While Tobias waited for Seraphina's explanation, his mind went back to the events that had transpired in the past.
Less than a month ago, his grandmother had fainted at home and upon taking her to the hospital, they learned that she had cancer of the last stage.
According to the doctors, her cancer had spread to different organs and keeping her health and advanced age in mind, surgery was out of the question.
His grandmother had often complained about joint aches but refused to go to the doctor, stating that she was just getting old and did not need the doctors to fuss over her every day.
Therefore, though unwilling, the Rion family had only accepted her words and had not insisted on taking her to the hospital.
However, this had caused her cancer to go undetected and now it was too late to even consider other options to help her recover from her disease.
The doctors could only give her medication which would alleviate her chronic pain but would not do anything to improve her failing health.
This had caused the entire family to be in a state of gloom ever since they had received this news from the hospital.
After her son had passed away at a young age, leaving behind a widow and two little boys, Grandmother had taken over the position of the head of the Rion family.
The two boys, Tobias and Shawn, were too young to understand much about the loss of their father but their mother was so distraught that she had turned suicidal.
It was Grandmother who had taken care of the boys, her mourning daughter-in-law and even the family business.
She wished to take care of her family but could not focus on them entirely as she had to run the company at the same time.
Hence she hired nannies and doctors for her grandsons and daughter-in-law while focusing her energy on improving the company.
Thanks to her hard work and efforts, the family business stayed afloat for many years and even thrived under her care, giving the family a chance to recover from the loss at their own pace.
Only when Tobias was in his late teens did his mother come back to her senses and return to the family business, when she noticed that Grandmother was getting too old and could not handle the stress.
His mother had lost her husband but Grandmother had also lost her only son.
However, she could not mourn as freely as his mother and instead, had been thrust into the role of the head of the family in her old age.
Understanding the sacrifices Grandmother had made, his mother took over the company and worked extra hard to make up for the years she had stayed away from her obligations.
Once he had graduated from college, he joined their family business to support his mother and now, he was in charge of the business, giving the two ladies in his family some much-needed rest.
Who would have thought that Grandmother would not get the chance to enjoy this free time with her daughter-in-law?
Her sickness had taken them all by shock and they did not know how to help her in this tough time.
Therefore, his mother was the most distressed for Grandmother due to her guilt and wanted to do everything within her power to make the older woman happy for the rest of her life.
Hence, when Grandmother expressed her desire to witness her grandson's wedding, the responsibility to fulfill this wish fell on Tobias' head as he was the only one among the brothers who had a serious girlfriend.
His mother, Theresa, had never approved of his relationship with his long-term girlfriend, Selene, yet for the sake of Grandmother's wishes, she had decided to let go of her previous dissatisfaction and approve of their union.
Despite the terrible circumstances in which he gained her approval, Tobias was ecstatic to have his mother welcome the woman of his dreams into their family.
Since they had less than a month to prepare for the wedding, Tobias had rushed to select a ring but did not forget to propose to Selene in a grand manner.
Though Selene was worried that they were rushing into this marriage, he had always assured her of his love and that he would cherish her for all eternity, so she had agreed with his plans of getting married in such haste.
Empathizing with Grandmother's situation, she even accepted his decision to skip the engagement period.
Therefore, right after he had proposed to her, they had jumped straight to the wedding once the preparations were completed.
It would have taken quite a lot of time to find a chapel for the wedding, get the legal documents ready, and have their wedding suit and gown prepared.
However, with the right amount of money and proper contacts, all of these tasks were accomplished in no time.
Taking all things into consideration, the two parties had decided to hold their wedding ceremony this bright and sunny morning at a chapel far away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Last night, he had spoken to Selene who sounded nervous yet excited to become his wife the next day.
Due to their traditions, he could not meet, see or speak to his soon-to-be wife before the ceremony.
Therefore, on the day of his wedding, he set aside his desire to see her and instead had rushed to the changing room in the chapel to get dressed for his upcoming wedding ceremony.
Less than twenty minutes before the ceremony was about to begin, his best man, his younger brother Shawn, had appeared in his room with a somber look on his face.
Tobias knew that Shawn was not too fond of Selene but had avoided speaking up about it for his sake.
Hence with a smile on his face, he invited his brother into the room and even offered him a glass of whiskey.
"To calm my nerves..." He had chuckled nervously while extending the other glass to his brother.
However, Shawn had not accepted the glass and in its place, he had extended an envelope toward him.
Setting the glasses aside, Tobias took the envelope with confusion evident in his eyes as he tore it open.
Inside the white envelope was a small piece of paper with just one sentence scribbled on it.
{I don't think I can go through with this}
The familiar handwriting made his hands shake.
If he had any doubts about who had written this note, taking one look at the signature at the bottom wiped them all away.
Selene had left him...
He knew she was nervous about their hasty decision to get married.
However, he had never expected her to leave him without giving him a proper explanation.
All he received was a note and his soon-to-be bride had walked out of the wedding.
Tobias wasted no time to mull over the negative thoughts that rapidly formed in his mind.
He would rather hear those words coming out of Selene's mouth.
Hence, he slipped the letter into his pocket and rushed over to the opposite end of the chapel where Selene was allotted a room.
As he ran through the corridor, numerous thoughts entered his mind but he only focused on reaching that room at the earliest.
Upon reaching her dressing room, he could not bring himself to open the door and simply stood outside, fearful of what he might see on the other side.
He could hear footsteps rushing in his direction and knew that it was his younger brother who must have followed after him.
Steeling his nerves, he finally pushed the door open and froze upon seeing that there was no one in the room.
'She is really gone...' He clenched his fists as the realization dawned on him.
Even after receiving that letter and while running towards her room, Tobias had the faintest ray of hope that she had stuck around for his sake.
That she could not bear to leave him on their special day.
However, this empty room, which had no sign of her or her belongings, dashed those hopes and turned them all into dust.
On this special day, Tobias Rion knew that he was left at the altar...