Laura's POV

I felt my heart freeze the moment Francis made mention of calling off I and Kendrick's wedding. It was too much of a sudden decision and I felt like I had been punched in the guts. Tears pricked from the corner of my eyes and I clenched my fist tight as I could feel everyone's eyes on me.

"No." I suddenly heard Kendrick say. I turned to my right to gaze at him and gasped in shock at his bold way of rejecting his father's offer.

"Listen to me Kendrick! You should not be quick to give me a response. I know exactly why I have asked you to call off the wedding, it is just for the meantime. What I mean is that the wedding should be placed on a hold while we make preparations towards your mother's burial." Francis explained.

Now, he just had a valid point. It would be such a hassle to plan both a wedding and a burial.

"My wedding with Laura will be held regardless. The burial will also be planned well. I do not see why the burial should be a barrier to stopping my wedding. Not even mum would want that." Kendrick said in a serious tone. His face was expressionless and I had a big feeling he was trying so hard to hold himself from breaking down into tears. Kendrick loved to act weak but deep down inside of him, he was just a weak baby when it came to anything that had to do with his mother.

"Stop acting selfish Kendrick. This has nothing to do with just you. Can you not be considerate for once and sacrifice something for the whole family?" Bruno, Kendrick's brother snapped at him. He rose to his feet and walked out of the room with an angry look on his face. I had a feeling his anger was more than just about calling off the wedding.

"Look, I do not care about whatever it is that you guys have planned. I and Laura will get married no matter what." With that, Kendrick rose to his feet and dashed out of the house as well.

I nodded my head in agreement. "I am sorry father but the wedding has to be held." I apologized. I rose to my feet and began to walk out of the house. I got into the large compound where Kendrick's car was parked, he was sitting comfortably with his head bent low. I felt pity for him as I slowly approached him.

Suddenly, I felt someone grab me by the wrist and pulled me backward. I turned around to gaze at the culprit, it was Bruno. He sighed heavily and arched a brow at me. "Can I talk to you for a brief moment?" He asked.

I nodded my head in agreement and followed Bruno to the small garden at the back of the house.

"Look Bruno..." I started because I had a hint he wanted to talk about calling the wedding and that was the last thing I wanted. Calling off the wedding felt like I was losing, I just could not explain why I felt that way.

"I know you want us to call off the wedding for the sake of your mother." I continued but Bruno interrupted me immediately. "No Laura, this has nothing to do with the wedding or anything of such. I have something much more important to discuss with you." Bruno said with a serious look on his face.

If it was not about the wedding then what could it possibly be about?

"Sure, go ahead and tell me about it. What is going on?" I asked, my brows furrowed at Bruno in curiosity. I noticed how his entire body fidgeted, his eyes kept darting towards different directions as if he was afraid.

"Bruno, are you okay?" I had to ask.

"I can not talk about it here Laura. Let's meet at the coffee shop a few walks away from our house. Meet me there by five and we can discuss everything." Bruno ranted.

I knew Kendrick would be mad if he heard that Bruno was inviting me out without his knowledge. "Bruno, I-I..." I tried to explain to him but he cut me off in a haste.."It is something important Laura, see you there by five." Without waiting for my response, Bruno scurried back into the house.

My curiosity got the best of me. Once it was five, I headed straight to the coffee shop to hear what Bruno had to say but surprisingly for me, two hours had passed and Bruno had not yet arrived. I was getting impatient and I had called his number several times but it kept going to voicemail.

Just as I was about to leave angrily, I got a call from Kendrick.

"Uhm hey Laura, where are you right now? I am currently freaking out! I am at the hospital! I got a call that Bruno got involved in a serious car accident." Kendrick blurted out.

My phone slipped out of my palms for a brief moment as I slowly began to process everything. Bruno? Accident? It was almost like someone was trying to stop him from telling me something important.

Without wasting any more time, I asked Kendrick to text me the address of the hospital and I boarded a taxi there right away..

I arrived at the hospital and met Bruno lying helplessly on one of the hospital stretchers while the doctors around tried to search for a free room. I stood beside Kendrick and squeezed his hands tight as we both stared at Bruno, his entire body was covered in wounds and it looked like he was bleeding everywhere.

I felt my heart shatter in pieces as Bruno slowly began to mumble faint words.

"Do not worry Bruno, you will be fine." Kendrick said in a reassuring tone.

"S-he...sh-e..." Bruno stuttered.

"Who?" I raised a brow at Bruno.

I watched him gasp for breath.

"I-I sa-w a-a bri-de an-d I-I tri-ed no-t to hi-t he-r.."

