The Billionaire's Accidental Bride

Emma

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, and for the first time, I didn’t recognize the girl looking back at me.

Her eyes were red and swollen, her lips shaking uncomfortably. Tears streaked down her cheeks like tiny rivers of pain. My breath was coming in quick. I felt empty inside like someone had entered inside me and pulled everything out.

“You’re stronger than this,” I whispered to myself.

But the girl in the mirror didn’t believe me. She looked like she’d lost everything.

I leaned closer, pressing my palms against the cold sink. “How did it come to this?” I murmured.

Things weren't supposed to go this way.

If someone had told me a few weeks ago that I’d be standing here heartbroken, alone, and preparing to take a graduation trip by myself I’d have doubted it.

Because back then, everything looked perfect.

I was supposed to be celebrating. Smiling. Expecting a proposal from my boyfriend of four years.

Back then, life had felt like a dream.

Campus had been too good to me. I came from a modest family. Unlike a rich family like most of my friends, I worked hard, doing a part job after school to support myself.

My parents had always said, “Education is one of the things no one can take away from you.” They didn’t have much, but they gave me everything that mattered most: love, prayers, and always believed that tomorrow would be better.

I was the girl who stayed awake through the night studying, who tutored others when they needed help.

I even helped my best friend Sophie with her assignments. She was never really interested in academics; she just wanted to pass and party.

Her parents were wealthy, they drove her to school with their flashy car every semester, bought for her boxes of designer clothes and perfumes.

She’d laugh and say, “Emma, one day I’ll take you shopping in Paris,” and I’d smile, pretending that kind of life didn’t make me feel small.

Then there was Ryan.

He wasn’t just my boyfriend. He was my first love, my all. The boy with the soft brown eyes and that confident smile that made my heart skip every time.

He’d walk me to class every morning, carry my books even when I told him not to, and buy me ice cream after night lectures.

We were that campus couple everyone teased for being too sweet.

Sophie would always say, “You two are disgusting. You should get married already and have babies.”

And I’d throw a pillow at her, laughing. “You’re just jealous, Soph.”

The three of us. Me, Sophie, and Ryan were more like a team. We studied together, ate together, even made plans for our graduation trip.

We talked about traveling to Miami after our final exams, celebrating the end of school with beach parties and adventures. It was supposed to be the perfect ending of our story.

But guess what? Perfect didn't seem to exist in my