Bethan was amused by how excited she sounded. “
Judging from how excited you are, I ‘m starting to wonder if you’re the bride today.”
Gwen rolled her eyes. “Damn you.”
Bethan shrugged, climbing out of bed to wash herself. “Do you want me to bring you back a present, a souvenir or something?”
Gwen pondered her question for a while. “Then take some photos to show me, and bring me the door gift that they give out to guests! “
“Okay.”
After agreeing, Bethan changed into some clean clothes and entered the taxi heading for the Ocean View Hotel.
On the way, she switched on her phone and found the number that she just added last night, sending him a message. “I ‘m on my way, when will you be there?”
His response came in the form of a photo. The photo showed the wedding hall, beside it was his table number, 55.
“Okay, I’ll go meet you when I’m there.”
After sending her answer, Bethan sucked in a deep breath and kept away her phone.
Sometimes, she felt as if fate had been playing a cruel trick on her. Back then, if she did not stop playing the game after the clan member left, she might not have missed her chance of meeting him. Maybe this was a cruel twist of fate.
But luckily, the heavens gave her another chance to make up for the past.
Soon, the taxi arrived at the Ocean View Hotel. Bethan paid the driver and was about to open the door and step out when she saw the man standing at the entrance to the hotel.
Why would Brettley be here? Was he here to attend the wedding?
When Bethan was looking at him in a daze, Brettley noticed her too. A hint of shock flashed through the man’s eyes, then following immediately after, was a chill. He motioned toward her with his eyes, indicating for her to go to him.
Bethan frowned, lifted her legs, and approached him.
Elegantly, Brettley leaned on a pillar, lit a cigarette, and started smoking. “Are you here to cause trouble?”
Bethan took the invitation out of her bag and smiled in his direction. “I’m here to attend a wedding. I don’t know why you would say I’m here to cause trouble, Mr. Morrison.”
Brettley raised his hand and took the invitation out of her hands, sweeping his eyes over it quickly. Only the name of the bride was written on the invitation, the groom’s name was nowhere to be seen. And the invitation was addressed to… Gwen Larson.
The man narrowed his eyes. “You’re here on behalf of Gwen?”
Bethan took the invitation from him and returned it to her bag elegantly. “Yes, is there a problem?”
Brettley looked at her and was about to say something, but in the end, chose to remain quiet. He threw a deep and meaningful glance her way. “Then I hope you will have fun today.”
With that, he raised his legs and headed in the direction of the hotel.
Seeing him walk toward the wedding hall, Bethan frowned and caught up to him with a few quick steps. “Mr. Morrison, you’re also here to attend the wedding?”
“Yeah, ” he said without even bothering to turn back, “I’m here to meet an old friend.”
Bethan frowned but before she could say anything further, she saw the welcome poster pasted at the entrance to the wedding hall.
On the welcome poster, a woman in a snow-white wedding gown was leaning elegantly on the groom. And the groom in the well-fitted suit… was Ben Zeller! Gwen’s ex-husband, Ben Zeller!
Bethan froze on the spot. She felt as if all the blood in her body was rushing to her head. She never thought the wedding Gwen was so excited to attend, the wedding of the female clan leader in the game would be Ben Zeller’s! If Gwen knew…
At that moment, her phone rang. It was a call from Gwen.
“Bethan, are you there yet? “
On the other end of the phone, Gwen sounded excited. “I estimated the time, you should be there soon, so I called to ask. Is the bride beautiful?”
Bethan held her phone and fell into silence for a long while before laughing sheepishly and said, “Ye… yes.”
If she ignored the groom in the photo, the bride was indeed beautiful.
But…
“I’m glad she’s beautiful! I knew she would be a very beautiful girl! Don’t forget to take more photos of the wedding and show them to me once you’re back! Oh right, have you met that clan member yet?”
Bethan paused, then instinctively looked into the wedding hall. Table number 55 was empty. She licked her lips. “He just sent me a photo saying he’s already at the wedding hall… but I think he walked out for a moment…”
“I’m glad he’s there! I was worried you would feel bored attending the wedding alone, with someone to talk to and reminisce with, I ‘m sure you won’t feel lonely! I’m not as lucky as you, Luke sent me medicine to stabilize the baby again today… “
Bethan sighed, listening to Gwen’s weak voice. Suddenly, she did not dare tell her the truth.
