Runaway Groom, Thanks for Setting Me Free

To avoid a ridiculous arranged marriage that had been decided before I was even born, I beg my father to send the family a picture of an ordinary-looking woman with a face covered in spots.

I've heard before that Austin Hammond, the most distinguished scion in Jarlesbury and the man I was supposed to marry, has an obsession with looks. If anyone who doesn't meet his standards comes within ten feet of him, he instructs his bodyguards to get them out of his sight.

Since then, I've continued to hide my captivating face and pretend to be a plain, unattractive woman—and one day, Joshua Farrell shows up.

On the day he proposes to me, he holds my hand and promises, "Your looks don't matter to me, Ellie. No matter what you look like, I will still love you."

Believing his words, I ignore my father's protests and insist on getting engaged to Joshua.

Finally, our wedding day arrives. Just when we're about to exchange our wedding rings, he stares lovingly at the surgically-enhanced face of his first love, Isabel Grady, and abandons me at the altar.

The guests mutter among themselves, casting pitying looks in my direction, but I simply smile.

It occurs to me then just how easy it is to see a man's true colors.

It's just as well. This means I can settle for being Mrs. Hammond without a care in the world.

As the wedding march cut off, the undisguised mockery and contempt the guests threw my way nearly drowned me.

"Hah! How embarrassing! She can't even hang onto a man."

"I've been saying from the start that there's no way Joshua Farrell, the heir to his family, would actually marry an ugly hag like her."

"I bet he's regretting it now. After all, who wouldn't get nightmares if that face is the last thing they see at night?"

My fingers clenched around the bouquet, my knuckles turning white.

Joshua was staring at the screen of his phone—at a picture of a sliced-up wrist covered in blood. When he looked up, his expression anxious, he glanced at me with a flicker of remorse and pleading in his eyes.

"Izzy cut her wrist, Ellie! She's been taken to the hospital, and the doctors are still trying to save her. I have to go to her. Just wait for my return. I'll make it up to you then!"

I eyed him coldly, my voice even but loud enough to be heard in the silent hall as I said, "If you step out of these doors today, Joshua, it's over between us."

The moment I finished speaking, Joshua's footsteps faltered. He whipped his head around, his expression conflicted.

"Ellie…"

At the very next second, one of his groomsmen—a childhood friend of his—called out, "Just go, Joshua. Eliza's hopelessly in love with you. There's no way she's leaving you. Besides, with her looks, no one's going to steal her away from you!"

Piercing, mocking laughter spread throughout the entire wedding hall, but I ignored them all. I simply continued to stare at Joshua as I spelled out clearly, "If you walk away from me today, I'll marry someone else."

Joshua stilled for only a moment before his lips curled into a smile I'd never seen before. "Stop kicking up such a fuss, Ellie. Who else besides me would want you? Just wait for me to get back. I'll make it up to you then."

And with that, he rushed off without any further hesitation, running right out of the wedding ceremony.

The moment the doors closed, I was reminded of the first time we'd met three years ago.

A crowd of people had gathered around me to mock me for my unattractive appearance when Joshua appeared like an angel from the sky. He wrapped his suit jacket around me and used his handkerchief to gently wipe away the dirt from my face.

His voice was sweet and gentle as he said to me, "Don't listen to them. You're beautiful."

At the time, the look in his eyes seemed so earnest and genuine.

But now…

A mocking smirk spread across my face.

Joshua was certain that I was too ugly to leave him. That gave him the confidence to blatantly disregard my pride and dignity.

As a mix of sympathetic and contemptuous looks came my way, I calmly took off the wedding veil and tossed it onto the floor.

Without any hesitation, I headed back to the dressing room. Sitting in front of the vanity mirror, I grabbed a makeup removal wipe and started rubbing it across my face.

The spots and blemishes slowly disappeared, revealing flawless, alabaster skin.

At that moment, the door opened, and Dad came in. After seeing me, he let out a heavy sigh.

"Ellie, the Hammonds have sent someone over. Mr. Hammond Senior is asking about the marriage alliance…"

Before he finished his sentence, my phone buzzed. Joshua had sent me a message.

"Izzy's condition is stable now, but she's scared, Ellie. I have to stay with her tonight. Let's have our wedding ceremony some other day, okay?"

Immediately after that, I was notified of a new social media update—Isabel had uploaded a new post. It was a photo of Joshua sitting by her hospital bed, cutting up an apple for her. His expression was gentle and focused.

The caption read, "As long as you're willing to cast everything else aside for me, that's enough for me."

A scornful smile tugged at my lips. Just as I was about to block both Joshua's and Isabel's numbers and remove them from my social media, I got a call from Joshua.

"Ellie, make an announcement explaining that we only called off the wedding because you got sick all of a sudden. Izzy mustn't go through any emotional distress. I can't let her be blamed for having ruined our wedding. Besides, you don't like showing yourself in public anyway."

I didn't like showing myself in public, huh?

What a joke! Just because I was ugly, he didn't care if my reputation got affected?

I couldn't be bothered to even entertain Joshua's demands, so I ended the call. Looking in the mirror, I continued to wipe away the rest of the makeup on my face.

Once all of the deliberately drawn spots and blemishes were gone, the face that appeared was enough to captivate everyone with a single look.