Isabella's POV.
Isabella checks her phone, twenty-three missed calls, nine unanswered messages, and every single one was from her. She had called him, she had asked if he was okay, she had asked where he was, she had begged him to answer.
But Ethan had given her nothing. No explanation, no reassurance, just nothing.
The bridal suite was too quiet, for a wedding this grand, silence should not be present. The room had been designed for happiness, the soft ivory walls, crystal chandeliers, expensive flowers arranged perfectly on every table. Everything about the suite represented a new beginning.
A new life, a new family, a new future.
But Isabella Hart sat in the middle of it all, feeling as though everything was slowly falling apart. The antique clock above the fireplace continued to move.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Each sound felt louder than it should. Isabella stared at herself in the mirror, her reflection looking back at her was everything a bride was supposed to be.
Her long brown hair had been styled beautifully underneath her veil. Her brown eyes, usually warm and full of confidence, now carried a trace of worry. Her brown skin glowed beneath the soft lights, and the elegant white gown perfectly hugging her slim figure.
At twenty-five years old, she had imagined this moment for years, she imagined walking down the aisle, she imagined Ethan Kingsley waiting for her, she imagined the look in his black eyes when he saw her, of course she imagined forever, but she never imagined standing alone.
"Ethan is probably just delayed," Lily, her maid of honour, said softly.
Isabella looked toward the door.
"He isn't."
Ethan Kingsley was careful, organized, and responsible. He was the kind of man who arrived early, who planned everything, who never left anything unfinished, especially something as important as his wedding.
"He doesn't get delayed." That was what frightened her.
There was a knock at the door. The wedding coordinator stepped inside, her professional smile unable to hide the concern in her eyes.
"Miss Hart..."
Isabella immediately stood.
"Has Ethan arrived?"
The woman hesitated.
And that hesitation told Isabella everything.
"No."
Her heart sank.
The room became silent.
Outside, hundreds of guests waited inside the cathedral. The Kingsley name had attracted powerful people from all over the country. Business executives, influential families, and wealthy guests had gathered to witness the marriage of Isabella Hart and Ethan Kingsley. A perfect wedding, a perfect union.
Or at least, that was what everyone believed.
---
Downstairs, whispers spread through the cathedral.
"Where is Ethan?"
"Has anyone spoken to him?"
"Do you think something happened?"
Nobody knew.
At the front of the cathedral sat Edward and Margeret Hart
Isabella's Parents
, Richard and Eleanor Kingsley
Ethan's parents
. The Kingsleys were known for control, for power, for never allowing the world to see them struggle. But today, everyone could see something was wrong.
The Harts were also powerful, but not as the Kinsleys, though they were business partners and both fathers were friends.
The cathedral doors opened, the entire room fell silent. A man stepped inside, tall, commanding, impossible to ignore. It was Adrian Kingsley.
At twenty-nine years old, Adrian carried a presence that made people notice him before they even knew his name.
He was 6'2" feet tall, with a powerful muscular build beneath his perfectly tailored black suit. His black hair was neat, his expression unreadable, and his deep green eyes scanned the room with calm intensity.
Adrian and Ethan Kingsley were twins, both handsome, both successful, both carrying the Kingsley name. But they were different.
Ethan was charming, approachable, the kind of man people trusted easily.
Adrian was different, more intimidating, more controlling, more powerful.
Even among twins, there was no denying that Adrian had a presence that demanded attention.
He walked toward his parents.
The conversation between Adrian and Richard lasted only a few moments, but whatever Adrian said changed everything.
Eleanor's face lost its colour.
Richard looked away, then he turned toward the guests.
"The wedding is postponed."
The words echoed throughout the cathedral, gasps followed immediately, questions, confusion, even fear.
But Isabella heard only one thing.
Postponed.
---
For a moment, she couldn't move.
Postponed??...
The word repeated inside her mind, not because she didn't understand it, because she refused to believe it. Her wedding, her marriage, her future, all postponed?
No... That couldn't be happening.