A Wedding That Never Was Novel by Ali O'neill _ Novel




A Wedding That Never Was Chapter 01

Today was the ninety-ninth day of their put-off wedding—and Olivia Bennett had been through eight straight disasters.
Her kidneys were practically on the brink of failin’. It took three whole days and nights of emergency surgery to yank her back from the edge of death.
After they moved her to a regular ward, she wanted to take a walk in the garden to clear her foggy head. But the second she stepped off the stairs, she stumbled onto a private chat between her fiancé, Alexander Sterling, and his friend.
“Last time it was arson, this time you poisoned her—and finally got the wedding pushed back another three months. What trick you gonna pull next?”
Behind the flowerbed, Olivia froze. A loud roar exploded in her head, and her mind went totally blank.
Alexander, wearin’ his white lab coat, answered all casual-like. “No more delays.”
His friend looked shocked. “You’re actually gonna marry Olivia? Then what about Chloe Vaughn—the little nurse you made an exception to sponsor?”
“Olivia’s lived with my family since we were kids. My dad specifically told me to take good care of her, and we’re stuck in this engagement. So I’ve spoiled her, protected her, ever since we were little. Carin’ for her even became second nature… till I met Chloe.”
When he thought of Chloe, a soft smile tugged at his lips. “She’s tough as wild grass—grows in mud but stays clean. The second our eyes met, I fell head over heels for her.”
“Then why don’t you break off the engagement with your family and go after her?” His friend looked totally confused.
Alexander took a deep breath and said calmly, “Olivia’s dad died savin’ Grandpa Arthur. The Sterling family owes her that. I found some occult guy to trick her into thinkin’ she’s cursed—said she had to go through all these torments before the wedding to break it. And she actually bought it, the fool.”
“These eight disasters? Nothin’ but me bein’ a coward and avoidin’ the inevitable. But now I gotta face my responsibilities. As for Chloe? She’ll always be in my heart. I’ll watch over her, quietly, forever.”
Those words stabbed Olivia’s heart like a thousand silver needles. She swayed on her feet, nose burning, tears streamin’ down her face before she could stop ’em.
She couldn’t believe it—those eight near-death accidents were all traps Alexander set himself.
First time: a broken pillar crushed her on stage, almost paralyzin’ her from the waist down.
Second time: she got kidnapped, and the captors almost killed her.
Third time: she was drivin’ the car Alexander gave her, and the brakes failed. She plummeted off a cliff, stuck in the ICU for a whole month.
……
And all ’cause he didn’t wanna marry her.
Her engagement to Alexander was an arranged childhood thing—their elders set it up when they were little.
Back then, Sterling Manor caught fire, and Arthur Sterling almost burned to death. Olivia’s dad rushed in, carried him out on his back… and died right then and there from smoke inhalation.
Later, Arthur brought little Olivia back to the Sterling family, arranged her marriage to Alexander, and promised the Sterlings would protect her, keep her safe, for the rest of her life.
Growin’ up in the Sterling house, she was treated like a real lady. Even when she went into dance—something most rich families look down on—Alexander got the whole Sterling family to back her up, no questions asked.
So she always thought they were in love. Turns out, it was all just duty. His heart had been taken by someone else a long time ago.
The dull ache in her chest turned into a bunch of tiny needles, piercin’ her veins, sinkin’ right into her bones.
Half an hour later, Alexander pushed the door open with a debridement tray in his hand. His eyes swept over the tear stains on her cheeks. “Why’re you cryin’? Does your wound hurt that bad?”
That concern of his? Right then, it just felt like duty to her.
Tears welled up again.
Her skin was way more fragile than a normal person’s, and her pain receptors were way more sensitive. That’s why every time Alexander cleaned her wounds, he’d use anesthetic first to numb the pain.
He put iodine on like usual, but just as he was gonna inject the anesthetic, a custom ringtone went off.
He quickly set the anesthetic down and answered the phone, all urgent.
Hearing that one-of-a-kind ringtone, her mind flashed back to the past.
Back then, she loved singin’. She even wrote a song just for Alexander. She was so excited to play it for him… but he shut it off right away.
“It’s noisy. Annoyin’.” His eyes were full of plain disgust.
But now? His ringtone was just some little tune Chloe hummed casually. It made her heart feel bitter and sore, like it was breakin’.
A woman’s panicked voice came from the other end: “Dr. Sterling, there’s a patient here bein’ totally unreasonable. Can you come save me?”
Alexander’s brows furrowed right away, his eyes fillin’ with tension and worry. “Stay there, I’m on my way.” He soothed her soft and gentle.
Once, Olivia thought it was just mentor-apprentice stuff. Now? It was clear they’d had feelings for each other this whole time.
Alexander hung up the phone, then drove the tweezers straight into her festerin’ wound.
A sharp, bone-deep pain exploded all over. Her temples throbbed like crazy, cold sweat soak’in through her hospital gown. Even her breath was shakin’. “Alex… you didn’t give me the anesthetic yet…”
Alexander ignored her, his voice ice-cold. “Endure it. Anesthetic leaves scars on the wound.”
She curled up in pain, nails diggin’ deep into her palms. She begged weakly: “Alex, please… give me the anesthetic… I can’t take it anymore…”
“Be good. It’ll be over in a minute.” His movements got faster, more impatient.
Five minutes later, the debridement was done.
Olivia collapsed into a limp heap, worn out from the pain. Through blurry eyes, she watched him rush out the door.
She knew better than anyone—anesthetic doesn’t cause scars. He just said that ’cause he was in such a hurry to go protect Chloe, even that one minute for the anesthetic to kick in felt like a waste.
In that second, the ache in her chest hurt way worse than her actual wounds.
The terrible pain kept tearin’ at her consciousness… till finally, she passed out from the torment.

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