From Puck Bunny To The Rival's Queen

Cordia POV :

Four hours.

I'd been sitting in this private wedding dress store at Vera Wang for four hours, waiting for Donavon.

The sales director, a woman with kind eyes and an even kinder supply of champagne, approached for the third time. "Miss Maynard, perhaps a little more champagne while you wait?"

Her pity was a physical thing, a heavy cloak settling over my shoulders.

"No, thank you. I'm fine." My voice was steady, practiced. The smile stayed put.

I pulled out my phone. The screen lit up with a photo of us from seven years ago, fresh-faced and beaming at a college game.

I opened our message thread. My last text, sent when I arrived, sat there, stark and unanswered.

"I'm here, baby."

I don't know why, but today I feel uneasy inside. However, I forced myself to suppress this feeling.

My thumb remains hovering over the keyboard as I type.

"When do you think you'll get here?"

I pressed send.

Relief washed over me, so potent it made me dizzy. He was probably in a team meeting. I was always making excuses for him.

My phone vibrated in my hand. Donavon.

I answered instantly, my voice softening into the one reserved just for him. "Don, you finally called back."

The other end was loud-music, clinking glasses, laughter. He paused, a beat of confusion before his voice came through, laced with an impatience I knew as well as my own heartbeat.

"Cordia? Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot. We had a last-minute welcome party."

There was no apology in his tone. Just annoyance.

"A welcome party?" My heart skipped a beat."For what?"

He hesitated, the sound of someone trying to find the right words, or maybe just the least offensive ones. "We hired a new VP of Operations. Jocelynn Burns."

Jocelynn Burns.

At that moment, my world seemed to collapse.

That was the girl he couldn't ever forget from his first love.The one with a prestigious master's degree from some fancy school in Switzerland.

My voice trembled, betraying the calm I fought so hard to maintain. "So you forgot our wedding dress appointment... for her welcome party?"

"Cordia, stop making a scene," he snapped, his voice dropping to that familiar, dismissive tone. "This is important. It's just a dress fitting. We can reschedule."

A woman's sweet, melodious voice came from his side. "Don, who're you talking to? I've been waiting for you for so long."

It seemed like he walked away, and the background noise became slightly softer. "Listen, I will call you later. Jocelynn just got back, I need to-"

He didn't finish his sentence when suddenly there was a commotion: the sound of a cup being knocked over, a chair scraping the floor, followed by a gradual silence.

Then Donavon's voice came through again: "Is everything okay, Jocelynn? You're drunk, let me take you back to rest." His tone was one I had never heard before-full of undeniable tenderness.

My hands trembled violently, and the phone almost slipped from my fingers. I didn't hang up the phone; I just moved the receiver a few inches away.

It seems like he forgot that he was still in a conversation. Then, I heard these words below: Seven years of love, seven years of dedication... My entire life was crushed to ashes.

Jocelynn spoke in a lazy tone, with a smile in her voice: "That's your fiancée, isn't she? She seems to have a rather strong personality, doesn't she?"

And then I heard Donavon's reply.

"It's not really considered a "fiancee" after all," he said, his voice dripping with casual cruelty. "I don't have any feelings for her at all. I simply regard her as a secretary who takes care of my daily needs. Besides, marrying her is... it's a responsibility. she has gotten used to me.But Jocelynn ,you know how I feel about you. I've waited for you for ten years... You are the one I want."

Jocelynn's voice carried a trace of pain: "Donavon, how can you say such things about her? She's done so much for you, even giving up her own career to take care of you wholeheartedly. I know that you still love me, and actually... I can't forget you either. But it's not fair to her like this. She loves you so much. If you really don't love her, then getting married will only cause her more pain. What do you plan to do?"

Donavon lowered his voice and made a decision: "Actually, I decided to break up with her from the moment you returned to here a few days ago, but it's a critical period of my career, and I still need her to concentrate on helping me, so I'll find a good time to talk to her about it."

Jocelynn was silent for two seconds, and her voice was as soft as a sigh: "But ... will it hurt her too much?"? But if you really decide, I don't want you to wronged yourself for responsibility. I hope you can be happy, Donavon. "

Donavon mumbled, "You are my happiness, when I deal with this mess of Cordia. Then we'll be together fair and square. You can only be wronged first during this time. "

A mess. I'm the mess.

I opened my mouth, but my throat seemed to be blocked by something, preventing me from making any sound at all.

This is the man I loved for seven years.

The latest issue of Hockey Weekly sat on the glass coffee table. Donavon's face stared up from the cover, the headline bold and triumphant: "King of the Ice, Hermit Off of It."

It seems quite ironic at this moment. I was the reason he could be a hermit. I managed his life so he only had to manage the puck.

As a result, he now thinks that I'm a complete mess.

In fact, I have a hunch for a long time. Since Jocelynn returned to here a few days ago, he has always come home late. He don't answer my phone calls or return my messages.

In the face of his infidelity, I thought I would be very painful, but at the moment my heart is very calm.

This calm did not suddenly appear, but the disappointment accumulated over the past seven years finally broke out today.

I didn't cry. I just hung up the phone calmly.

I turned and walked back inside. The sales director rushed to my side, her face a mask of careful concern. "Miss Maynard, is Mr. Bray...?"

I reached up and carefully removed the gossamer veil from my hair. I handed it to her, my face a perfect, serene blank.

"He's not coming."

I looked at the magnificent dress, the one I had thought was the beginning of my forever.

"I don't want it."

Leaving her standing there with the veil in her hands, I walked to the dressing room, changed back into my clothes, and picked up my purse. I didn't look back.

In the car, my phone buzzed with a new text from him.

Stop acting like a child. I'll be home later.

I didn't reply. I just pulled over to the side of the road and opened my laptop.

I composed a new email to his assistant, Blake Hayes.

[Subject: Leave of Absence Request.

Blake,

My mother's heart surgery has been scheduled. I need to request a one-month leave of absence to be with her, effective immediately.

Cordia]

I knew Donavon wouldn't care. He'd probably be relieved. He would think I was finally being "sensible," not causing any more trouble.

I hit send and closed the laptop.

This wasn't a leave of absence. This is the prelude to my resignation letter.I wasn't just leaving him. I was leaving the entire empire I had quietly built for him from the shadows.