Alpha's Rejected Mate Returns as Queen

285 The Bouquet

Selma Payne’s POV:

Two cars came to pick us up. Dorothy, Jordin, and Emma were very observant and got into the car with the chauffeur, leaving me alone as the only passenger in Aldrich’s car.

With New Flow, I couldn’t stay drunk for long. I woke up after two traffic lights.

“Do you want to drink some water?” While waiting for the traffic light to turn green, Aldrich took out a thermos cup from the bag in the front passenger seat and handed it to me. Kara made some hangover soup. It was still warm.

I took the soup and drank a few mouthfuls. I suddenly laughed. “You’re like an old father worried about his daughter.”

“What?” Aldrich was stunned.

“I say, the way you brought me home and even brought me some hangover soup was really like a father who was worried that the world of sensual pleasures would deceive his daughter.”

“Oh, come on!” he said helplessly. “Do you think I’m that old? It’s so sad.”

“I’m just joking... ah, the light has turned green.”

We were speechless the entire way, and an inexplicable awkwardness slowly spread.

‘My god, why did I say that just now? I don’t think I’m fully sober yet.’

In silence, I unconsciously slowed down my breathing, closed my eyes, and leaned against the window, pretending to be asleep.

Even though this little trick could not fool Aldrich.

Finally, he couldn’t stand the awkward atmosphere and spoke first, “Are we going together tomorrow?”

“What?”

“Are we going to Avril and Perrin’s wedding together? Or should we go separately?”

Why did he ask that?

It was a very common question, but I didn’t know why I was suddenly so sensitive. There was a deeper meaning behind this sentence.

Did Aldrich not want to go with me?

It was easy to suspect their true relationship when young men and women appeared in pairs at a wedding banquet. Perhaps Aldrich didn’t want that? Did my actions at the bar’s entrance just now make him angry?

But he often hinted he wanted to make our relationship public. Why did he suddenly refuse?

Was it because I’d been hiding it, so he no longer had confidence in me?

As soon as this thought surfaced, I snuffed it out. It was too stupid. We had already communicated telepathically, and this random guess would only add to our problems.

I tried to answer, “Let’s go together. Everyone knows about our relationship, so there’s no need to go separately on purpose.”

Aldrich nodded and seemed to be relieved.

There was another round of silence.

I didn’t know why, but I suddenly thought of the night I had a gathering with the girls. Aldrich also came to pick me up. I also pretended to be drunk, and it was also pitch black, and we didn’t speak to each other.

No, I wasn’t completely silent. I told Aldrich, “You’re the person I want to hold hands with for the rest of my life.”

I panicked right after I said that. I pretended to be drunk and crazy, drowsy, and not to remember this.

However, no matter how good the pretense was, how could it deceive him? I was indeed impulsive at the time, but I couldn’t lie to myself that I have any regrets. Perhaps I regretted not gathering enough courage to give my heart the final answer.

After that, none of us mentioned what happened that night. Everything was the same as before, but something did change.

I unconsciously became anxious about my relationship with Aldrich and our future.

If I were to go back to my teenage years, I would never have thought I would be so nervous about a relationship at the age of twenty-two. When I was a teenage, I scoffed at all soft love and once firmly believed that I would never become the female lead in a soap opera who was worried about love.

Fate loved to laugh at people.

‘Aldrich, Aldrich, should I ask you for your final answer?”

I’d never been a decisive girl. In front of feelings that are softer than a sponge, all hard bravado has turned into sugar water that couldn’t withstand a single blow. It was as if I had become that indecisive little girl again, standing at the fork in the road, not knowing what to do, naively looking forward to the right answer falling from the sky.

The bustling traffic was left behind. The lights in the car were not switched on, and the darkness turned this place into a small independent zone. The silence was the lock of this space. Only when someone gave the right answer would we be allowed to leave.

The palace lights were approaching, and this independent world was about to collapse. Should I seize this opportunity? Should I give up this opportunity? Should I say it? Or should I continue to remain silent?

The soft moonlight illuminated half of the empty carriage. My bridesmaid’s dress was lying there, and the tiny rhinestones shone under the moonlight.

It was so beautiful.

If it was embedded in the wedding dress, would it be even more dazzling?

I gently caressed the soft fabric of the bridesmaid’s dress as I imagined the prototype of a white dress in my mind.

The snow-like color, the gemstones brighter than the stars, the fine muslin stacked to form the mountain peaks, and the soft flowers woven from silk ribbons.

It was so beautiful.

There was still one last intersection.

This was my last chance.

Under the gaze of the stars, I whispered, “Aldrich, tomorrow is my good friend’s wedding... do you think I’ll be able to snatch the bouquet?”