Finnian admitted that he didn''t want her to be with another man, along with a string of other excuses. Amara felt a wave of bitterness rise in her chest, mixed with a sense of irony that almost made herugh.


    She didn''t reply to his messages. Instead, she deleted them all with a single swipe, closed her phone, and went to sleep.


    In the middle of the night, a coughing fit woke her abruptly. She went downstairs to get a ss of water, and while she was at it, checked the news from the previous day. That''s when she saw a new wave of online attacks directed at her.


    "Amara really doesn''t deserve to be with Keith. Keith has always been squeaky clean-he''s never even had a girlfriend-while Amara is the kind of woman who gets pregnant before marriage. She has no self-restraint."


    "If Keith wants to be with Amara, that''s his business, but it''s obvious she''s shameless andcks morals. What kind of decent woman gets pregnant out of wedlock and doesn''t even know who the father is? Maybe her personal life was so chaotic she can''t even identify the father."


    "Calling out Amarise—real name Amara! Doesn''t even know who her child''s father is. You really can''t judge someone by appearances. How could Keith fall for her? I''m unfollowing him."


    The online conversation had shifted into a coordinated attack on Amara for being an unwed mother, the posts so uniform they were clearly being manipted.


    Amara''s eyes darkened. Someone was definitely stirring things up. Was it Emma''s doing?


    It might have been Emma, or Liliana, or even Edith. After all, Emma and Edith had already met-it was entirely possible they were working together to bring her down.


    Even though she had a good idea of who was behind it all, Amara still didn''t know how to fight back.


    As long as the identity of her child''s father remained unknown, she could never escape the stigma of being an unwed mother whose child''s paternity was a mystery.


    Amara could ignore thements herself-she had a strong mind-but what would her child think in the future, reading these things online? Would her child be hurt by all of this someday?


    The thought made her anxious.


    As the wedding day drew near, there was a mountain of preparations to make, and Liliana had been busy to the point of exhaustion these past few days.


    Today was the day she had been looking forward to most: her wedding dress fitting. She brought Nora along and tried on several different gowns, all of which felt just right. Afterwards she called Finn and asked him toe see her dress-and to try on his suit for the ceremony while he was there.


    Liliana knew that Finnian wouldn''te just for her dress fitting, but if he needed to


    be fitted for his suit as well, he would have to show up.


    Sure enough, half an hourter, Finnian arrived at the bridal boutique.


    Liliana had carefully arranged a special first look. She had a staff member tead Finnian to a curtained area. On the count of three, the curtains were drawn, and Finnian


    saw her in her wedding gown for the


    first time.  t


    sto


    The dress was a strapless satin gown that highlighted Liliana''s natural elegance,


    and with her bridal makeup finished, she looked stunning.


    But in that instant, what shed before Finnian''s eyes was not Liliana, but a fleeting memory of a woman in a wedding dress and a mask-Amara, three years ago.


    He remembered how Amara had gone alone to try on her wedding dress, and how


    he himself had gone separately for his suit fitting. The two of them hadn''t even seen each other.


    Later, Amara had gone by herself to have bridal portraits taken. She had called him before she went, but he hadn''t gone with her. So in the end, Amara''s wedding photos were just of her, alone.