Chapter 4---A Coffin For Her Wedding
1695 Words
Chapter 4-----A Coffin For Her Wedding
Theodore went completely silent when he heard my words.
While Lena piped up with her usual nonsense, "Finally you're making sense! What's yours is hers - that's what sisters do. Just consider it her wedding gift."
I smiled sweetly. "In that case, I should give her one more gift."
"What?" Lena asked, already suspicious.
"A coffin," I said. "Right there at the altar during the ceremony."
"AUDREY!" Lena's face turned purple with rage.
I kept my tone perfectly polite. "It's actually a tradition. Back in the day, brides brought coffins as part of their dowry - 'til death do us part right?. As her loving sister, I'm just following the custom."
My logic was flawless. Just like how I told them that the firecrackers were to ward off evil, they couldn’t prove me wrong. For years they'd taken advantage of me when I was younger and couldn't fight back. Now the tables are turned.
Lena was practically shaking with anger. "Get out!" she screamed, pointing dramatically at the door. When I did not move, she turned on Richard. "Are you just going to stand there? What your daughter said is outrageous!"
Richard's face darkened. He stormed toward me, but Theodore jumped between us. "Mr. Shaw, let's just—"
"Apologize to your sister!" Richard roared, his finger an inch from my face.
I did not even blink. "For what? You being ignorant about wedding traditions isn't my—"
He swung at me.
Theodore took the slap so hard it even messed up his hair.
Alyssa shrieked, "Dad! What are you doing? Stop!"
Theodore looked dazed, blinking hard as he kept himself between me and Richard. "Mr. Shaw, violence won't solve anything. This is my fault—I should have handled things better. Just give me time to fix it."
Richard, red-faced and wheezing—his high blood pressure and diabetes no doubt flaring up—glared at me. "You... you deal with her then," he spat at Theodore. "If this happens again I'll break her legs myself!"
Theodore nodded quickly, then turned to me, voice low. "Audrey, let's talk outside."
"I have nothing to say to you."
I turned to leave, but he grabbed my wrist. "This attitude won't help. We're family—can't we just talk this through?"
Family? The word made my skin crawl.
"You don’t deserve to call yourselves my family." I yanked my hand away from his grip. "Let go."
"Just hear me out—"
"I said LET GO!" I twisted free and—before I could stop myself—slapped him across the face.
The sharp c***k silenced the room.
Alyssa burst into tears. "How dare you hit him?! If you're angry, take it out on me! I'm the one who asked him to marry me!"
I glanced at her, smiling coldly. "Since when do I need a reason to slap a cheating bastard? As for you..." I shrugged. "The underworld's already handling that."
Before they could react, I turned and slammed the door behind me. Back in my car, I sat frozen for a long moment, waiting for the storm in my head to settle. They were my family. The thought hollowed me out. I’d believed Theodore was my escape—that loving him would heal the wounds they’d given me.
But I was wrong. He became the one who hurt me the most. Every sacrifice I made for him, every drop of blood I’ve given to keep him alive felt so hollow. My heart ached at that thought.
My phone buzzed, snapping me out of the gloom.
It was Lillian.
"Hello?"
"Mrs. Nelson-to-be, did you forget our lunch date or has Theodore locked you up somewhere?" she joked, completely unaware of what had just transpired.
I frowned. I'd completely forgotten that we were supposed to discuss wedding rehearsals today.
"I'll be there soon."
There was no longer a need for a rehearsal. But there was still a need for explanations.
Lillian took one look at me the moment I walked into the restaurant and knew that something was wrong.
"What's wrong? You look like hell. Did something happen with your family again?" She knew all about my toxic household.
Instead of answering, I said flatly, "Lily, there's not going to be a wedding."
She paused, teapot in hand. "What? What do you mean there’s not going to be a wedding? Isn’t it coming up next week?"
"Oh, the wedding's still on," I said, smiling emptily. "Just not for me."
Lillian slammed the pot down and reached across the table to feel my forehead. "You can’t be serious!"
I pulled her hand away and made her sit—she'd need to be seated for this. Then I laid out the past two days for her.
Her eyes widened. Her mouth fell open. And her face was pale.
"WHAT THE ACTUAL—THEODORE'S LOST HIS MIND? Alyssa might as well have 'HOME-WRECKER' tattooed on her forehead! Does he not care that everyone will laugh at him? That this'll trend for weeks? If he wants to self-destruct, there are easier ways!"
