The Bride Who Was A No-Show

Our engagement party was supposed to be the most lavish social event in all of New York, but a month before the big day, my fiancé, Julian Sterling, had my father thrown into the city's most notorious private prison.

Julian's reason? His ex-girlfriend, Scarlett Hale, claimed someone had leaked company secrets, and the supposed evidence was conveniently found on my father's computer. He gave me no chance to explain, informing me with chilling calm that unless I could spin a convincing tale, my father would rot there for the rest of his life.

His thumb brushed my jaw, a touch devoid of any warmth, his eyes as cold as frost. He assured me he wouldn't call off our engagement over such a "trivial matter." The party, he said, would proceed as planned.

The thought of my father suffering in that hellhole shattered me. In that moment, I made a vow: if this was how he treated the people I loved, then I was done with Julian Sterling. For good.

————————

1

One word from Scarlett Hale was all it took. On her word alone, my fiancé, Julian Sterling, had my father, Arthur Vaughn, locked away in a private prison on the edge of the city.

After hearing the news, I rushed to the prison to see him.

When I finally arrived, breathless, the sight that greeted me was shattering. My father was swallowed by a tattered prison uniform, his face a canvas of bruises. He gasped for air, one of his ribs clearly broken during a so-called prison "conflict."

I slammed my fists on the thick glass of the visitation room, desperate to claw my way through and check his injuries.

Tears streamed down his face as he clutched the receiver. "I can't take much more of this, Aurora. Please, you have to get Julian to move me to a proper hospital."

Sobbing, I called Julian again and again, but every call went straight to his cold, automated voicemail.

The call finally connected just as guards were forcibly hauling my father away from the phone.

"Didn't I tell you I'm at an important party? Stop bothering me." Julian's voice was sharp with impatience. "You're about to become Mrs. Sterling. When are you going to stop making a scene?"

In the background, I could clearly hear Scarlett’s coquettish laughter mingling with the buoyant sound of a crowd cheering "Happy Birthday" over the music.

My father’s condition was critical. I sobbed, my voice cracking as I begged him, "Please, just let him go to a hospital. He's hurt so badly. He's dying, Julian."

There was a pause on the line, as if he were calculating something, before he finally said, "I'm aware," and hung up.

We waited as the day bled into night, my father's breathing growing shallower with every passing hour.

Just as I was sinking into despair, I overheard a nearby guard grumbling to his partner. "Can you believe this? Sterling booked the whole rooftop at The Peak for his ex's birthday, and we're stuck here babysitting inmates."

Hearing this, my father understood everything. The last glimmer of hope died in his eyes.

With his last ounce of strength, he pressed the antique pocket watch he always carried into my palm.

"Scarlett… she used my computer… must have planted it… A felony… He'll never believe me… I can't drag you down… Only way to prove it now… is with my life…"

"This watch is for you… Aurora, I hope you find happiness…"

Before he could finish, his breath hitched, and then there was nothing. His eyes remained wide open, staring at something I couldn't see.

I didn't even have a moment to grieve before orderlies came and wheeled him away on a gurney. My frantic screams and pleas were useless; they couldn't stop them from taking my father from me.