Chapter Three

Eliza's POV

Before I could answer, I heard a few soft coughs from the doorway.

Tessa was standing there, pale, with gauze still wrapped around her wrist.

She walked in, looked around the place, and zeroed in on the dress form by the walk-in closet.

On it was the wedding dress I'd spent a whole year making, every stitch of it by hand.

"Owen, this place is beautiful," she said softly. "And that wedding dress is gorgeous."

"Too bad someone like me will probably never get to wear one..."

She was looking right at me when she said it, and she could barely hide how pleased she was with herself.

Owen pulled her into his arms like his heart was breaking for her, then turned to me with pleading eyes.

"Eliza..."

I almost laughed out loud.

"Owen, you're not seriously about to ask me to let her move in here and hand her my wedding dress too, are you?"

He opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, I grabbed the scissors off the table and walked over to the dress form.

I sliced it open from the neckline down, and the dress fell to the floor in pieces.

"It's mine. I'd rather cut it up myself than leave it for someone who doesn't deserve it."

Tessa screamed and shrank into Owen's arms. "She's insane! Owen, she's insane!"

"Eliza! It's just a dress. Was that really necessary? What are you gonna wear to the wedding now?"

"Not your problem. The Carringtons will take care of it."

Owen went rigid.

"The Carringtons? You don't mean Damian Carrington, do you?"

Once the shock wore off, he scoffed.

"Eliza, everybody in New York knows the one thing Damian Carrington can't stand is..."

He looked me over, his eyes lingering on my face, and didn't finish.

But I knew exactly what he was going to say.

I'd only hidden my face because I wanted to find someone who'd love me for real, no matter what I looked like.

Now there was no point.

I pulled a makeup wipe out of my bag. I was about to wipe my face clean right in front of him when Owen reached out to stop me.

"Okay, enough. What's the point? Wiping it off won't change anything. It's not like you're gonna get a whole new face..."

He was still talking when my phone rang.

I put it on speaker, and the voice of the Carrington family's butler filled the living room.

"Miss Ashford, Mrs. Carrington asked me to let you know the wedding is set for three days from now."

The room went dead silent.

Owen went white as a sheet.

"That's impossible. Why would the Carringtons ever..." Owen blurted out, his voice cracking.

Tessa grabbed his arm. "Owen, she's lying to you!"

"There's no way the Carringtons would want her. She's just mad you left yesterday, so she got some random person to call and put on a show to scare you!"

Owen stared at my face for a few seconds, and whatever doubt he'd had faded fast.

"Eliza, stop. I know you're mad I left you to go see Tessa, but you can't throw your whole life away just to get back at me."

"Damian Carrington..."

He glanced at my face again and forced himself to keep going. "Everyone in New York knows how picky he is. Why would he ever marry you? If you just admit you made all this up, I'll pretend none of it ever happened..."

"And then what?"

I cut him off.

"Then you keep me around as your backup plan, and once you get bored with her, you come crawling back to me?"

"Owen, is that really how little I'm worth to you? You actually think I can't live without you?"

He had nothing to say to that. His face turned bright red.

Tessa leaned into him right away, her voice wobbling like she was about to cry.

"Owen, let's just go. Us being here is only making Eliza more upset."

"She's just angry right now. Once she calms down, she'll figure out who actually cares about her."

Then she shot me a taunting look.

Owen seemed relieved to finally have an excuse to leave. He took a deep breath and looked at me.

"Eliza, take a few days to cool off. Call me when you've thought it through."

He put his arm around Tessa and walked out without looking back once.

They'd barely been gone two minutes when the doorbell rang.

The Carringtons' butler came in with two assistants, and they carried a huge gift box into the living room.

They lifted the lid, and inside was a wedding dress custom-made by a top designer.

The skirt was covered in tiny diamonds, sparkling so brightly in the morning light it almost hurt to look at.