underwood! Do you know what time it is? Why aren't you here yet?

"You have exactly 20 minutes to show yourself right now!

"I dare you to try and go back on your word again, Natalie!"