The Bride Who Said No: Escaping the Shadows of Yesterday

Kieran watched the couple who owned the small diner, both well into their fifties, tirelessly working from dawn till dusk without a moment's rest. It suddenly made him think of Freya. Would he and Freya end up like this if they went through with marriage decades down the line?

Just then, the lady behind the counter handed Kieran a bag of sandwiches, her smile warm as she said, "Hope your girlfriend gets better soon!"

Kieran offered a faint smile in return before paying them a generous tip that left the couple speechless. When they stepped out to thank him, Kieran was already in a cab back to the hospital. Freya had just finished her soup in the hospital room.

Kieran turned on the light, noticing the empty soup bowl on the table. He casually placed the bag of sandwiches on the small table.

Seeing the pile of sandwiches, Freya frowned, "All this?"

"I wasn't sure what you'd fancy, so I got a couple of each kind."

Kieran kept himself busy cleaning up the table, moving quickly and efficiently.

Freya, however, mentioned, "You took your time getting back. I'm already full."

didn't seem

deepened. "You're

you were pulling my leg. Given your injury, I'll let it slide." After cleaning up, Kieran settled on a nearby couch and said, "Eat if you want,

get a rise out of Kieran, Freya

casually asked, "When

tone

your dad was in the

words, Freya's demeanor chilled further. "That's none of your concern. We've called off the

Freya vividly remembered being all alone during

Johanna came

obvious she

sooner to speedup Leland's inheritance. The bigwigs connected to the Dawson family all had

set her eyes on Freya as