Chapter 196

Madeleine kept her head down, tears slipping silently onto the back of her hand, dampening the scarf. Beckett had already noticed the scars. He never asked, just quietly respected her boundaries. But still, he arranged for the tailor to give her a matching scarf for the dress—to cover her wrist. That kind of thoughtfulness... it was impossible not to be moved. She could feel the walls around her heart start to crumble—just a bit. But she didn't have much left to give. Because falling in love again might just be the end of her. … The wedding. As expected from a wealthy family, the whole thing was over the top. Rumor had it guests would leave with some fancy gift bags. And clearly, only the elite made the list. The Beach family got two invites—Beckett and Stanton. Only Beckett showed up. Stanton probably didn't want to tag along with Ruby making headlines lately. Too embarrassing. On the other hand, the entire Hale family was invited. That alone said a lot about how powerful they were in