In a VIP suite on the sixth floor of the Yovel Hotel.
Standing by the window, Andrea closed her eyes and, with a determined face, took the plunge.
The wind lashed against her face—chilly it may be, but not as cold as her heart.
She was clearly the only daughter of the Lawson family, but due to an unfortunate incident years ago, she'd ended up living a life filled with fear in the slums for sixteen years.
She'd barely had enough to eat and was often beaten by her alcoholic adoptive father.
She thought that returning to the Lawson family, to her biological parents, would mark the end of her suffering.
But everything turned out to be just wishful thinking, and a costly one at that.
Her parents had found her to be a country bumpkin due to her rural upbringing. She knew nothing about social etiquette and had a destitute air about her. In no aspect did she measure up to Reese, who, despite not being related to them by blood, had been raised by their side.
They had coached Reese from a young age to be a socialite. She was superior to Andrea, thus holding a higher chance of marrying rich, potentially elevating the status of their business.
She knew she could never compare to Reese, so she'd never sought to compete with her over anything.
Yet, even that was not enough to satiate her parents.
The fact that she had a boyfriend meant nothing to them; they still drugged her and forcefully brought her to a hotel to coerce her into marrying a spoiled and wealthy trust fund baby.
By doing so, they could pave the way for her boyfriend, Vincent Briggs, to be with Reese.
"Ha," she sneered. Her long-awaited reunion with her family had ended in such irony.
She was donned in a white wedding dress, yet the man she would marry was far from the one she loved.
Andrea suddenly felt that perhaps everything was rather meaningless.
If the Lawson family was adamant that she marry Mr. Benson, she would rather die than let them succeed!
During her descent, Andrea felt a certain ease and freedom she had never felt before.
The outdoors were lit with bright sunshine, warm and beautiful. Only, it was a pity that this might be her last glimpse of the world.
From behind her, Mr. Benson leaned out of the window, swearing at the top of his lungs, "You little c*nt! You must be f*cking out of your mind to jump from the sixth floor! If you died—well, you had it coming!”
But Andrea could hear nothing now, and as her body landed on a white canopy, the red sea of rose petals on it instantly enveloped her.
With a "plop", she fell into a swimming pool.
For a moment, water splashed everywhere, and layers of petals floated up.
Scared and startled, Andrea choked on water, feeling herself being pulled back.
A hand had reached out to her and was attempting to help her out of the water.
Andrea instinctively pulled back, freeing herself from the hand's grip.
The owner of the hand laughed: "Looks like our bride here is shy, it must be why she refuses to be saved."
"Damn, talk about extraordinary! Never have I seen an entrance this unique!"
"Well, a godsent bride is great, but it's bad for the swimming pool."
"That fall must've hurt, no? The goddess truly isn't afraid of spraining her waist."
The humorous remarks of these people evoked a hearty laugh from everyone present.
Andrea, realizing what was happening at the last moment, scanned her surroundings. It only left her feeling even more suffocated.
Had she fallen into another wedding?
This was a massive hotel garden, and every aspect of the setting inside the garden revealed the good taste and identity of the host, that was in a class of their own.
If she remembered correctly, this was an enclosed area of the hotel that was only accessible to the VIPs of the hotel.
The probability of someone holding a wedding here was one in a million.
Had she fallen here and disrupted someone else's wedding?
In a panic, Andrea quickly clambered out of the pool and stood up in a hurry, instinctively covering her face and preparing to bolt.
But the emcee stopped her, smiling and saying, "Now, now, the bride should stop playing hide-and-seek, the groom has been waiting forever now."
There was another round of laughter from the guests.
Mortified, Andrea clutched onto the top of her dress to stop her drenched and heavily-laden wedding dress from slipping off.
Just as she was about to reach the garden gate, a few people appeared outside the gate.
Leading the crowd was her biological mother, Katherine, while her sister, Reese, was followed by several strong bodyguards.
The people at the door stopped them.
"Let us in, for God's sake! That's my daughter in there! She fell!"
Pointing at the drenched Andrea, Katherine shouted, "Ann, I finally found you. Come back with me now!"
Not far away, Lincol Ward, dressed in a tailored suit, was frowning and making a phone call.
He had witnessed with his own eyes the scene where Andrea had just fallen and the group of noisy people who had suddenly rushed to the door.