Since there were no open cuts, her skin was healing nicely. The faint purple bruising would vanish completely in a few days, ensuring she'd look flawless in her wedding dress.
"Congratulations, Miss Ward!"
"When are we getting wedding favors, Miss Ward?"
"It's going to be the event of the year, right? Don't forget to send us invites!"
Walking through the lobby after her three-day absence, Bella was bombarded with cheerful congratulations. Everyone knew she had been planning the wedding, but the sudden shift in energy meant something major had happened while she was away. It seemed the entire company now treated her marriage as a certainty.
Bella glowed with pride. Sebastian really had locked everything down.
"Don't worry, everyone will get favors, and you're all invited to the reception!" she promised brightly.
Her physical pain vanished, overshadowed by the absolute high of her impending victory. The trauma of the loan shark's brutality felt like a distant nightmare.
She marched straight into Sebastian's office, practically floating.
"Sebastian! Why is everyone in the lobby congratulating me and asking for wedding favors?"

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