Those were Bruno's last words before I watched him shut his eyes close and accept defeat.

“He saw the mysterious Bride?!”

Kendrick's POV

I watched my brother struggle to catch his breath right before passing out. His words were strange yet familiar. That was because Laura had said almost the exact same thing, I sneaked a glance at her and surprisingly she already had her eyes fixated on me.

I had a feeling we were on the same page, but we struggled putting our thoughts into words. I cleared my throat and just as I was about to break the tense atmosphere, the doctor rushed towards us with a serious look plastered on his face.

"We have found a free room upstairs." The doctor said to some of the nurses. They pulled the stretcher away from me and towards the stairs. I released a heavy sigh of frustration as the doctor turned to gaze at me with a small smile. "He will be fine, his results will be communicated to you soon."

I rose to my feet and slowly began to walk towards the lobby. I needed to clear my head first, everything was happening so fast right now. First my mother, and now Bruno, I rubbed my forehead in frustration as I thought of who the next culprit would be. Laura?

I turned to gaze at Laura, she sat beside me in the lobby and her hands reached for mine to squeeze it tight. "Bruno will be fine." She slowly whispered but I knew deep down, she was afraid. I could sense fear in her tone.

"Who is this mysterious bride?" I asked with a raised brow. It sounded stupid at first when Laura had mentioned it to me but now that Bruno had also mentioned it, I was beginning to feel like the stupid one for not believing Laura in the first place. Maybe if I had, just maybe if I had then none of this would have happened to my mother and Bruno.

"Kendrick..." Laura started in a soft tone. I shook my head at her, dismissing whatever kind of words she wanted to say to me. That was the last thing I needed right now. What I needed was action, I was going to take action and catch the mysterious bride myself.

"Tell me Laura, I need to know. What does she look like? What does she hold? Has she ever stated her motives?" I threw questions at Laura, hoping she would have the answer to all.

"She wears a bridal dress and has a veil to cover what she looks like. She holds a knife with her but she has never said a single word to me so no Kendrick, I do not know her motives." Laura explained.

I sighed in exhaustion. I just found it extremely hard to comprehend why this so-called mysterious bride would make my loved ones her target. Who could she possibly be and what could she possibly want?

"I have to find her." I said with a newfound determination. I heard Laura sigh heavily and she nodded her head in agreement at me. "We will find her but I need to talk to you about something else." She said,

I adjusted my posture on the chair and gazed at her with curiosity. Perhaps she had a clue about the mysterious bride's whereabouts? Had something suddenly clicked to her? "What is it? Talk to me Laura." I urged her.

Laura shook her head in disagreement. "No Kendrick, it has absolutely nothing to do with the mysterious bride." Laura said. I felt disappointment wash over me. What was so important to her right now? We had a psychotic bride on the loose and she was concerned about something other than that?

"Look, can we talk about it later then? I need to focus on catching that bride." I said through gritted teeth. I rose to my feet, about to make a phone call to someone when Laura suddenly said. "Our wedding." She blurted out.

I muttered a cuss under my breath as I gazed at Laura. Damn it! I had forgotten basically everything that had to do with our wedding. I felt guilty, I was unsure of how to apologize to her.

"Let us place it on a hold." Laura said. My eyes widened in surprise at her decision. I mean deep down, I knew it was the right decision but it still felt unfair that our wedding would be placed on a hold, just because of some psychotic bride.

"Laura, are you angry at me?" I paused to run a hand through my hair in frustration. "Look, we can reason things differently. We can set out budgets right, there is still time for us to have a proper planning of it." I said in a haste.

Laura shook her head in disagreement, l caught a drop of tears falling from her eyes and it made me feel even worse.

"No, I think it is best we focus more on the mysterious bride. After all of this, we can possibly discuss our wedding plans." Laura said.

I sighed in defeat, she had made up her mind already and there was no persuasion from me that could possibly stop her from going with her mind.

I nodded my head slowly. "Are you okay with that?" Of course, I knew she was not okay but I still needed to ask because that was the right thing to do. Laura forced a smile on her face and nodded her head in agreement. "I will be fine." She said in a low tone, barely above a whisper.

I excused myself to a corner and I released a heavy sigh. Everything going on right now was so unbearable for me. It was slowly driving me insane, it felt like I was losing everything slowly.

Without wasting any more time, I dialed Detective Brooks' number and he answered on the first ring.

"What's up man? I heard about Bruno. Are you good?" Detective Brooks asked.

I sighed heavily and rubbed my forehead in frustration. "Brooks, I need your help."

"You know I would always gladly be of help." Detective Brooks said.

