The more she thought about her current situation, the more her heart raced like crazy.
Adalyn's hands were shaking as they rested on the steering wheel after she had parked her car in the garage that was located in John's house.
Her eyes coincidentally landed on the time, registering in her head that it was 9:50 pm. As the fear in her increased, she had to take a deep breath to be able to bear it as it was starting to become overwhelming.
Earlier that evening, Adalyn found out that the man she was supposed to get married to in three days had canceled his marriage with her.
"This is the fifth," she murmured to herself when she heard the news from her parents.
Adalyn never cared about the first four men because she didn't love them but she loved John with all her heart and they'd been together for a year. He promised to wed her and make her his wife but she was hearing something that was contradicting his words.
Nothing happened between them so why would he suddenly want to cancel their marriage?
Adalyn argued with her parents about it being impossible so she phoned John over and over again but she didn't receive a response from him.
Two hours later she was in his garage, trying to calm herself by forcing herself to believe that her parents were playing a prank on her even though she knew deep down that her parents were never that playful.
Her legs began to quaver as she thought about her life without John in it. How was she going to breathe? How was she going to keep moving on in life? He had always been her supporter in every aspect of her life.
Adalyn blanked out for a moment since she allowed herself to get lost in those overwhelming thoughts.
"I wouldn't know what is going on until I find out," she said to herself, placing her hand on the door to get out but she was suddenly consumed by fear after realizing that everything could actually be true.
However, the next moment, Adalyn was walking into John's house because she had the passcode. She went through the living room and climbed the stairs.
The house was quiet and seemed void. Adalyn didn't know where she got the courage to satisfy her curiosity but since she was already on the verge of getting the truth, she wasn't turning back, not now.
Adalyn went straight to John's room. When she reached the door to his room, she saw it open and entered the room. The door was still covering the room so she couldn't see much but when she took a few steps in, she saw the answer to her doubt.
Adalyn's heart sank.
She was utterly shocked by what her eyes saw. "It's true," a voice said like a whisper in her head. "He…he doesn't love me," the voice came again, bringing back voices she never wanted to hear again.
Adalyn's handbag dropped from her hand and she used her palms to cover her ears as if she was hearing loud noises.
"Stop…" she cried. "Please stop…"
John and the woman in his bed saw her the moment she entered and could only watch Adalyn but when Adalyn began to lose it, John stood up half-naked and ran to Adalyn, grabbing her bag and dragging her out of the room.
'He doesn't love me,' those silent but sharp voices tormented her even more.
John dragged Adalyn to the kitchen and splashed water on her face. He knew she wasn't capable of handling some emotions, therefore he was aware of how to stop her whenever she was out of her mind.
Adalyn accepted the water and drank it to calm down but images of John laying in bed half-naked with another woman was still vividly intact in her mind.
She caught her breath and acknowledged John, who was standing in front of her.
John saw the pain in her eyes, it stabbed him deeply and filled his heart with guilt. Unable to bear it, he looked away from her beautiful hazel eyes.
"You canceled our marriage and you have another woman with you," Adalyn's voice sounded so weak.
"You love her," it wasn't a question, she could see it.
John was looking down as she spoke. Momentarily, the lady who was in John's bed walked in on them and immediately, John went to speak to her.
Adalyn scoffed. Her heart was shattered but being surprised by what happened, she thought of her past. 'I was too selfish to think that someone would love me.'
"I agree, this is over," she accepted her fate without knowing where the courage came from. Adalyn grabbed her bag to leave.
"I'm sorry," John's voice followed her.
Adalyn halted, keeping John and the lady in suspense. "Change the passcode to your home. You know how dangerous I can be," she then looked over her shoulder and threw them an evil smirk.
Humming like a child, Adalyn left John's house but she left John and his woman threatened. John knew and had seen what Adalyn's other side was capable of doing.
However, Adalyn didn't know she had another kind of personality that was completely the opposite of her real self.
Adalyn, as though she wasn't hurt went back home, still humming a particular song–a song that the real Adalyn had never heard about.
The next morning, Adalyn didn't plan to leave her room, she was in her bed, laying on her stomach with her head on the pillow she surrounded her arms with, staring into space…her mind blank.
Adalyn did not know what was going on with her but the fact that she was an ex to John just didn't sit well with her because she loved him and expected so much from their relationship.
However, her parents were not in agreement with what she planned to do. They didn't care if she was depressed or pained by what she had passed through with her recent relationship.
They were already scared of how her bad luck might affect them because this was the fifth marriage that was canceled by her fianceé.
The first one said he could handle a lady like Adalyn, saying she was ugly, she couldn't turn him on, and she was hard to reason with.
Her parents were fed up but immediately John sent that letter to them yesterday, they found their daughter another husband. It wasn't a hassle to them because they were that wealthy.
They were also planning to pass all wealth to Adalyn's younger sister because they felt she was the better child.
Adalyn's parents entered her room with the spare key they had.
"Come on, get up," Adalyn's mother uttered the moment she saw her daughter laying lost in the bed.
Adalyn at first didn't move any muscle until she received taps on her leg. "Get up, child!" Her mother exclaimed this time.
Adalyn sat up and looked at her parents who were hovering around her as though she were their only problem.
"What is it, Mama?" She asked, feeling irritated and frustrated and her expression didn't hide it. Adalyn lay in bed again.
"You are not allowed to sulk around because of a man. It's happening for the 5th time so you should be used to it," Erica pulled Adalyn out of the bed.
"Well, the 5th is different because…" she sighed. Her eyes and face were swollen. She looked sick but Mr and Mrs Rose didn't care. All they wanted was to send her out of their house not to end up in another house but a man's house.
"...he is the man I was allowed to date, the rest were arranged by you," she sounded so exhausted.
"All that matters is that you get married," Philips, Adalyn's father said.
This made Adalyn drift her gaze to him. She let her shoulders down, finally letting it go because she asked herself why she was trying to convince her parents about them being wrong when it was absolutely pointless. They seemed to have the final say in her life every time.
They chose the course she studied in university and even the job she got engaged in and now they wanted to choose the man she should get married to.
Why should she fight it? When it looked like everything she ever owned was lost.
Adalyn let out a deep sigh that said a lot about what she was piling up in her mind. She was heavy-hearted and it felt like her heart kept expanding in her chest but she seemed to be doing a great job suppressing it.
"We've come to inform you that we found a new suitor for you."