Read Novel Full Chapter 419: Marriage
Chapter 419: Chapter 419: Marriage
Jay clenched his fists, his nails biting into his skin.
"I don’t want to stay here."
His voice shook as tears burned his eyes.
"I want to go back. Back to reality. A reality where Ember is still alive. Where she hasn’t turned into a half-zombie. Where she’s still teasing me, still talking about marriage."
His heart felt like it was being crushed.
"Just give me one chance... I won’t waste it. I’ll marry her immediately."
Fear and heartache flooded him so intensely that he thought his heart would burst. For a brief moment, he believed the scene was finally fading, that he would escape this nightmare.
Then everything shattered.
The world fractured like broken glass, and countless scenes flashed before his eyes. They were unfamiliar, distorted, like a life he had never lived.
In this life, Ivy never appeared.
Jay was forced into a marriage with an older woman. Humiliation followed him like a shadow, and there were moments when he was assaulted. Meanwhile, Ember was fed a lie, told that Jay had willingly married someone else.
She couldn’t bear it. She left with her family, disappearing without a trace.
When Jay finally pulled himself together, hollow and broken, he began asking about Ember everywhere.
Step by step, clue by clue, he chased her shadow until he finally reached the country she had gone to.
Ember, along with the Nightbane family, arrived in Ivy’s country soon after. Somehow, they managed to locate Ivy’s base, and from a distance, Jay watched everything unfold.
He followed Ember constantly, never too close, never too far. Every time he tried to approach her, his words tangled in his throat.
He tried to explain, tried to tell her the truth, but by then Ember had already built an invisible wall around her heart.
Her gaze slid past him as if he were a stranger, and that indifference cut deeper than any blade.
So Jay could only do one thing. He kept coming back. Again and again.
Sometimes, from angles his other past self had never noticed, Jay saw moments that shattered him even more.
He saw Ember sitting alone at night, the dim light casting trembling shadows on her face as tears silently soaked her dirty pillow. He heard her whisper his name in her sleep, calling out to him as if clinging to a fading memory.
"Jay..."
Each time, his chest tightened unbearably.
’I’m right here... I’m not angry... I never was.’
He wanted nothing more than to rush forward, pull her into his arms, and tell her that everything she believed was wrong. Yet he remained rooted in place, helpless, forced to watch.
He also noticed how, whenever his other self left in frustration or anger, Ember would remain behind, her shoulders drooping, her fingers trembling.
Fear lingered in her eyes, mixed with heartbreak, as if she was constantly bracing herself for abandonment.
It hurt so much that Jay wished these scenes would disappear altogether.
’I don’t want to see this anymore.’
Pain flooded him until he could barely breathe.
’I just want an ending... an ending where we’re together.’
Then, slowly, the fragments connected.
The dream he had seen earlier flowed seamlessly into these scenes, and understanding struck him like a thunderbolt.
’This isn’t just a dream... this is a parallel world.’
A world where he and Ember never ended up together.
That realization shook him to his core.
As the thought settled, the vision finally collapsed. The world dissolved into darkness, and Jay snapped his eyes open with a sharp gasp.
Cold sweat clung to his skin, and his heart hammered violently against his ribs.
Morning light spilled into the room.
Panicked, he turned his head and reached instinctively to his left, his hand stretching out in search of familiar warmth.
Nothing. His fingers grasped empty air.
In an instant, fear surged through him like ice water. A terrifying premonition gripped his heart.
’What if that dream was real... and this reality was the dream all along?’
The blood drained from his face.
Just then, the bathroom door clicked open.
Ember walked out, a towel draped over her shoulders as she gently dried her damp hair. The scent of soap and warmth filled the room. When she noticed Jay was awake, she smiled softly.
"You’re up already?" Her voice was gentle, familiar. "Do you want breakfast? The cook has already prepared everything."
As she spoke, she turned toward the mirror.
Before she could react, Jay bolted out of bed and wrapped his arms around her.
The hug was so tight, so desperate, that for a moment, Ember felt the air squeezed out of her lungs.
"Jay..."
She froze in surprise, then slowly patted his back. "What’s wrong?" Her voice softened with concern. "Why are you holding me like this?"
Jay didn’t answer.
How could he?
How could he explain that he had just witnessed a world where she was taken from him, where everything had fallen apart beyond repair?
He buried his face against her shoulder, breathing in her scent as if trying to confirm she was real.
’I was such a fool.’
Before, he never felt any urgency to marry Ember. He believed they had plenty of time. Endless time.
Now, he understood how wrong he had been.
’I was given a chance... and then another.’
The first time was when Ivy appeared, when his fate changed, and he was saved. That was the moment he should have married Ember without hesitation.
But he hadn’t.
He wanted meaningless things like equal standing, pride, and timing. He convinced himself he could achieve everything first and marry her later.
’How stupid.’
Even just yesterday, Ember had proposed marriage again, and he had rejected her.
’Idiot. Absolute idiot.’
His grip tightened slightly as regret crushed his chest.
"We should register our marriage today," he whispered hoarsely.
Ember stiffened.
She pulled back just enough to look at him, stunned. Then, slowly, a smile bloomed on her face, bright and warm. She hugged him back.
"Alright," she said softly, then tilted her head. "But why are you so scared?" She laughed lightly. "Are you worried I’ll run away?"