Too Late to Love Her Right

Chapter 2 Her World Was Nothing but Ruin

　　That night felt like never-ending torment. Fiona had no idea how much pain Carlos had put her through before she finally blacked out from it all.

　　When she came to, she wasn't on their so-called wedding bed anymore. She was in a stuffy little guest room, lying on a rock-hard wooden cot.

　　The night dragged on like it had no plans to end.

　　The moonlight outside looked cold and lonely, casting pale shadows through the gauzy curtains.

　　Her mind drifted to Bruce Grant.

　　She remembered him saying, "Once you graduate, we'll go traveling. I want to leave proof of my love for you in every corner of the world."

　　But it had barely been a month since he said that when everything fell apart. A car, driving the wrong way, came right at them.

　　She lived. Bruce didn't-he had pushed her out of the way.

　　Lying there in his final moments, he held her hand and gave a bittersweet smile.

　　"Fiona... once Debbie's healthy again, will she give your love back to you? Will that finally make you happy?"

　　"No, no, I won't be happy! I don't want anyone else's love-I just want you... please don't go..."

　　She cried and shook her head like crazy, but Bruce still signed the heart donor papers anyway.

　　Bruce, so genuine, so pure, loved her with everything he had. He stayed loyal for five long years. The man who once said he wanted to leave memories of his love for her all over the world.

　　Now he was gone.

　　From that day on, no matter where she went, she'd never see him again.

　　*****

　　Fiona passed out crying. Someone eventually shook her awake.

　　Debbie needed surgery.

　　But when everything was ready-the Harpers, Carlos, everyone had gathered-the procedure didn't happen.

　　Everyone pointed fingers at her.

　　Everyone claimed she was to blame. Her refusal to sign Bruce's heart donation papers had cost Debbie her only chance at survival.

　　Her mother broke down screaming, "If anything happens to Debbie, then her blood will be on your hands!"

　　Her father slapped her hard across the face. "From now on, Fiona, you're no daughter of mine."

　　Fiona didn't say a word in her own defense.

　　She couldn't even bring herself to fake sadness or guilt-there was just... nothing left in her.

　　Her heart was already dead. Her world? Completely hollow.

　　It wasn't until Carlos cornered her against the hospital's freezing wall that she finally showed something-a worn-out kind of emptiness.

　　"Anyone in the world could donate an organ to Debbie," she said calmly, her voice flat but unshakable. "Just not Bruce."

　　"Because he was the man you loved?"

　　"Yes."

　　"Fiona, how can you be so heartless?! If anyone deserves to die, it's you!"

　　Carlos nearly choked the life out of her.

　　And maybe he was right. Maybe she should've died.

　　‘If I die sooner, I can catch up to Bruce-so he won't have to wait alone in the afterlife for too long.'

　　*****

　　At Bruce's funeral, only Fiona showed up.

　　She wore the dress he once told her he loved-that perfect bride look he dreamed of.

　　She even put on the ring he'd gotten for her long ago, slipping it onto her pinky.

　　It was what he always wanted: to see her in white, wearing his promise.

　　Too bad it was only after his death she could finally give it to him.

　　But even that strange, one-sided wedding didn't go smoothly.

　　Carlos showed up out of nowhere, ripped the ring from her hand, and smashed it onto the floor. His eyes burned with rage as he strangled her.

　　"You want a wedding so bad, Fiona? Fine. I'll give you the grandest wedding ever!"

　　Except, in his twisted version, the ceremony was just her taking Debbie's place.

　　Carlos sneered, "Fiona, you don't deserve happiness. Not even the fake kind."