Tanner took a deep breath, paused, but left with Sandy in his arms without looking back. “Tanner
Hannigan!” Nathaniel yelled without a shred of control. A sharp pain shot up his heart, and he grabbed
his chest. Suddenly blood came out of his mouth.
Mrs. Hannigan’s face turned pale while she grabbed her husband. “My love!”
The groom left with another woman and left the bride standing on stage alone during their wedding.
Everyone felt sorry for her.
Antonio had to stand up and control the situation, but some guests still left without having their dinner,
and Eugene Boucher was one of them. He got to the doorway and noticed that Francisco wasn’t
behind him. “Let’s go. There’s nothing to see.”
“You asked me to come, but now you’re asking me to leave too. You can leave first if you want to.”
Francisco turned around. “You…’ Eugene didn’t say what he wanted to and just left.
Pearl walked down from the stage and took off her veil.
Mrs. Santiago kept complaining about Antonio’s decision, which had put both them and the Hannigans
in an awkward situation. Antonio just sat there, not saying anything back.
Pearl walked out with her train in hand and into the room at the back.
Naomi followed her. “Ms. Santiago.”
Pearl, who was taking off her earrings, paused and turned to look at Naomi. She knew that she was the
daughter of Anthony Topaz. “If you came to console me, don’t.” Naomi looked down. “You had an
agreement, so you had the right to ask him to stay. Why did you just watch while your soon-to be
husband left with another woman?’
Naomi had noticed that Tanner might not really want to leave with that woman. If she had said
something, things might have ended differently.
Pearl laughed while she removed her makeup. “It was a marriage that we had to beg for. To begin with,
it wasn’t mine, so why should I put myself in a shameful position and beg him to stay?”
“A marriage that you had to beg for?” Naomi didn’t understand. Pearl got up and walked toward her,
smirking. “No one in Bassburgh would want to marry a woman who had lost her reputation like me. My
dad was more than happy that Tanner was willing to marry me. A dirty woman like me can’t expect a
good man to ignore my past.”
Naomi paused and looked at Pearl. “You shouldn’t think of yourself that way. I’m sorry because I don’t
know what happened to you, so I can’t judge. All I wanted to say was that you shouldn’t care what
people think of you. Everyone should have a chance at happiness, and that includes you.”
“Happiness?” Pearl smirked. “You’re a well-protected woman and haven’t gone through any hardship,
or you wouldn’t have said any of that.
You can look forward to happiness, but I can’t. That’s reality,” Pearl walked aside and removed her
wedding dress. “Everyone should pay for what they did. And this is my punishment.”
Naomi left the room and didn’t understand what Pearl meant by that.
She suddenly saw Francisco speaking to a few older gentlemen at the corner of the corridor. She was
surprised that he was at the wedding. How did she not notice?
Francisco stood at a higher spot wearing a black and blue coat with a turtle neck knitted sweater. It was
simple, yet it looked great.
After the men left, Francisco turned and saw Naomi standing not too far away. Her heart skipped a
beat, but she still greeted him, “Mr. Boucher, you’re here.”
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda