He Forgot Our Wedding, So I Walked Away Forever

My boyfriend was used to living alone, and more often than not, he simply forgot I existed.

When the concert tickets went on sale, he bought exactly one.

"I'm sorry. I'll go by myself this time. We'll go together next time, I promise."

Halfway through a trip, he vanished without a word.

"I'm sorry. I suddenly felt like heading south to see the ocean, and I forgot you were even here. I'll make it up to you next time, I swear."

I kept making excuses for him. Oscar Weiss was an orphan. He'd lived alone for over twenty years.

Having someone suddenly in his life was bound to take some getting used to.

Then came the day of our wedding photo shoot, when he forgot me all over again and walked out the door without me.

"Lucille Simmons, I'm sorry. Let's reschedule the photos for another time."

By the time I read his text, I was already standing at the bridal photo studio.

I watched, frozen, as Oscar tucked his phone away and walked toward a woman in a wedding gown. Gwyneth Pruitt.

Gwyneth wore a wicked little grin.

"Did my dear best friend fall for your lies again?"

Something mocking flickered across Oscar's face.

"What lies? I'm just used to being alone. I forgot I had a girlfriend, that's all."

That was the moment it finally hit me.

Every single time Oscar had "forgotten" me, it had been a betrayal.

Fine. If he loved forgetting me so much.

Then I'd give him exactly what he wanted, and disappear from his world completely.

——

I turned to leave, fighting back tears, only to have a staff member step into my path.

"You must be the temp Chen sent over to help, right? Just call me Anne James while you're here."

She shoved a light reflector into my hands.

When I just stood there, dazed.

She pushed me off to the side of Oscar and Gwyneth.

"Hurry up and hold that reflector. Get in position. We've got a tight schedule today, so let's move."

Oscar's gaze settled on me.

His brow furrowed, and he came striding straight toward me.

"You—"

My heart slammed against my ribs, and without thinking, I felt a guilty urge to run.

Even though I wasn't the one in the wrong.

Just as I braced for him to recognize me, he suddenly thrust out a hand and shoved me backward.

"What is wrong with you? Can't you tell you're stepping on the gown?"

I landed hard on the floor, the impact knocking a sharp hiss out of me.

But he just crouched down, dabbing carefully at the black scuff on the gown with a wet wipe.

"Do you have any idea what this dress is worth? Could you even afford to replace it if you ruined it?"

I looked at the gown on Gwyneth's body, and a coppery sweetness rose in my throat.

That antique wedding gown was a gift my grandmother had left behind.

My grandmother had worn it at her wedding, and so had my mother. It meant the world to me.

And Gwyneth, the girl I'd grown up with since childhood, was tilting her head and smiling at me.

"So sorry. My fiancé just loves me so much that he gets a little protective. He didn't scare you, did he?"

Anne hurried over to apologize on my behalf.

"I'm so sorry. The girl's just a temp we called in last minute. She didn't mean it."

Only then did I notice that the baseball cap and mask I had on matched the studio staff's exactly.

No wonder they'd mistaken me for one of them.

I should have walked away. Instead, as if in a trance, I raised the reflector.

And watched Oscar and Gwyneth strike one intimate pose after another, right in front of me.

The tears spilled out before I could stop them.

Everyone assumed I was moved by the happiness of the couple.

The makeup artist standing beside me sighed.

"Mr. Weiss really is a wonderful husband. He had every inch of this set arranged by his own people. He said he wanted to give his wife the most beautiful photos possible."

My hand froze around the reflector.

This set was something I had designed myself, three days and three nights of work to put it together.

To commemorate the eight long years Oscar and I had spent in love.