The Strange Groom's Cursed Bride-Chapter 64: ...It’s Gavin

The porridge sat untouched.

Steam curled lazily from the bowl, drifting into the air like it had all the time in the world to waste. Unlike Alice, whose thoughts were running marathons in her skull, each one colliding with the last.

She stared at the tray Rowan had dropped off earlier, spoon still where he’d left it. It wasn’t the food that bothered her. It was everything else.

This is a mess.

She leaned back in the fancy wooden chair and let out a slow exhale, a sound of utter defeat. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest, as if they could somehow hold her entire life together.

She hated this.

She couldn’t leave here.

Well, technically, she could. But then...

Hades.

Alice groaned into her hands, the sound muffled and exasperated.

She hated Block A. That place was a circus with a haunting soundtrack. Betty’s perpetual resting bitch face and judging aura. That one housekeeper who always smelled faintly like judgment. The constant surveillance, cameras lurking in every corner like silent predators. And Dawin, with his quiet, unblinking eyes that felt like they were always peeling back her skin, seeing everything she desperately tried to hide. And the food—those bland, suspiciously green veggies.

And what about the Matriarch? The very thought sent a shiver down her spine.

There were so many reasons why Block A was a bad idea. It was those reasons that made her ask Hades to stay here before, to seek refuge in the devil she knew.

But now, staying here, with Hades wasn’t exactly an upgrade. He had already seen too much. Too, too much.

Her face.

Her freckles.

Her appetite.

Her fighting skills.

Her running skills.

Her tears.

Her—

Alice glanced down at her chest and immediately cringed so hard her whole body folded in on itself.

She groaned out loud, louder this time, rocking in her seat like the motion might shake off the memory of being stripped bare.

And Aurora.

She paused. The name struck something sharp in her gut, a pang of worry.

"When she returns..." Alice whispered, the words tasting like ash.

If.

The word echoed like a slap inside her mind.

She shook her head violently. "No. When. When she comes back."

But where was Aurora? How would she even begin to get that information out of Priscilla? It felt impossible.

And now Paula... her Paula... was with that woman.

The thoughts piled on top of each other like bricks. Each one heavier than the last. And Alice was tired. Bone-deep tired. Like someone had wrung her out and left her hanging to dry over a fire.

Her stomach growled, a loud, embarrassing rumble. The porridge still sat there, looking too warm and too innocent for the chaos in her head.

She poked it halfheartedly with the spoon. She was starving.

Then—

Knock knock.

She froze, spoon suspended in mid-air.

Her heart stuttered like a faulty engine. Her chair scraped lightly as she straightened up, every muscle tensed.

Knock knock.

"Aurora?" came a familiar voice, slightly muffled but unmistakable. "Open up!"

Suzy.

Alice nearly fell out of her chair as she scrambled to pick up her fallen pillowcase, wrapping it around her face with the frantic desperation of a squirrel hiding a nut. She tiptoed to the door as if it were wired to explode, pressing her ear against the cool wood.

"Suzy?" she whispered against the door, as if the door might whisper back the secrets of her unexpected visitor.

A pause. Then came the familiar tone again, flat and mildly exasperated, as if Alice had just asked the most idiotic question. "Obviously."

Alice was suddenly worried about how to hide her face fully from her. The pillowcase felt utterly inadequate if they were going to be in the same space.

Then, she paused.

Wait.

This was Suzy, who had cleaned her face the night before. Who had helped the doctor strip her of her clothes. If anyone had seen more than should have been seen, it was her.

There was no use hiding now. The damage was done.

Alice pulled open the door just enough for Suzy to push inside, wheeling in a large, clunky suitcase as if she’d just checked into a five-star hotel rather than barging into a private residence.

Suzy, for her part, was dressed so casually it took Alice a second to register it was really her. A plain black T-shirt. Grey joggers. No heels, no elaborate earrings. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail and her expression, while smug, was devoid of its usual drama or excitement. But she still looked beautiful. Extremely. And in a way... she seemed warm. Almost approachable.

Alice could not exactly explain the feeling, a strange mix of relief and grudging admiration.