Gwen obviously idolized the female clan leader. If she knew her groom was Ben… Bethan could not bear to imagine the consequences.
Sighing, she comforted Gwen for a few moments before hanging up. Putting away her phone, she turned and saw Brettley standing in the near distance, a smile hanging from the corners of his lips as he looked at her. “It seems like both you and Gwen didn’t know Ben is the groom.”
Bethan pursed her lips, only just realizing why Brettley asked her whether she came to cause trouble the moment he saw her outside. She sucked in a deep breath. “Gwen and the bride have been virtual friends for years, she never knew what the bride looked like, so she asked me to attend the wedding on her behalf. But we never expected… “
Brettley smiled faintly. “So what do you plan to do?”
Bethan shrugged. “What else can I do , I’ll take a few photos and crop the groom out of them.”
A fair amount of time had passed since Gwen and Ben divorced. This time when she came to Sea City, Gwen did not mention him at all, even though in the past out of three sentences she said, one of them would be about him. Since they had been divorced for so long, she should let go of the past. What was the point in causing trouble on Ben’s wedding day? Otherwise, the public would think Gwen still had feelings for him, and they would keep discussing the reason behind their divorce in the first place.
“You’re quite forgiving.”
Brettley smiled and was about to say something when his phone rang. He smiled apologetically at her and then turned to answer the call.
When he raised his phone, the eagle-eyed Bethan noticed the name that appeared on the screen was Alice. Her eyes turned cold. Sucking in a deep breath, she raised her legs and entered the wedding hall.
Table number 55 remained empty. But on the table , there was a delicately wrapped small box that read, ‘To: Mona’.
Mona was her character’s name in the game. This must be the present that the clan member prepared for her. After hesitating for a moment, she took out her phone and sent him a message. (I’m here, where are you?)
Very soon, her phone pinged with his reply. (Sorry, I had to answer a call.]
(It’s fine, take your time. Can I open the present on the table?]
(Of course.]
After receiving his reply, Bethan sucked in a deep breath and opened the small box. Inside was a clay doll, dressed in the red outfit of a female warrior, her character in the game. The doll looked quite old and aged, but it was still clean, as if it had been sealed shut since it was made. He must have prepared it years ago, when he came to see her. She never thought he would still be keeping it after so long.
Bethan held the little doll, and could not help but laugh out loud. He looked like a solemn guy, she never thought he would give a present like this for her.
Outside the wedding hall.
Brettley ended the call. The moment he walked into the wedding hall, he saw Bethan sitting beside table number ss. holding the doll that he prepared for his fellow clan member, smiling sweetly.
He paused violently. He took out his phone and sent her a message. (Do you like the present?]
The moment the message was sent, Bethan lowered her head and looked at her phone, then started typing her reply. The moment she let go of her phone, his phone rang. (I do! It’s so cute! ]
Brettley tightened his hand around his phone. But… she always told him she was from Sea City, while Bethan, on the other hand, consistently claimed she grew up overseas.
What more did she lie to him about?
[How long more do you need?]
Bethan waited for a long time at table number 55 but still, no one came. She could not help herself and sent him a message to ask him about it. Very soon, a reply came from the man.
[I’m sorry, a work emergency cropped up, I’m already at the airport.]
From a near distance, Brettley clearly saw the dip in Bethan’s shoulders after he sent the message. But still, she found a smiley face in the messaging app. [It’s okay, work is more important. Receiving your gift has already made me happy enough.]
Maybe he was already here, but he was disappointed at her and did not want to see her?
Bethan was no longer an innocent teenage girl, she knew there must be a reason behind an excuse like this. But since he was not willing to tell her, there was no point in asking further. Not meeting in real life might be a good idea too, at least that way they could still maintain their original good impression of each other. That was good too.
At this thought, Bethan carefully placed the doll back into the box. Actually, her trip to meet the clan member was quite fruitful. At least she knew his feelings for her back then were genuine. Otherwise, he would not have kept this doll throughout the years.
“What are you looking at? “
Suddenly, a man’s deep voice rang out beside her ears. She could recognize the owner of this voice even without raising her head.
She hurriedly closed the box in her hands, then lifted her head casually and looked at him. “It’s just a small present from a friend.”
Brettley took the opportunity and sat down, a cold smile hanging from the corners of his lips. “Don’t you just have one friend, Gwen, here in Sea City?
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.