On the wedding day, the bridal car arrived, only to pick up the wrong person. Instead of me, it carried my fiancée’s first love straight to the venue.
Left with no other choice, I hailed a taxi. I arrived just a few minutes late, but by then, he had already taken my place, standing beside her, reciting vows that were meant for me.
Anger burned through me, but my fiancée shot me an impatient glare before I could speak.
"Who told you to mess up something as simple as arranging the bridal car? Do you expect me and all our guests to sit around and wait for you?"
"He was just trying to help. Walking through the wedding process is exhausting; if you won’t even thank him, how can you turn around and blame him instead?"
I met the smug gaze of her first love and, at that moment, I understood. This wasn’t a mistake. It was orchestrated.
But unlike before, I didn’t argue. I didn’t lash out. I simply turned around and walked away.
What they didn’t know was that her company had run into trouble. And only I could save it.
This time, I wouldn’t.
——
"If you hadn’t messed up the wedding car arrangements, why would I have let River take your place?"
Her voice was cold, devoid of regret. Even under layers of exquisite makeup, the disdain in her eyes was unmistakable.
"I gave you a chance, but you didn’t cherish it."
I opened my mouth, ready to explain that this wasn’t my fault.
For the past few days, I stayed up late, pouring every ounce of energy into finishing a business proposal.
Yet, despite the exhaustion, the wedding had always been my top priority. Weeks ago, I had meticulously planned everything, reviewing each detail three times to ensure nothing went wrong.
But this, this wasn’t a mistake. It was deliberate. River Mitchell clutched Eulalie Montclair’s hand with feigned weakness.
"Eulalie, I’m feeling a little unwell. My head is spinning."
"Don’t be mad. Brother-in-law must not have done it on purpose."
A few words, just a few and he had twisted the blame onto me.
I met his gaze, and in that instant, I knew. He had orchestrated all of this.
"I—"
I barely got a word out before Eulalie cut me off, her voice dripping impatiently.
"Can’t you see how much River has gone through for you? So what if the wedding is ruined? We can just hold another one later."
"We still need to greet the guests. Just go back to where you came from. Don’t stand here being an eyesore."
With that, she turned away, leading River upstairs, her expression filled with concern for him.
I stood rooted to the spot, watching as River glanced back at me, a smirk tugging at his lips.
At that moment, I couldn’t even describe what I felt. It was as if every ounce of love I had for Eulalie had drained from my body.
I should have reacted the way I always did, rushing up to defend myself, fight and argue.
But this time, I didn’t.
But instead, I stood there, detached, pressing a hand to my chest.
Thousands of words swirled in my mind, yet in the end, all that remained was an unexpected sense of relief.
For months, I had poured everything into this wedding. I carefully handled every detail: the decorations, the seating arrangements and even Eulalie’s wedding jewelry. At the same time, when her company faced trouble, I fixed it.
Four hours of sleep each night, meals eaten on the go, exhaustion weighing down my every step. And yet, the one thing that ruined everything wasn’t my effort or my neglect, it was a bridal car mix-up that delayed me by mere minutes.
And that was all it took. By the time I arrived, Eulalie had already chosen someone else to stand beside her.
Even now, she still blamed me.
She would never love me. She would never cherish me.
And if that was the case, then there was no reason for me to keep holding on.
I hailed a cab, headed home alone and started packing my things.
