Chapter 6
Three days later, I went with them to tour possible venues.
By then, the pain in my bones had gotten worse. My mother had to give me an injection just so I could stand long enough to get dressed.
"This is the last time," she said as she pressed the needle into my arm. "After today, you're done. I don't care what you promised that woman. You're done."
I nodded just to keep her calm.
We both knew I was lying.
The venue was a converted estate outside the city. Beautiful grounds, marble floors, floor-to-ceiling windows. The kind of place that looked like it belonged in a magazine.
Meredith was thrilled.
She moved through the rooms like she already owned them, pointing at walls and saying things like, "We'll put the head table here," and "I want gardenias along this bannister."
Alexander followed her with his hands in his pockets, nodding when required, offering nothing more.
I trailed behind them both, taking notes on my phone, trying to keep weight off my right side where the pain was worst.
At one point, Meredith turned to me with a bright smile.
"Sophia, what do you think? For the centerpieces, I was thinking white peonies."
"White peonies would be lovely," I said.
"Perfect. That's settled."
Then she looped her arm through Alexander's and kissed his cheek.
"See? I told you she'd be helpful."
Alexander did not respond. He was looking at me.
Not with warmth. Not with concern. But with something I could not read. A crease between his brows. A tension in his jaw.
"You're limping," he said abruptly.
I stopped walking.
"Am I? I didn't notice."
"You've been favoring your right leg since you got out of the car."
Meredith glanced down.
"Oh, is it that old fracture again? Poor thing. Maybe you should sit down."
"I'm fine," I said. "Really."
But Alexander was still staring at me.
I forced myself to walk normally. Even steps. No limping. No wincing.
It cost me everything I had.
Thirty minutes later, while Meredith was in the ladies' room, Alexander and I stood alone in the ballroom.
The silence was suffocating.
He broke it.
"Why did you agree to this?"
I looked up.
"To what?"
"This." He gestured vaguely. "The wedding. Helping us. Being here. After what you did, most people would have the decency to disappear permanently."
After what I did.
He meant the theft.
He meant the cheating.
He meant the lies his mother fed him five years ago that he swallowed whole.
I wanted to scream the truth at him. I wanted to rip open my shirt and show him the scars on my hip bones. I wanted to pull up my lab results and slam them on the table and say, "This is what I did. I gave your brother my bones. Three times. And your mother rewarded me by destroying my life."
But I had promised.
Not Victoria. Not anymore.
I had promised myself.
If Alexander was happy now, truly happy, then the truth would only destroy him. It would ruin his relationship with his mother. It would shatter the peace he had built.
And I had already taken enough from him by leaving.
I would not take his peace too.
"I agreed because your mother asked," I said simply. "And because I wanted to."
His eyes narrowed.
"You wanted to."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Because I'm dying. Because you're the only thing that ever made living worth it. Because I want to memorize your face one last time before I go.
"Because despite everything," I said, "I'd like us to be civil. We grew up together, Alexander. That has to count for something."
Something shifted in his expression. For one breath, I thought he might say something real.
Then Meredith's heels clicked against the marble floor, and the moment vanished.
"Okay, I've decided," she announced, sweeping back in. "This is the one. Alexander, book it."
He turned away from me.
"Done," he said.
And just like that, I became invisible again.
That night, I collapsed in the car on the way home.
My mother pulled over and held me while I shook.
"No more," she whispered. "Please, Sophia. No more."
But even through the pain, all I could think about was the way Alexander had looked at me in that ballroom.
Like he still knew me.
Like some part of him still remembered.
By then, the pain in my bones had gotten worse. My mother had to give me an injection just so I could stand long enough to get dressed.
"This is the last time," she said as she pressed the needle into my arm. "After today, you're done. I don't care what you promised that woman. You're done."
I nodded just to keep her calm.
We both knew I was lying.
The venue was a converted estate outside the city. Beautiful grounds, marble floors, floor-to-ceiling windows. The kind of place that looked like it belonged in a magazine.
Meredith was thrilled.
She moved through the rooms like she already owned them, pointing at walls and saying things like, "We'll put the head table here," and "I want gardenias along this bannister."
Alexander followed her with his hands in his pockets, nodding when required, offering nothing more.
I trailed behind them both, taking notes on my phone, trying to keep weight off my right side where the pain was worst.
At one point, Meredith turned to me with a bright smile.
"Sophia, what do you think? For the centerpieces, I was thinking white peonies."
"White peonies would be lovely," I said.
"Perfect. That's settled."
Then she looped her arm through Alexander's and kissed his cheek.
"See? I told you she'd be helpful."
Alexander did not respond. He was looking at me.
Not with warmth. Not with concern. But with something I could not read. A crease between his brows. A tension in his jaw.
"You're limping," he said abruptly.
I stopped walking.
"Am I? I didn't notice."
"You've been favoring your right leg since you got out of the car."
Meredith glanced down.
"Oh, is it that old fracture again? Poor thing. Maybe you should sit down."
"I'm fine," I said. "Really."
But Alexander was still staring at me.
I forced myself to walk normally. Even steps. No limping. No wincing.
It cost me everything I had.
Thirty minutes later, while Meredith was in the ladies' room, Alexander and I stood alone in the ballroom.
The silence was suffocating.
He broke it.
"Why did you agree to this?"
I looked up.
"To what?"
"This." He gestured vaguely. "The wedding. Helping us. Being here. After what you did, most people would have the decency to disappear permanently."
After what I did.
He meant the theft.
He meant the cheating.
He meant the lies his mother fed him five years ago that he swallowed whole.
I wanted to scream the truth at him. I wanted to rip open my shirt and show him the scars on my hip bones. I wanted to pull up my lab results and slam them on the table and say, "This is what I did. I gave your brother my bones. Three times. And your mother rewarded me by destroying my life."
But I had promised.
Not Victoria. Not anymore.
I had promised myself.
If Alexander was happy now, truly happy, then the truth would only destroy him. It would ruin his relationship with his mother. It would shatter the peace he had built.
And I had already taken enough from him by leaving.
I would not take his peace too.
"I agreed because your mother asked," I said simply. "And because I wanted to."
His eyes narrowed.
"You wanted to."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Because I'm dying. Because you're the only thing that ever made living worth it. Because I want to memorize your face one last time before I go.
"Because despite everything," I said, "I'd like us to be civil. We grew up together, Alexander. That has to count for something."
Something shifted in his expression. For one breath, I thought he might say something real.
Then Meredith's heels clicked against the marble floor, and the moment vanished.
"Okay, I've decided," she announced, sweeping back in. "This is the one. Alexander, book it."
He turned away from me.
"Done," he said.
And just like that, I became invisible again.
That night, I collapsed in the car on the way home.
My mother pulled over and held me while I shook.
"No more," she whispered. "Please, Sophia. No more."
But even through the pain, all I could think about was the way Alexander had looked at me in that ballroom.
Like he still knew me.
Like some part of him still remembered.