Her voice carried over to the rest of the restaurant, "I'm calling him right now—"
And true to her words, she actually reached for her phone and started dialing his number.
I was too exhausted to stop her, and was silently sipping my tea as she unleashed her fury.
"Theodore Nelson, has Alyssa put some kind of spell on you? Since when is her terminal illness your problem? Audrey spent six years with you—six years of donating her blood to keep you alive! Without her, you'd be rotting in a grave by now, you ungrateful bastard!"
"And when exactly did you and Alyssa get so close? Have you already slept together? I've seen trash before, but you? You're a whole new level of disgusting. How can you show your face in public after this? At the wedding, people will—"
Lillian ranted nonstop for a solid five minutes, only stopping when a server nervously asked her to lower her voice.
Embarrassed, I grabbed her phone and hung up.
"Why'd you do that? I wasn't done!" she fumed. "And I still need to tear into that homewrecking b***h! Since when does having a terminal illness give her the right to steal her sister's fiancé?"
She was practically shaking with rage. I quickly poured her more tea. "Let it go. We're causing a scene here."
Finally noticing the stares, Lillian took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
"What is Theodore even thinking? Does he actually love Alyssa?" she asked, baffled.
I shrugged at her question. "I don’t know. But he definitely doesn’t love me."
Otherwise, how could he do something so heartless?
"Alyssa’s a psychopath. She’s spent her whole life trying to steal everything from you. How can Theodore not see that?"
I smiled bitterly. "He always said I was paranoid—that I was too hard on her."
Lillian gulped down more tea, then suddenly asked, "Does he even know Alyssa and Louis are your half-siblings?"
"Not sure. I never told him. Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn’t."
Family shame wasn’t exactly dinner conversation. Even with someone you loved, some truths were better left unsaid. Because if that love ever died, those secrets could become weapons.
"He doesn’t know?" Lillian smirked. "Well, I can’t wait for the day Theodore finally sees Alyssa for what she really is. He’ll be on his knees, begging for forgiveness."
I did not respond.
Even if he were to regret it, it was none of my concern.
After lunch, Lillian tried to comfort me: "At least you got the company out of this mess. Trash men come and go—now you can focus on your career."
Her words reminded me—there were still legal procedures to finalize the company transfer.
"You're right," I agreed. "No point crying over a scumbag. If anything, I’m lucky to see his true colors now."
After parting ways with Lillian, I texted Theodore to meet that afternoon to handle the paperwork. He agreed without hesitation. When I saw him, the red mark from my slap was still faintly visible on his cheek, adding a touch of absurdity to his otherwise refined appearance.
"Hurry up," I muttered as he walked too slowly for my liking. "After this, we’re getting the divorce papers done."
We had technically been legally married for a month. We just hadn’t gone through the wedding ceremony yet. If I’d known how this would end, I wouldn’t have wasted hours in line on May 20th. Theodore looked at me with those sorrowful eyes, lips parting as if he wanted to say something—but no words came.
After leaving the business bureau, we headed straight to City Hall. That was when we learned the unpleasant truth: Divorce required an appointment first. Then, after submitting the documents, we’d have to endure a 30-day "cooling-off" period. Only if we both still wanted out after that could we finalize it.
Frustrated, I pulled out my phone to book the earliest slot—only to find the next available date was two weeks away, in the afternoon. Which meant… when Theodore carried out the wedding ceremony with Alyssa, I would still legally be his wife.
What kind of sick joke is this?!
Noticing my rage, Theodore lowered his voice, infuriatingly gentle: "There’s no rush. Alyssa isn’t pushing me about it."
My head snapped up so fast he flinched. I stared at him, seething—then suddenly laughed.
"She’s not pushing you? Is she that confident she’ll live long enough for that?”
His face went rigid. After all, divorce was a tedious process. If I dragged my feet, it could take months. Alyssa might get her wedding, but legally? She’d never be his wife.
Theodore did not answer. Instead, he took a step closer, and spoke with a soft voice, "Then let’s not get divorced and save us the trouble of remarrying later."
I gaped at him, stunned. Even now—even now—he genuinely believed that I’d take him back after Alyssa’s death.
- Writer
