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"You haven't tried the dress on," Yuyu noted as she came to Noelle's room that evening.
The clock was ticking until they were supposed to leave.
Cisco had allowed Noelle to pack a small suitcase to take with her, and Noelle had chosen some of her most prized possessions at the expense of her clothing. After all, if she was to live in eternal torment, at least those little memories could help her hang on.
"I don't want to," Noelle shrugged, barely sparing a glance at the wedding dress—more aptly called herfuneraldress.
"Noelle," Yuyu took a deep breath.
"Don't," Noelle shook her head. "Spare me your platitudes, Yuyu. You're not the one traveling to a foreign country to marry a man three times your age. You're not the one forced to do anything you don't want to."
Yuyu pursed her lips, her features stricken.
"If we could have avoided it, this would have never happened."
"I know the speech," Noelle smirked. "It's getting old, isn't it? At least have the decency to take responsibility for your actions. This wasn't my fate to suffer, yet here I am. All because ofyourchoices. So don't tell me how I should feel, or should not."
"You're right," she nodded, her lips flattened into a pained line. "It would be disingenuous of us to claim otherwise. I just…" she trailed off, her eyes glossy. "I truly didn't want things to degenerate this badly."
"We can't all have what we want. I think that's the most important lesson, isn't it?" Noelle looked her straight in the eye.
"Maybe in the future… Maybe you might learn to forgive us."
Noelle kept her features blank at Yuyu's words.
Yes, that was a good question. How had things degenerated so badly? How had she ever seen her brother and his wife as anything but the mercenary people that they were? How had she ever held any affection for them?
"It's your right to hope so," she simply stated. "Just as it is my right not to do it."
Those words promptly shut Yuyu up. She looked on the verge of crying, but the sight of it could no longer move Noelle. How couldanythingmove her when she was simply…hopeless?
"Mrs. DeVille. Mr. Val is calling for you. I think he hurt himself."
The voice of the housekeeper echoed into the room. Yuyu spared Noelle another glance before she hurried out of the room.
"I'm coming!"
Noelle released a deep, relieved breath at being alone once more. Putting on a strong front was too draining, especially when she felt anything but strong on the inside.
Sighing, she looked at the wedding dress laid on the bed.
How could this happen to her?
It was the twenty-first century, for God's sake. How could she be coerced like this into an unwanted marriage?
Yet it happened…
Her brows furrowed as her gaze stopped on Yuyu's bag, still resting on her bed.
Maybe…
She didn't stop to think. She simply dashed to the door, locking it, before rummaging through the bag.
Surely enough, her phone was there, too.
Though it was password protected, it didn't take long for Noelle to guess it. After all, Yuyu's life revolved around her brother. It stood to reason her password would be his birthday.
Successfully unlocking the device, she was quick at work as she scoured the internet for a phone number. Since she knew his last name was Guerra and his family was something of a local celebrity, it wasn't hard to find a number.
