Chapter 3
My Future Self Begged Me to Walk Away Chapter 03
The moment the words left my mouth, Ulysses’ breathing turned harsh and ragged over the line. Without another syllable, he slammed the phone down.
A few seconds later, my screen lit up again. It was a text message.
[Accompany me to a gala tonight. Fifty thousand.]
The phantom floated at my side, her face tight with anxiety. “Don’t go. Claire, going will only bring you more humiliation.”
I knew that, of course. Ever since Melody became Ulysses’ personal assistant three years ago, there had been no place left for me at functions that required his public appearance.
Calling me out tonight was nothing more than his way of trying to break my spirit in front of a larger crowd.
But thinking of the fact that I was leaving in a mere five days, I tapped the screen and accepted the money.
[Fine.]
That evening, I arrived at the hotel right on the dot.
Scanning the ballroom, my eyes locked onto Ulysses immediately—along with Melody, who was practically glued to his side.
He wore a deep navy bow tie tonight.
The gown Melody wore was crafted from the exact same shade of navy silk.
They stood impossibly close, their posture intimate; to anyone watching, they looked like the perfect match.
Meanwhile, in my simple white dress, I looked like an intruder who had blundered into the wrong room.
The eyes of the crowd quickly shifted toward me, and the whispers rose like a tide.
“How does she still have the face to show up here?”
“Talk about thick-skinned. Mr. Vanderbilt is wearing a matching outfit with his little assistant, and she still drags herself over here to beg for attention.”
“Tell me about it. Some women will do absolutely anything for a paycheck.”
Laughter rippled through the gathering.
The woman floating beside me let her tears fall silently. “Everyone knows he doesn’t love you anymore, so why do you keep coming back just to take this kind of abuse…?”
I didn’t answer. I simply looked at Ulysses from across the room, and my mind suddenly drifted back to many years ago.
It had been a gala just like this one. Someone, emboldened by a few drinks, had made a vulgar joke, asking if I used my body to keep Ulysses chained to me.
Before the man could even finish his sentence, Ulysses grabbed a liquor bottle and struck the man forcefully with it.
After that night, all of Port City knew that Ulysses Vanderbilt was fiercely protective of me.
If anyone dared to offend me even slightly, he would fight them to the death.
Yet now, he stood just a few yards away, listening to the mockery with a detached expression, his brow not even twitching.
The woman wept, her voice trembling. “Is it worth it?”
I flashed the transfer notification on my phone screen in front of her. “Fifty thousand dollars. Of course it’s worth it. It’s more than enough for us to rent a nice little place by the river in a brand-new city. Preferably one with massive floor-to-ceiling windows, so we can watch the riverview every single morning…”
Perhaps I was too entirely lost in my own thoughts, because I failed to notice that across the room, Ulysses was staring intently at the faint, subconscious smile on my face—and his expression was darkening inch by inch.
Just as I was mentally calculating the dimensions for the windows, Ulysses suddenly stepped up and snatched the microphone right out of the MC’s hand.
“Since everyone is gathered here tonight, I have an announcement to make.” His voice echoed through the speakers, commanding the room. “In two weeks, Melody and I will be holding our wedding.”
My heart dropped like a stone.
Ulysses’ gaze sliced through the crowd, locking onto my face with absolute precision, his eyes glinting with a twisted sort of amusement.
“Claire,” he said, his tone slow and deliberate. “I’ll give you the marriage certificate, but I’m giving the wedding ceremony to Melody. You don’t mind, do you?”
That wedding ceremony was something I had anticipated for five whole years.
From the theme style to the color of the floral arrangements, from the banquet menu to the design of the invitations, I had personally overseen every single detail for nearly a year, never letting anyone else handle it.
Now, it was being handed over to someone else with a casual sentence.
A wave of bitter sorrow rushed up my throat, and the urge to scream a refusal nearly tore out of me.
But out of the corner of my eye, I saw the phantom in the air fiercely clutching her hem, her weathered face completely white with terror.
I took a deep breath, forcing the volatile emotions back down into the depths of my heart.
“Of course I don’t mind,” I replied, my voice steady. “But considering I personally handled every single detail of that wedding plan, it’s only fair I charge a planning fee for my services, right?”
The quiet snickers around the ballroom instantly turned into blatant, unvarnished mockery.
Ulysses’ face turned entirely thunderous. After a long, agonizing pause, a single word grated past his clenched teeth. “…Fine.”
As the gala neared its conclusion, Melody suddenly made her way toward me. I braced myself, assuming she had come to gloat.
Yet, she didn’t say a single word.
She merely stared at me for a few seconds with heavily bloodshot eyes before turning on her heel and sprinting out of the ballroom.
A faint sense of unease rippled through me.
But as a crushing exhaustion washed over my mind, I brushed it aside and headed straight home.
I didn’t know how much time had passed when the bedroom door burst open with a loud crash. Before I could react, a strong force pulled me roughly off the bed.
