Following a trend we'd seen in online videos, my husband and I had each prepared a surprise for the other on our wedding day.
All it took was one envious remark from Marianne Pruitt, and Jonathan Dickerson pressed the bag straight into her hands.
"Cassie, once the ceremony's over, I'll take you to the mall and buy you something even more expensive."
"You know how much Marianne means to me. My fault for being careless and not preparing two gifts ahead of time."
I drew a slow breath, and my face went cold.
"Are you marrying her, or marrying me?"
Jonathan knit his brows, his tone turning impatient.
"All our relatives and friends are watching. You just have to make me look bad, don't you?"
"Marianne's no different from my own sister. You're going to be her sister-in-law—can't you let her have this one?"
Well, well. Somehow I was the unreasonable one now.
My parents' faces were tight with embarrassment, and beside me my best friend spoke up on my behalf.
I sent a message straight to the wedding planner.
Cancel the wedding. Keep the program running as scheduled. Swap the slideshow photos for the ones I'm sending you now.
1.
The room had been loud and cheerful, and Jonathan's little stunt dropped it into silence.
After a long moment, my mother forced her emotions down and offered a gentle reminder.
"Today is your wedding day with Cassie. I know you and Marianne grew up leaning on each other and you're close, but today the bride should come first."
Jonathan didn't hear a word of it. Instead he stared at me with that smug, sneering certainty on his face.
"Cassie, you've got such a kind heart. You won't hold this against me, right?"
"If you had a gift and Marianne didn't, she'd be so hurt."
Hmph. Jonathan and I had been together four years, and because he'd grown up in an orphanage, his bond with Marianne was practically family.
So I'd swallowed it, again and again. Every anniversary, every major holiday, whatever gift I got, Marianne had to get one too.
Even when it stung to the point I could hardly stand it, I never let it show, never put Jonathan in a hard spot.
But today, faced with a one-of-a-kind gift, he chose to put Marianne first.
A layer of frost settled over my heart, and before I could react, Marianne put on her act and reddened her eyes.
"If it makes you unhappy, Cassie, I won't take it…"
Her voice caught, as if she were the one suffering some terrible wrong. Seeing it, Jonathan lost every scrap of patience, his face stiffening as he warned me.
"You'd better not throw one of your spoiled-princess fits today. Look at you, you've nearly made Marianne cry."
"If you still want to go through with this wedding, then move on to the next part."
My parents had been respectable people their whole lives, and in that moment Jonathan's behavior left them breathing hard with fury.
"Sweetheart, if this is how it is, then maybe we should just…"
Before my father could finish, I managed to squeeze out a smile.
"Come on. Let's get in the wedding car."
Seeing me rise to my feet, my father said nothing more.
