Chapter 7

Calista was heading out to pick up her wedding dress. The wedding was just a few days away, and she had promised that man she would be waiting for him at the courthouse in her dress, ready to get their marriage certificate together. So, how could she not have a wedding dress? When she arrived at the couture bridal shop, Calista asked the manager to bring out the dress she had ordered a while ago. However, the manager hesitated, looking as though she had something she couldn't say. "What is it? Is there something wrong with my dress?" she asked. "I'm sorry, Ms. Dorne," the manager replied. "Someone else has reserved the wedding dress." "I already paid the deposit. How could someone else reserve it?" "Well, the other customer offered a higher deposit, so—" "Who took my dress?" Calista cut her off. Just as the manager was about to answer, the shop door swung open. Then, a sweet voice sounded. "Is my wedding dress ready? I want to try it on." Calista looked up. It was Patricia again. At work, Calista and Patricia weren't particularly close. But when it came to their personal lives, Calista knew Patricia all too well. Patricia widened her eyes in surprise when she saw Calista. "Calista? What a coincidence! You're here to pick a wedding dress too?" "Yeah." "You're getting married as well?" "Yes." Calista had always been known as Noah's assistant at Skeldon Group. Aside from a few close friends, no one at the company knew about their relationship. And clearly, Noah had never told Patricia anything, either. All this time at the company, Patricia had always assumed Calista was just his assistant. "When's your wedding, Calista?" "The seventh." "What a crazy coincidence! I'm getting married on the seventh too!" Patricia exclaimed. Then, looking at Calista curiously, she asked, "Which dress did you choose?" Calista pointed to the heart-shaped, open-back wedding dress displayed in the shop window. "That one." "No way! Not only are we getting married on the same day, but we even picked the same dress! Now I'm really curious. Who's your fiance?" Calista smiled slightly and simply said, "Why don't you guess?" Patricia paused for a moment, as if thinking of something, but she changed the subject in the end. Since Calista had paid the deposit first, and even though Patricia paid a higher deposit, there was no valid reason for the manager to give it to Patricia. So, the manager refunded Patricia's money. Calista successfully got her wedding dress. As Patricia left, she was still fuming. "What a crappy store. Just wait, I'm going to have my fiance shut this place down someday!" After Patricia left, Calista also took the dress, now packaged neatly in a box, and went home. … Back at the apartment, Noah was sitting on the couch in the living room, waiting for Calista. He didn't seem to notice the dress in her hands as he frowned, asking, "What took you so long?" "Oh, something came up," she replied Noah didn't press her about where she had been. "The client's already been pushing us about the bid proposal. When are you going to finish it?" he asked after a while, trying to contain his temper. He sounded frustrated, as if Calista had made some huge mistake. She didn't want to argue with Noah, so she said, "I'm on leave." "So what? Just because you're on leave doesn't mean you can't work. This bid proposal is crucial to Skeldon Group's future development. Do you have any idea how important this is to me and the company?" Noah slammed the table in frustration. Calista stared at the angry Noah, finding him weird. The bid proposal was indeed important to Skeldon Group and to him, but it had nothing to do with her. She wasn't even an employee of Skeldon Group anymore. Even if she were, someone else could do it. She just looked at him wordlessly. Even though she didn't say anything, Noah felt uncomfortable under her gaze. He tamped down his anger, eventually realizing he had gone too far. Softening his tone, he walked over to Calista and held her shoulders. "Cali, I know you've suffered a lot being with me all these years. Once you finish this proposal, I'll announce to everyone at Skeldon Group that you've been promoted to Vice President. Aside from me, your word is law in Skeldon Group. You'll basically be the CEO's wife." If it had been before, Calista would have been so moved by those words she might've cried. But now that she had seen through Noah's tricks, she was no longer the Calista who would tear up at a single promise from him. Noah had said something similar that made Calista give up her high-paying job. But over the years, she had gotten nothing from him except for empty promises. Seeing that Calista didn't respond, Noah thought maybe she didn't like what he said. "Are you not happy?" he asked. Not wanting Noah to notice the change in her, Calista replied faintly, "I am." "Good. Then, help me finish the bid proposal, okay? Be good." Noah felt reassured by her answer. He didn't notice the icy indifference in Calista's gaze as she looked at him. Right then, his phone rang. When he answered, Calista heard a tearful female voice on the other end of the line. After the call, Noah left the apartment hurriedly, not even informing Calista about the situation first.