"Fine, don't apologize. Then make it up to me with actions! Call everyone and tell them you're the one who doesn't want to get married!"
As if afraid I'd refuse, she hung up immediately.
Then sent me a text:
Ethan, I'm begging you, please stop making a scene. I'm just going with Reuben for his treatment. It's not like I'm never coming back to marry you. Canceling the wedding is just so we can save your dream wedding for the perfect moment.
Those familiar words stung my eyes until they burned.
The perfect moment.
I'd been hearing that for eight years. Nearly three thousand days and nights, waiting for her to marry me.
And what I got instead was her leaving to be with another man for two years.
Andrea, I'm done waiting.
Because we were never right for each other.
She unsent the message.
Then a new one came through:
What I just sent isn't something Reuben should see. He's been really sensitive since he got sick. Just do what I asked, okay? Whatever I owe you, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up after these two years! You want kids, right? When I come back, I'll give you a whole football team!
I couldn't help but laugh.
I waited two minutes. Sure enough, she unsent that message too.
So which was it? Was she lying to me, or to herself?
She'd already made up her mind to stay by Reuben's side until he recovered. Why bother promising me two years?
If his condition never improved, was I supposed to wait forever?
I shook my head, forcing those maddening hypotheticals out of my mind.
I typed a single word: OK. Hit send.
All I got back was a red exclamation mark.
She'd already deleted me. Couldn't wait to smooth things over with Reuben.
Just as well.
I didn't dwell on it. I posted on social media announcing the wedding was off.
People started asking why almost immediately.
I didn't want to stir up drama, so I stuck to Andrea's script and said it was my decision.
But my friends flooded my messages, telling me I was an idiot:
"Ethan, Andrea isn't the broke girl she used to be. Now? Every guy out there would kill for a shot with her. You call off the wedding out of nowhere, and you're basically handing your wife to someone else on a silver platter."
I didn't reply.
Because Andrea was already someone else's wife.
Shortly after I made the post, Reuben sent me a photo of their marriage certificate.
His tone dripped with smugness as he thanked me for stepping aside.
Big thanks for the assist, bro! Andrea was originally going to come with me as my girlfriend, but to make it easier to sign medical paperwork on my behalf, she pulled some strings and fast-tracked a marriage license!
I didn't bother responding. Deleted the message, blocked his number. One smooth motion.
My phone buzzed again. My mother, calling to chew me out.
"Are you out of your mind? The fruit's right there on the branch and you won't pick it! What kind of stunt are you pulling? Wait too long and she might not want to marry you at all!"
A quiet laugh escaped me.
"What if she's the one who doesn't want to marry me?"
She went silent for a beat, then tore into me harder than before.
"Then you obviously did something wrong! Swallow your pride and sweet-talk her. You spent all those years helping her build her empire. Don't you dare walk away with nothing to show for it!"
Eight years with Andrea. She always said the same thing: career first, then family.
But when she finally made it, giving me a family wasn't what she had in mind.
It wasn't that I hadn't tried. Trying just didn't matter.
For eight years, I gave up my own dreams to help her build her company. She feasted while I survived on scraps, and I never complained. All I wanted was to marry her, to stand beside her as her husband where the whole world could see.
But she terminated three pregnancies rather than walk down the aisle.
Every time, the same reason: the timing wasn't right. She didn't want a child to suffer through the hard years.
I loved her. So no matter how much it gutted me, whatever she said, I gave her what she wanted.