Suzy rolled the suitcase to the bed and plopped onto the edge like she owned the place, legs crossed, posture perfect even in loungewear.

Then came the first words out of her mouth.

"Last night was... interesting," Suzy said, eyeing her without commenting on the pillowcase still wrapped weirdly around her head.

Alice winced. "Can we... not talk about it?"

Suzy smirked, a knowing glint in her eyes, and nodded toward the suitcase. "Too late. Anyway, I was asked to get you stuff. These are a few things I could take out."

Alice blinked. "What do you mean? Take out from where?"

Suzy’s face lit up in that infuriatingly mischievous way she always did when she was about to drop a bomb.

"Ohhh," she said, stretching the word out as she flopped dramatically on the mattress, making the bed springs creak in protest. "So get this—"

Flashback: Block B Gym, Earlier That Morning

Suzy was mid-sprint on the treadmill in Block B’s private family gym. Her sports bra and high-waisted yoga pants clung like a second skin, accentuating every curve, her ponytail bouncing to the rhythm of her body. Music pumped through her headphones—some hyperactive pop remix that made her feel unstoppable, like she could conquer the world, or at least this treadmill.

Her phone buzzed once.

She glanced at it, saw an unsaved number, and rolled her eyes. Not worth the breath. Probably some spam call or a wrong number.

Second ring.

And then her Bluetooth headphones betrayed her, automatically answering the call with an enthusiastic beep that cut off her music.

Suzy blinked, annoyed at herself for not disabling auto-answer.

However, on the other end of the line, it was complete silence. Not even a dial tone. Just dead air.

"Okay, I’m hanging up—" she began, her finger already hovering over the "end call" button.

Then came the voice. Quiet. Clipped. Very obviously annoyed, a low rumble that instantly sent shivers down her spine.

"...it’s Gavin."

Her heart dropped into her stomach with a sickening thud.

Her foot missed a beat.

She almost fell off the treadmill, her legs flailing wildly.

Thankfully, Wilson, her twin brother, chose that exact moment to walk into the gym with his smoothie in hand, looking like he’d just rolled out of bed. Just as she pitched forward, with one hand, he caught her around the waist with practiced ease, effortlessly lifting her off the moving belt like it was routine.

Suzy barely glanced at him, eyes wide with panic as she clutched the headphone around her head. She quickly made a sharp shhh! motion at Wilson, not even stopping to thank him for saving her life. She was too busy trying to compose herself for Gavin.

Wilson stared at her, his smoothie-straw frozen halfway to his mouth, clearly bewildered by her sudden freak-out.

She tucked a sweaty strand of hair behind her ear, cleared her throat like a Disney princess about to burst into song, and then spoke into the phone with an unnaturally sweet tone, dripping with saccharine politeness.

"Oh, um—hi. This is Suzy. What can I do for you?" Her voice was half-coo, half-fairy-godmother audition, completely unlike her usual brash self.

Wilson blinked. His smoothie-straw froze again, then slowly, deliberately, lowered from his lips. His brows rising in disbelief.

Gavin’s voice came, calm as always through the headphone, a stark contrast to Suzy’s frantic energy. "We’ll need to trouble you for some emergency supplies. For the Second Lady. On Hades’s account."

"Aurora?" She wiped her face with the towel, trying and failing to appear casual. "I mean—of course. What kind of... um, supplies?" She cringed internally at her own stammering.

"Anything women need," Gavin said vaguely, his tone implying that such trivial matters were beneath his detailed knowledge. "I’ll pick them up in ten minutes."

Ten?! She panicked internally, her mind racing through the limited feminine hygiene products she actually owned, let alone what Aurora might need. But still, a stupid little blush rose to her cheeks, the thought of Gavin coming here, for her, overriding all logic.

"O-okay. I’ll get everything ready. See you—uh—I mean, I’ll be ready in—"

He ended the call, the click of the phone final.

Suzy stood frozen for a beat, then slowly turned, still dazed, as she took off the headphones. Not even bothered that he had ended the call rudely.

That was sexy.

Wilson narrowed his eyes at her, a suspicious glint in them. "Who was that?"

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