Eric hugged me from behind. His voice was trembling.

I quietly ended the call and tried to answer him as calmly as possible, "The travel agency said our post-wedding honeymoon needs to be rescheduled."

Eric was greatly relieved. "Oh, that's right. You promised to be with me forever. You wouldn't leave me."

After that, he hugged me tightly again out of guilt. "Don't worry. Once Naomi's mom is reassured, I'll give you an even bigger wedding."

I quietly looked at the documents in his hand. He had suddenly come back to get his identification papers.

Eric pulled his hand back uncomfortably when he noticed what I was staring at. "Naomi's mom won't be able to feel relieved if she doesn't see our marriage certificate. Don't overthink this, Ayla. When the time comes, I'll divorce her."

I held my breath. It was painful to hear what he said. He had promised that I was the only woman he would marry. Yet, he was getting married to another the next moment. Even though I had decided to leave him, it still felt painful to me.

Before I could say anything, Naomi rushed in. She squeezed between both of us.

Naomi forced herself between us and even secretly tried to push me further away. I stumbled from her push and fell. She took the opportunity to fall into Eric's arms. She looked at him with tears streaming down her face.

"Eric, my mom's condition just got worse. She's refusing the surgery unless we show her our marriage certificate."

Her words made Eric anxious. "Why is she refusing surgery when her condition is so serious?"

He grabbed Naomi's hand and walked toward the door, but he suddenly stopped. He looked back at me awkwardly.

"You've seen it for yourself, Ayla. Naomi's mom's situation is an emergency. We need to get our marriage certificate to soothe her for now. You understand it, right?"

Naomi ran toward me while stumbling. Her voice sounded pitiful. "Ayla, please help me fulfill my mom's wishes. Let her witness my wedding before she dies!"

She was crying while looking frail as she tried to kneel in front of me.

Eric quickly grabbed her into his arms. There was slight anger in his eyes. "How can you be so cold, Ayla? Didn't you agree to this? Why do you still want Naomi to kneel and beg you?"

Naomi tugged at Eric's sleeve while forcing a smile. "Eric, it's only normal for Ayla to be mad for letting me have her wedding. I don't blame her at all…"

It hurt me even further to see Eric's face turning grimmer. So, I said to him earnestly, "Go ahead. I don't mind."

Eric looked unsettled when he saw how sincere I was, and he tried to explain further, "I won't really get married to Naomi. It's just a formality. Don't worry about it."

He pulled Naomi up and left without another glance. Naomi looked back to smile gleefully at me.

I sat alone for a long time before I finally wiped away my tears and headed to the bridal shop to get my wedding gown. That gown was created by a top Itolian designer whom I hired specifically for my wedding to Eric.

It was a gown that I had poured my heart into. I wanted to wear it to my wedding, even if Eric was not the man I was marrying.

When I arrived at the bridal shop, the owner said to me in astonishment, "Don't you know that your fiancé has collected it, Ms. Elderon?"

I looked at him blankly, feeling a chill all over.

The owner noticed something was wrong and apologized to me with great embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. This was our fault. I'll make a call about it right now!"

He called Eric in a fluster, but Eric sounded calm on the other end of the call. "Yes, I collected it for the wedding the day after. If Ayla asks about it, just tell her that I'll return it after I'm done using it. No one can take anything that belongs to her."

Eric's words made me give up on him completely. I shook my head at the owner and stumbled out of the place.

I no longer wanted the wedding gown that Naomi would be putting in. I no longer wanted Eric either.

Eric had previously assigned two bodyguards to protect me. They were standing on either side of the villa's door when I returned in a mess. They did not even glance at me as they stood like statues where they were.

I ignored them and went straight to my bedroom to get my luggage.

They were already packed beforehand. I placed my identification documents in a bag with a few changes of underwear. I had left room for my wedding gown, but now, I no longer wanted to bring anything with me—not even the things that once held our happiest memories.

As I carried my backpack on my back, I walked down the stairs. I had booked plane tickets for tonight, and I had to leave the villa before the plane departed.

The villa doors were suddenly flung open. A woman who bore a striking resemblance to Naomi stormed toward me and shoved me hard to the ground. My knees hit the staircase, and my limbs bled from the fall. My tears were falling from the pain.

"You b*tch! How dare you take my daughter's man?! You deserve to die!"

Was this Naomi's terminally ill mother? I was about to say something when I felt a strangle around my neck.

It took everything in me to struggle to escape, but those hands refused to let go. I was dragged to the balcony on the second floor.

I looked at the two bodyguards helplessly to save me, but they pretended nothing was happening. They even quickly closed the door behind them.

The woman behind me was surprisingly strong. She did not sound like the woman Naomi said was terminally ill and did not have many days to live.

I gave up struggling to let her guard down. When we went past the master bedroom, I bit the woman ferociously on the arm.

The woman released me from the pain. I took the opportunity to lock the door of the main bedroom. I heard cursing outside the door. It was not long before I heard violent whacking.

I was trembling when I called Eric on the phone. "Eric, please come back now—Naomi’s mom is trying to kill me!"

The whacking got even louder. She had somehow found an axe, and was swinging it at the room door again and again, scaring the hell out of me.

I placed my hopes in Eric to save me. However, all I heard was Naomi's vague, grievance-sounding claim.

"Eric, I know Ayla will do anything to stop us from getting married, but why must she frame my mom for something like this? She doesn't even have long to live…"

His reply to me was filled with coldness and disappointment.

"Naomi's mom is still in the ICU. It's impossible for her to go to the villa and try to hurt you. Besides, I've sent two bodyguards to guard the door. No one can enter the villa. Stop lying, Ayla. I’m extremely disappointed in you. Don’t contact me for the next three days."

He hung up right away. Fear engulfed me as the room door broke down. The next second, I ran to the balcony and jumped off from the second floor.

I fell hard into the garden on the first floor. Fortunately, the backpack softened the fall and saved my life, but my left hand had hit the flowerbed hard, and it hurt tremendously.

It was painfully difficult to stand up as I held back the agony. I ignored the woman cursing upstairs and escaped the villa in a mess.

…

Meanwhile, Eric blocked my number and signed his name on the marriage registration documents. He did not notice the victorious smile on Naomi's lips when he lowered his head.

Eric accompanied Naomi as she organized the wedding. Whenever he ate anything delicious or saw pretty accessories, he would get his assistant to prepare another set to be delivered to the villa.

"Ayla has a bad temper. Deliver all of these to her. They'll appease her anger."

A tender look appeared in his eyes when he mentioned me.

"Once I've fulfilled my promise to Naomi, I'll go home and cajole Ayla. She won't blame me for long when she loves me so much."

…

On the day of the wedding, Eric was worried I would make a scene.

He arranged for bodyguards at every entrance and exit because he was worried about it. He even reminded his assistant about it.

"If Ms. Elderon comes here, make sure to stop her. Don't let her make a scene here."

The assistant pointed to a trending news story on his phone and informed Eric about it confidently.

"Don't worry, Mr. Foreman. Ms. Elderon is getting married in Napleo. She won't be coming here to make any scene…"