THE CEO'S DYING HEART: HIS JILTED BRIDE

Two hours.

Michael Hayes was two hours late to his own wedding.

Edra stood at the head of the aisle, her fingers gripping the bouquet so tightly the stems crushed in her hands. Her wedge heels sank into the soft grass as she shifted her weight, trying to ease the ache building in her calves.

Her eyes stayed locked on the gate entrance.

Unblinking.

Waiting.

Sunlight fell on the roses lining the aisle. Grand Stallion Garden had gone quiet. The string quartet had stopped playing. The violinist kept glancing at her with pity.

She hated that look.

The air felt heavy. Suffocating. As if all of Bel Air was holding its breath with her.

“He's gone, Edra.”

The words came from behind her. Softly.

“Gone? Who's gone?”

She didn’t turn. Her eyes stayed glued to the gate.

“Michael is gone.”

Michael Hayes. The love of her life, was two hours late for their wedding.

But she knew he’d come. She refused to sit down. She wanted him to see her standing there when he walked in.

Perfect. Radiant.

She wasn’t even mad at him. Just eager to see him. The man she had given herself to completely. They had been together two years. Engaged for four months.

He had always been gentle and patient with her. She had no regrets.

Her mother sat in the front row, sobbing quietly into a tissue.

Her father had stormed out earlier, his face red with anger, grumbling about terrible choices and shame. Her cousin had gone after him.

But Edra stood there.

Believing.

She had missed Michael's call the night before.

The salon had been loud. Women chattering. Laughter spilling over itself. Her best friend Chloe teasing her about finally becoming a wife.

She hadn’t heard her phone ring.

When she checked it later, she had four missed calls.

Michael.

Then the text: Hey babe, I need to tell you something.

Her fingers had moved to call him back, but James’s call came in just then. He was at her apartment to surprise her.

The evening dissolved into laughter and last-minute wedding chaos.

She forgot to call Michael back.

She simply forgot.

After James left, she tried calling Michael.

Three times.

Straight to voicemail.

She pushed the worry away. Maybe he was nervous. Maybe he was with his groomsmen.

After all, she was marrying him today.

Nothing could go wrong.

Now she turned. Slowly.

“What do you mean Michael is gone? Gone where?” Her hands flew up, the bouquet shaking.

Chloe’s face was pale. Her eyes were red from crying.

“He never showed up here. Didn’t go to his father’s place. They’ve called everyone. His friends, his cousins… everyone, Edra.”

Edra stared at her. The world stopped.

“Maybe he’s stuck in traffic. May—maybe he lost his phone.” The words tumbled out. Frantic. She barely believed them herself.

“No.” Chloe shook her head, tears spilling over. “He left a note. Only for his mother. No explanation. Just that he couldn’t do it.”

Silence.

Chloe’s voice broke.

“He left, Edra.”

Edra’s fingers loosened around the bouquet.

“He left Los Angeles last night.”

The bouquet slipped from her hands.

“There was no message for you,” Chloe whispered. “No apology. No explanation. He just abandoned you here.”

Abandoned.

The word hit like a fist to her stomach.

“What?” Her voice came out small. Broken.

The rows of white chairs blurred. Her heart slammed hard against her chest, too fast, too loud.

Michael abandoned me?

"What?" She said again. Pinched herself to wake up from the lie. But the sting told her it was real.

She had been dumped.

Trashed her like she had never mattered.

I need to tell you something.

That text.

That call she had missed.

He had tried to warn her.

And she had been too blind. Too in love and too foolish to see it.

“I’m so sorry, Edra.”

She heard Chloe, but the pain was louder. It felt like something had been ripped out of her chest, leaving nothing behind.

She pressed a hand to her sternum as if she could hold herself together from the outside. Her legs trembled.

She couldn’t move.

“Oh my God.” The words barely came. Her lungs refused to work.

“Edra, please—” Chloe stepped forward, reaching for her.

Edra stumbled back. "Oh my God." Her throat burned.

Her eyes stared into oblivion as the tears broke free. Hot and fast against her cheeks.

They streamed down her face, ruining the makeup she had spent hours perfecting. She could taste salt. Feel mascara sting her eyes.

“He left me.” Her voice cracked. Shattered against the emptiness that had replaced her heart. “Michael left me.”

The scandal exploded in her mind. Headlines. Whispers. Laughter behind polite smiles. Her father—humiliated. Because of her.

Nausea surged. She swallowed it down.

Her body felt hollow. Empty. Like her bones had turned to water.

The world danced around her vision. Everything began to turn black.

A gasp went up.

“Edra!”

Chloe lunged forward, but she was too late.

Edra’s knees gave out and her body crumpled to the ground.

The twenty-four-thousand-dollar gown Michael had paid for pooled around her like a white puddle of broken dreams.

Everything went dark.

But not before one final thought burned through her mind—

Michael Hayes would pay for this.

Even if it cost her everything.

YESTERDAY

​“Six months. Maybe less.”

​Michael Hayes stared at Dr. Richardson and heard the words the way you hear something in a dream.

​Clearly enough to repeat them back, not clearly enough to understand what they meant.

​Severe cardiovascular disease.

​He nodded, a mechanical movement of his head.

​He was twenty-five years old. He was getting married tomorrow.

​He wasn’t supposed to be dying.

​“Your heart is failing, Michael,” the doctor continued. His voice was heavy with a sadness that felt out of place in a sterile room.

​“The scans don't lie. Without surgery, you have six months or less.”

​The office was too quiet.

​Michael sat across from the man who’d been their family doctor for fifteen years.

​The same man who’d given him stitches when he crashed his bike as a kid. Who’d treated his strep throat more times than he could count.

​Now, he was delivering a death sentence.

​Michael’s file sat o