Harper played it cool. She smiled winningly while Adeline continued to gush about Roland Bretford’s presence at her wedding.
Harper watched Adeline and Wilson finish their rounds. From time to time, her eyes would flicker towards their table. It had begun to irritate Harper with the way she was passing Roland a glance.
When the host called for Wilson and Adeline back towards the front, Harper was more than relieved that the annoying snake was finally focusing on something else.
A chorus of cheers and clinking of glasses were heard as the hired professional hyped up the gathered audience. While everyone was cheering for the newlyweds, Harper finished the champagne she was indulging earlier on.
Ro’s identity had somehow bothered her, and it was not sitting well in her thoughts. But at the very least, she had finally overcome her initial shock.
She had tons of questions to ask him. But she hesitated, thinking if it was worth asking because they wouldn’t even be in touch anymore after the wedding.
A slow song began to hum in their surroundings. It was time for the couple’s first dance as a husband and a wife.
Harper didn’t want to look. She felt nauseated seeing Wilson and Adeline together. She had no lingering feelings for Wilson except hate.
If he were at least a decent man, Harper might have found it in her heart to forgive him for what he had done. But instead of apologizing, Wilson had given Harper the divorce papers. After which, he kicked her out of the apartment.
Wilson had made Harper felt like trash and as if she was the one who had cheated instead of otherwise. When in fact, Harper hardly talked to any other guy but him.
Harper shook the thoughts away. They weren’t appropriate thoughts to have while she was at their wedding.
“They even got married,” Harper allowed herself to murmur.
“Harper,” Roland Bretford’s voice startled Harper for a second. She almost forgot that she wasn’t alone.
When Harper caught his gaze, she found that he was offering a hand towards her, palms up.
Harper raised an apprehensive brow, narrowing her gaze at Roland a little.
“We’re supposed to be dating, remember?”
Keeping her sarcastic reply to herself, Harper blew out a sigh and smiled tightly at Roland, accepting his invitation.
But with him accompanying Harper to this wedding, did she really have the right to be a little annoyed about it?
Roland Bretford expertly held Harper, one hand to her waist while the other held her hand.
“You can be mad at me later, Harper, but first, let’s get through this wedding,”
Harper gave him an odd look, but she knew he was right. Right now, what really mattered was to convince people around them that she was happily dating after being dumped by a cheater.
“Ro, huh? You could have at least given me a different alias.”
Roland Bretford chuckled. He was quite enjoying Harper’s company despite her not recognizing him at first glance.
“I thought you were pretending not to know me.”
Harper snorted. She rolled her eyes for an emphasis before staring right into Roland Bretford’s mesmerizing eyes.
“You think so highly of yourself. Well, not all people are quite interested in you.”
Roland hummed. He wanted to believe that it was true. If it were, his mother wouldn’t even have a hard time looking for a perfect match for him.
“Or maybe it’s just you, Harper. You are exempted from my charm. But are you really?”
Harper couldn’t believe how confident Roland Bretford was.
She had heard of rumors about him, but his reputation exceeded his personality.
“I’m afraid you have failed to win my affection the moment you spilled coffee on me.”
Roland couldn’t stop himself from rolling out a peal of silent laughter at her response.
“That was never intentional, believe me.” Harper pursed her lips. She was finding it quite amusing to tease him.
“I’ll try to believe you. The Great Roland Bretford spilling coffee on a poor civilian walking hastily in the streets of New York,” she mused. “What a headline that would be.”
“Pretty entertaining, I believe.”
Roland Bretford found himself smiling while Harper fought off being stars trucked by his undeniable charm.
“On a serious note, I know you are busy and I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”
Roland Bretford stared at Harper. He grinned and winked at her, teasing her for a minute before shaking his head.
“Don’t worry, Harper. I won’t ask for a large sum in exchange. Consider this as me being a good friend to you.”
“But we’re not even friends.”
“You know my name, I know yours, I think that’s enough consideration for us to be friends.”
It was Harper’s turn to laugh a little.
He was undeniably easy to get along with, and Harper couldn’t say that to everyone she met. But with Roland Bretford, she somehow felt comfortable in his presence.
Getting herself out of her thoughts, Harper dismissed the idea all of a sudden. After this event, she and Roland Bretford would part ways and would never see each other again.
Half of the women across the world would want to be in her shoes right now.
When the song was about to end, Roland leaned close to Harper.
“People are staring at us,” he whispered before dropping a quick kiss on her cheeks.
His sudden kiss had startled Harper so much and it took her a second before she heard the people around clapping while Wilson and Adeline shared a long, sweet kiss.
“Harper!” a familiar voice called out to her, jarring Harper from swimming in her thoughts.
When she turned around, she found herself face to face with Wilson’s younger sister, Claire.
Before she could stop her, the female version of Wilson had jumped at Harper, pulling her in a tight hug.
“I’m so glad to see you!”
When Harper was finally released, she managed a tight smile towards Claire.
“Yeah. It’s nice.” Harper replied, losing any enthusiasm she might have had felt before.
“You look great! Anyway, the rest of the family would like to say hi to you too.”
Harper knew it wasn’t the case, but she pretended not to notice Claire’s eyes flickering towards the table where the rest of Wilson’s family were seated.
Roland Bretford held Harper’s hand. He squeezed it, sensing she was suddenly put in a tight spot.
“Let’s say hi to them, darling. I’m sure they all missed you.”
--
Harper had often heard that no matter how good you are in the world, you can always be a villain in someone else’s story. She was sure that was how Wilson portrayed her to be.
Instead of the doting wife, he could say that Harper wasn’t doing her job. That he fell out of love because she wasn’t doing what was expected of her.
It was what was running in their minds, she could tell as she and Roland Bretford approached Wilson’s family.
They were seated in the very first row of the tables. On the other table, it was Adeline’s family. And they, too, had sent discriminating stares towards Harper.
Roland sensed her discomfort. He leaned in to whisper in her ears.
“Just say the word, and I can take you out of here.”
Roland Bretford’s breath tingled Harper’s ears. She appreciated the gesture and took that as a cue to show them how sweet of a couple they were.
She gestured for him to lean close to her. Roland Bretford followed.
“I will not back out in a war.”
Roland Bretford choked down the laughter that bubbled inside of him. He hid it by coughing a little, catching Claire’s stare.
Roland beamed brightly towards her.
“You don’t want to know what that was about,” he stated, putting an arm around Harper to emphasize that it was a relatively private conversation. “Right, darling?”
Harper smiled at Claire as well.
“Yes, darling,” Harper threw an arm around Roland Bretford’s waist as they arrived at Wilson’s family table. “It’s a conversation for couples.”
“Oh,” Claire expressed, forcing a smile their way before leaving them to whisper in her mother’s ears.
Harper bowed respectfully to greet her former mother-in-law. The latter merely raised an apprehensive brow at Harper.
“You look well, considering what you did to my son.”