"I want to catch the mysterious bride.”

Laura's POV

"The wedding has been called off?" Bree yelled with wide eyes. I released a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of my neck in frustration. I still could not believe that I had been the one to suggest that the wedding remained on a hold. Although I knew it was the right thing to do, deep down, I felt regret.

"Talk to me Laura? Are you being serious right now or is this some kind of prank?" Bree exclaimed. I shook my head in disagreement and adjusted my posture on the plush couch. "Not called off exactly but it has been placed on a hold." I said, avoiding eye contact with Bree.

I heard her scoff at me. She scooted closer to me and held my hand. "Let me guess, the idea came from Kendrick's family right ?" I looked up to gaze at Bree, her brows arched in my direction.

I shrugged lightly and cleared my throat. "Well, at first yes but then I had to bring it up yesterday Bree. I just feel like it was the right thing to do." I said, pausing to groan in frustration. I snuck a glance at Bree and her eyes were wide open at me in shock. I knew she was about to scold me for making such a rash decision and trust me, I was already blaming myself for it too.

"How could you be the one to bring it up Laura? What if Kendrick thinks you are seeing another man and that you plan to dump him?" Bree whisper-yelled at me. She smacked me hard in the back causing me to choke out a small cry and scoot inches away from her.

"I had to Bree. A lot has happened to Kendrick and his family these past few days. I think it would be selfish of me if I did not bother to bring up the idea of putting our marriage on a hold. I mean, a marriage is supposed to be a time for celebrating but how are we supposed to celebrate when his brother is in a coma and his mother just died a few days ago?" I fired at Bree.

She sighed heavily, a concerned look flashed on her face. "Still, you should have considered his feelings too. I mean he has lost so much right now that it probably feels like he is losing you too." Bree said. She held truth in her words but every decision I made was for the sake of Kendrick. I did not want to seem like that selfish, self centered spouse who only cared about material things like marriage.

"Bree, I did it for him. Not for myself and I hope he sees that and understands me." I said. Bree nodded her head slowly, her hands reached for my shoulder and she rubbed it tight. "How is he feeling though?" She asked.

"Hell-bent on gathering information about the mysterious bride." I said nonchalantly. Silence fell between me and Bree for a brief moment. I knew she still did not believe the whole mysterious bride's conception and I had not planned on forcing her into believing.

"This mysterious bride..." Bree started, suddenly breaking the silence. "If she does exist like you guys claim, then I wonder what she wants from Kendrick, it seems like he is her main target." Bree said. I nodded my head in agreement. "Trust me, I was wondering the same thing too. As a matter of fact, these days I am always afraid to leave the house because I feel like she might come for me too." I said.

Bree choked out a small laughter which left me in utter confusion. This was a serious matter yet for some weird reasons, Bree found it funny. I shot dagger glares at her and that was enough to silence her. "Sorry, that was so hilarious." She said with a low chuckle.

"Bree, it is not. This is a serious matter here. You of all people should not be laughing at that." I snapped at her. The smile on her face disappeared and she rolled her eyes at me. "Calm down Laura, chill out. I already apologized." She said with a straight face.

I gazed at the wrist watch hanging carelessly on my wrist. I was supposed to see Kendrick in the next thirty minutes. We had a plan to visit his family and tell them about our final discussion about the wedding.

Just as I was about to excuse myself from Bree's presence, she beat me to it by suddenly asking. "So tell me. What steps has Kendrick made so far? Any clue on who this mysterious bride is?" She asked.

Well, Kendrick was not telling me much. All I knew was that he and detective Brooks were working on it. I shrugged in response. "I do not know, just the normal investigations I guess." I said. I paused to release a heavy sigh. "I need to leave now Bree, Kendrick and I are supposed to meet his family today." I said.

"Oh, alright then. See you some other time Laura, and make sure to take good care of yourself. If you ever feel afraid, come over and I will let you stay at my place." Bree said, flashing me a reassuring smile.

I flashed her a grateful smile and slowly rose to my feet.

I stepped out of the house but not after bidding Bree goodbye. Once I was outside of the house, I got a text from Kendrick informing me that he was at the cafe close to the house. I hastily boarded a taxi to the cafe.

The drive to the cafe was short, I had already sighted Kendrick sitting outside with an unfamiliar man beside him. Just as I was about to step out of the cafe. My phone made a beeping noise, I gazed at the screen and realized it was a message from an unknown number.

I opened the message in curiosity and I was left in utter shock as I stared at the context of the message.

It was a sex video.

A sex video of me in it and the one person I thought I would never have to think of again.

Reginald, my ex.