Ugly Duckling

"What happened?" He rushed to her side to comfort her.

"Violet, what happened? Why are you crying?" He asked, his face full of concern.

As he pulled her into his arms, the warmth brought by his embrace broke another dam inside her, making her cry out, "P-please... please... take me away from here, grandpa... please... any place but here!"

Her cries filled the room like a child who fell on the ground and got a scratch because of it.

It was only normal for the old man to be confused. She couldn't blame him. Who wouldn't be confused after seeing a bride like her on the floor, bawling her eyes out?

"Alright, alright. I'll take you away from here but you have to tell me what happened."

What kind of explanation should she give him?

As much as she wanted to make him proud, this was going to be the first time where she was going to disappoint him but she couldn't fight off the heartbreak she was feeling. It was as if someone was squeezing her heart to death!

She shook her head vigorously as she cried out, "I don't want to marry him! I don't!" She clearly can't marry him after seeing his obvious betrayal.

Seeing that he couldn't get any excuse from his granddaughter because of her break down, Andrew reached forward and wiped her cheeks.

"Alright. If you don't want to marry him, then that's good." It was a surprising and unexpected reply coming from her grandfather. She thought that he was going to give her a pep talk on why she should continue on with the wedding.

He dried her tears with his wrinkled hand as he continued, "If I was in your position, I would have longed canceled the wedding the moment I learned that he will be coming late! What kind of man is he? He should be prioritizing his marriage! Unless he's a doctor or in the military, other reasons he'll give will be useless to me! He can't just come late for the wedding day!"

Once again, tears rolled down her cheeks but this time, it was because she was glad that her grandfather was taking her side.

"T-thank you, grandpa..." She sniffled.

"Don't waste your tears, dear child. A man like him is not worth your tears." He helped her stand up. "It must be hard but... you're doing the right thing, child. You should know your worth. If he's already showing how reckless he is, then how much more once you're married to him? If he puts you second, then he's not worth your love. Men in the Song family always put their wives first!"

Grandpa Andrew tried his best to comfort her from the decision that hurt her. He knew how much she loved her fiance and something serious might have happened for her to give up like this.

"Child, this grandpa of yours will handle the Guan family."

Andrew may be old but he was once a General that everyone respected. Despite being retired, there were times where he was still contacted because of his immense military knowledge that was passed down from one generation to the next in the Song family, and because of that, her father was taken to a military camp. It has been so long since she last saw her father.

The old man called a servant to accompany Violet as she headed out of the place. He couldn't go back home with her especially when he has to face the Guan family and give them an explanation for canceling the marriage.

...

The Song family residence...

Violet was greeted by the family servants when she entered the place.

The first thing she did was to go to her room and lock herself inside. She snuggled in the middle of her bed and once again, cried her heart out.

Since she brought her phone with her, her cries were suddenly disturbed by her ringtone and it kept on ringing nonstop.

When she finally decided to check who was calling, on the screen, Jason's name was seen.

Seeing his name only brought her pain that was why she turned off her phone.

That day was the worst day of her life. A man she trusted and loved betrayed her. It was something unexpected and yet... expected. If only she was not stupid and blindly believed the excuses he gave her every time her doubts poked her.

That afternoon, she ended up crying herself to sleep and when she woke up, it was already evening.

While she was staring blankly at the ceiling, a dark thought entered her mind.

She was a useless girl, a girl easily replaced. Should she kill herself and escape all of this?

Everyone she knew ever since high school either backstabbed or left her. She should have seen this coming. It was pointless to live on any further.

Just then, a knock was heard and her grandfather's voice followed.

"Vivi? Are you there? Do you want to join grandpa for dinner?" He asked from outside.

No... she wasn't alone. Not yet at least. She still has her beloved grandpa. Aside from him, Abigail, her best friend was there for her.

She didn't give him an answer at once but after a few seconds, she replied, "Okay..."

Even if she wasn't hungry, she didn't want to let her grandpa eat alone. He was her only family who truly cared for her to the point that he took her side earlier. At least for him, she was willing to live, willing to enter a world of thorns again.

She was still dressed in her wedding gown that was why she got up from her bed and went to change her clothes, removing her wedding gown, and replacing it with her simple house attire.

She cleaned off the makeup from her face before taking off the contact lens she was wearing.

As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she was back to her plain look.

She didn't have the beautiful face other women were blessed with. She was rather plain with her bare egg-shaped face. Her eyes were pointed and we're slightly slanted instead of big and round. It was ugly, ugly in her sight. Her eyes were now puffy and red because of all the crying earlier.

Ah... What a horrible sight. She thought.

She didn't have long lashes but the only good thing about her lashes was that they were thick.

Despite her creamy complexion, the freckles on her cheeks were clearly seen because of it.

This was her, a woman who didn't fit the beauty standards of her country. A woman who other people saw as an 'ugly duckling' of the Song family.

Was this the reason why Jason chose another woman?

She took the concealer to hide her freckles and applied foundation after. That was her usual makeup and that was all to cover the freckles on her face. At least without it, she would look normal, not awful.

She was a woman filled with insecurities, a woman who always had her head down when she walked but having makeup on gave her confidence. It was her armor, her mask that hid her broken self.