Not Quite a Prince || Eric Sohn

~ 68 ~

"I object to this wedding," Dayeong said, her voice wavering, but able to be heard loud and clear throughout the entire room. She heard murmurs of surprise coming from the audience, as well as awkward chuckles. Maybe some people thought it was a joke. But this was so far from a joke. This wasn't something she'd ever take lightly.

"I can't marry Eric," she said. "Because I'm pregnant with someone else's child."

At that, the room fell to silence for a moment, before dissolving into chaos.

She heard her parents, and Eric's, shouting at the staff to cut the cameras. She heard people start to rush around. She turned around, her eyes seeking out Juyeon in the crowd, but unable to find him.

"Who's the father?" Eric blurted out, just as her parents stormed over to them. She glanced at Eric, who'd slapped a hand over his mouth, looking as though he regretted saying the words as soon as he'd spoken them into existence. His expression almost made her laugh. Almost. But she didn't, only allowing a small smile to play on her lips as she tried to push back her mounting anxiety.

"How could you do this to us?" her father growled, grabbing her by the collar of her dress and yanking her away from Eric's side, glaring into her eyes.

Dayeong flinched, her hands instinctively moving to her stomach.

"Be careful," she heard her mother hiss at him. Whereas she could only see rage in her father's eyes, her mother looked worried. Scared, even. Maybe genuinely concerned.

Her father pushed her back, and luckily she crashed into Eric, who stopped her from falling. She didn't have a moment to recover when her father raised his hand, as though he were about to slap her.

At that moment, someone pushed their way out from the crowd, reaching forward and grabbing her father's wrist, stopping his hand while it was still in the air.

Juyeon.

"I'm the father," Juyeon said softly, pushing her father's hand away and turning to look at her. His body was trembling as he took her hands, and tears were streaming down his face. "Dayeong," he whispered, his voice breaking as he reached forward, laying his hand over hers on her stomach. "I'm so, so sorry," he cried.

She shook her head, starting to cry too. "Don't be," she said softly. "I just want to be happy. I want us to be happy. All three of us."

He started to nod but was yanked backward by her father. Briefly, she wondered how they'd managed to even talk for that moment when her parents were right there. But she quickly noticed that Eric had been standing between her parents and Juyeon, blocking them from reaching either of them.

But now her parents were done with being nice, not even to the Crown Prince.

Her father grabbed Juyeon's collar, shaking him hard. Over and over again. "What have you done?" he shouted, looking at Juyeon with murder in his eyes.

"Dad," she said softly, rushing forward, but her mother grabbed her hand, pulling her towards her instead. "Mom, please," she begged, looking into her mother's eyes. Her mother looked helpless too but didn't let her go.

"I'm sorry," Juyeon cried, letting her father push him to the floor. Her father raised his foot, as if to kick him, and Dayeong whimpered, a physical pain tearing into her heart.

Eric intervened again.

"Stop it," he snapped, looking at everyone.

"Send him away," her father growled. "Far away. Where he can never reach my daughter again."

"No!" she screamed, pulling herself out of her mom's grasp and trying to rush to Juyeon's side. But it was of no use. Her father's guards immediately shot forward, blocking her way.

Even Eric, who was clearly trying so hard to remain unfazed, now looked lost. "But... no... you can't," he struggled to say, stumbling over his words as he looked desperately at Juyeon, who remained on the floor.

"Send him away," someone said, a new voice this time.

Dayeong felt her heart shattering into a million pieces.

She watched Eric's parents step out of the crowd, their expressions stormy. Hot tears ran down her face as she saw them gesture to a group of guards, and say again, "send him away."

She sobbed, struggling to push the guards away, struggling to reach out to Juyeon, to at least see him once more before he was gone.

But he was gone, just like that.

Dayeong fell to the floor, sobs racking her body as her heart broke, again and again.