Chapter 394
Violet had been fighting hard for what she wanted these days.
Her marriage to McNeil still gnawed at her like an old wound. Victoria had clung to McNeil for years, desperate for the world’s recognition, for that one title she thought would make everything real.
But Violet had made up her mind: everything Victoria ever dreamed of, everything she’d longed for, Violet would take for herself.
And even what Victoria could never have-Violet wanted that too. Only she, Violet, was worthy of McNeil.
She envisioned a grand wedding, the kind that would have all of Starfall City talking for years.
Victoria, that fool, had hovered at McNeil’s side for six years and never once earned the right to call herself his wife. And yet she still dared to compete with Violet.
Lately, McNeil had grown thinner with each passing day. Violet’s heart ached for him, convinced it was her own suicide attempt and hospital stay that had left him so drained, so hollowed out.
Still, even as she felt sorry for him, she couldn’t help but push him.
“McNeil, I know I’m asking too much. But the doctors say my stomach cancer might be coming back. I don’t know how much time I have left. It could be tomorrow, or even the next minute. My only wish is to be your bride. I was young and foolish back then-if I hadn’t left, you wouldn’t have married Victoria.”
Violet whispered the words over and over again in McNeil’s ear.
Her voice trembled, but she fought back tears; she wanted McNeil to see her pain, her strength, her willingness to endure it all for him.
She wanted him to know that, all these years, it was she who’d made the sacrifices in silence, always giving way to Victoria.
Victoria at least had a marriage certificate, and even a child born of their love.
What did Violet have? Nothing. The jealousy burned inside her.
McNeil’s eyes were sunken now. The confident, sharp-eyed CEO was gone, replaced with someone hollow, his reassurances sounding almost mechanical.
“Don’t think like that. You’re not going to die.”
Violet’s heart clenched. Even now, after all she’d done, was McNeil still unwilling to promise her a wedding?
He was already divorced from Victoria. What was he still holding on to?
“McNeil, there’s nothing standing between us anymore. Your father won’t object if you marry me. He took away my chance to have children-I’ll never be a threat to the Langford family now. I can’t ever bear your child.”
Seeing McNeil’s expression unchanged, Violet grew desperate.
“I only want to be with you. It’s the one thing I want most in this life. I can be like Victoria, I swear-I don’t need a marriage certificate. All I’m asking for is a wedding. Just stand before everyone in Starfall City and promise you’ll marry me. Let me die with somewhere to belong, so I won’t be a lost soul. I promise, we don’t even have to register the marriage, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she confessed her love for McNeil. But he just sat there, silent and vacant, as if his soul had left his body.
Then his phone rang. He answered it at once, deliberately stepping out of the room to avoid her.
Violet was crushed, but she refused to give up.
Victoria had lost to her even when she was by McNeil’s side. Now that Victoria was gone, Violet had all the time in the world.
McNeil’s voice was hoarse when he spoke: “Have you found any news about her?”
The voice on the other end was low, cautious. “Mr. Langford, there’s still no sign of your wife.”
“Have you checked with border control? Every flight, every ship-search every possible way out of the country. I don’t believe she just vanished into thin air.”
There was a long silence on the other end. The longer it lasted, the more McNeil’s anxiety grew.
Finally, the reply came, cold and final. “If she left on a private jet or something similar, we have no authority to search for her.”
McNeil felt a chill run through him. Only one person could have taken Victoria away so quietly, so thoroughly that even he couldn’t trace her. No matter how far his influence reached, it could never penetrate somewhere like Evermore City-a place full of hidden wolves and dragons, utterly beyond his control.
He ended the call and returned to the hospital room.
Violet was still waiting expectantly, convinced that he would give her an answer.
But when McNeil sat down in front of her, his face set in stone, Violet realized even this last wish was beyond her reach.
“I once told you I’d give you anything you wanted. I’d even give you my life. But marriage-I’ve already given that to someone else. I can’t give it to you.”
The words hit Violet like a bolt of lightning.
If McNeil couldn’t give her marriage, she’d always be on the outside. Even without Victoria, there might always be another woman.
She’d already repented a thousand times for the mistake she’d made six years ago-betting her future on a man’s love.
If she couldn’t tie McNeil to her with marriage, she feared history would repeat itself with Victoria.
Six years had already slipped away. How many more six years does a woman get?
She’d given it everything this time; she couldn’t wait until middle age and hope her looks would be enough to keep a man by her side.