Fated love: the unwanted bride

In the cold of winter, the weather is exceptionally chill.

The north wind whistles and blows, its sharp bite cutting across her face like a knife.

On the first day of her vacation, Jasmine Yale is in a great mood, and she carries a pile of documents and magazines with her as she takes the subway home.

But she doesn’t expect to see a tall man, dressed in a black coat, standing far away at the bottom of her residential building.

The figure of the man is tall and lean.

Jasmine fails to identify him at first.

She walks over out of curiosity, only realizing who he is when she gets closer—

It’s Charles Mcintosh.

Why is he here?

Charles Mcintosh only shows up if he has something important to discuss. He must be looking for her.

“Mr. Mcintosh?”

Jasmine, hugging her magazines, walks over and calls his name, furrowing her brow.

Charles, hearing her voice, turns his head.

“Miss Yale.” He nods, “I am looking for you.”

“Looking for me?” Jasmine doesn’t move, “What’s the matter?”

“Miss Yale, Mr. Cheney has had an accident.”

Charles’s voice is soft but husky, and his face is especially haggard and pale.

When he looks at Jasmine, there isn’t much emotion in his deep-set eyes, only an endless silence.

“Clatter”—

Jasmine’s hand trembles, the magazines and documents in her hand scatter and fall to the ground.

A loud sound.

There’s a flash of confusion in her sparkling eyes, like frost on dead leaves, crystal clear yet desolate.

“What…what did you say?”

There’s a roughness in her throat, and she doesn’t know where this surge of emotions is coming from.

All of a sudden, all her emotions gush out.

She is caught off guard.

Just like a tidal wave… engulfs her instantaneously.

Jasmine stares fixedly at Charles.

“Mr. Cheney has had an accident in Lonton. Teagan Cheney lost his trial, played dirty tricks, and sent people to ambush Mr. Cheney and his grandfather on the road.” Charles states simply, “On a mountain road, their car flipped sideways, Mr. Cheney and his grandfather fell off a cliff.”

In an instant, Jasmine only feels that the sun is piercingly bright.

Every word that Charles says grates on her ears.

The world seems to be turned upside down, Jasmine feels dizzy.

“Miss Yale!” Charles calls out.

“I’m fine.” Jasmine’s face turns pale, she moves her lips slightly, “Then what.”

She asks these three words calmly, like she is listening to the end of a story.

She wants to know, but fears knowing.

Once she hears the ending, it’s as if everything is set in stone.

Charles looks at Jasmine and says flatly, “Teagan Cheney’s car collided with Mr. Cheney’s, and went off the cliff as well.”

“Both cars were completely destroyed. At the bottom of the cliff, three bodies were found.”

“Miss Yale, the accident happened yesterday night in Lonton.”

Charles states all the facts to Jasmine.

His tone, as always, is composed and stern.

Jasmine takes a long time to recover, with Charles’s lingering tone still ringing in her ears.

“Fell off the cliff”, “destroyed”, “three bodies”…

The key phrases constantly echo in Jasmine’s ears, like a deafening thunderbolt.

Over and over again, on repeat…

Every inch of Jasmine’s body feels as if her blood is flowing backward, becoming stiffer by the second.

She loses feeling in her limbs, her body suddenly numb.

A sour taste rises in her throat, like a stone lodged there, the taste unutterable.

The magazines fall to the ground, the wind rustles the pages, making a “rustling” sound.

This sound is the only movement at this moment.

Jasmine stands still, her eyes vacant and lifeless.

Only a few minutes pass, but it feels like she has died once over.

She can’t accept this reality.

She just can’t.

She raises her eyes and looks at Charles in a daze.