The group chat blew up.
I told them straight.
The wedding was off, but I'd still cover every cost.
After that.
I finished my makeup and came out of the room. Today was supposed to be a happy day, and yet there wasn't a trace of a smile on my parents' faces.
My mother saw the faint red rimming my eyes.
It broke her heart.
"Sweetheart, if you don't want to marry him, don't force yourself through it."
My father rose from the couch.
"If this wedding doesn't happen."
"You're not the one who loses."
"He is—that piece of trash who can't tell what he's throwing away."
"The one who'll regret it."
"That'll be him."
Looking at my parents, so firmly on my side.
I gave a confident little smile. "Mom, Dad, don't worry. There's no way I'd ever shortchange myself."
Before long.
The relatives and friends all arrived.
My girls kept gushing over how beautiful I looked.
But they were puzzled too.
I wasn't wearing a single piece of jewelry.
Once they heard the whole story.
They erupted, cursing him up and down.
One of them even suggested, "Come on, let's storm over there right now and beat the hell out of that scumbag."
"Our girl—the prettiest, richest one of us—was marrying down for him."
"And that greedy fool couldn't even see the treasure in front of him."
"We have to beat him!"
Watching my girls grind their teeth and crack their knuckles.
I laughed and waved them down.
"Christine, don't you dare shortchange yourself."
"When it's time to hit back, you hit back."
"You keep letting things slide, and all it does is let him walk all over you."
"Exactly."
"Today he steals your jewelry to put on some other woman."
"Tomorrow he'll be in some other woman's bed."
"A man like that deserves to get beaten to death!"
When one of them actually made for the kitchen to grab a cleaver.
I hurried to say, "Don't do anything rash. I've got this handled."
A few hours later.
The commotion outside began to build.
Dick, sharp in his suit, marched in with his groomsmen and called out at the top of his voice, "Baby, I've come to take you home!"
Behind him his buddies whooped and egged him on.
Firecrackers cracked and popped without a break.
But set against all their excitement.
Our side was downright eerie.
Every face cold.
Not a flicker of joy anywhere.
Dick climbed the steps, smiling as he pulled out the gift envelopes. "Christine's lovely bridesmaids, here's a little something for you—go treat yourselves, and please, take it easy on me."
My girls reached out and took the envelopes.
Then.
They flung them right back into Dick's face.
Dick froze.
"Who wants your money?"
"Take it and get lost!"
"Our Christine isn't marrying you."
