On it, her handwriting glowed with bittersweet irony. "To wear the most beautiful wedding dress and marry the man I love most, Ambrose."
She let the paper drift to the floor, her lips curving into a faint, bitter smile.
The wedding dress now lay in tatters, beyond recognition, just like the man Hazel once thought she’d love forever.
With a surge of anger, she crumpled the torn page into a tight ball and hurled it across the room.
It sailed through the air like a final severance, cutting away the remnants of her past and paving the way for an uncharted future.
The eastern horizon began to glow faintly, the first light of dawn creeping into the room.
Hazel wiped the last of her tears, her fingers trembling momentarily before steadying herself.
She pulled back the heavy curtains, letting the warm, golden sunlight flood the space. It illuminated the chaos she’d left behind, a scene she no longer cared to remember.
The past, like yesterday’s death, no longer had a claim on her.
Sliding on her sunglasses with newfound resolve, she stepped out into the morning chill, hailed a cab, and set off to meet the media mogul her friend had introduced.