This Is Goodbye, Mr. CEO

We'd been legally married for seven years, yet my CEO "fiance", Jared Lane, had ditched me at the altar thirteen times.

At our first wedding, his assistant, Maeve Fischer, scraped her leg. I spent the entire day waiting alone at the ceremony.

At our second wedding, he heard she was sick and tossed the wedding ring away to rush to her side.

On every wedding day after that, some accident would conveniently happen to her.

By the 13th time he bailed, I had had enough and decided to walk away.

But when I found comfort in another man's arms, Jared lost his mind trying to win me back.

"Ms. Snow, are you sure you want to strip down the wedding procedures and decorations? Would you like to run it by Mr. Lane one more time?"

The head wedding planner, Astrid Rune, repeatedly confirmed. She'd overseen all 12 of my previous weddings with Jared Lane, so she knew me well enough.

I smiled bitterly at her. "No need. Just keep it simple."

Jared and I had been married on paper for seven years, but not once had we walked down the aisle.

Today, on my birthday, he had promised for the 13th time that we'd finally have our wedding. But at the party meant for me, I sat alone, while the crowd gathered around him and his assistant, Maeve Fischer, clicking glasses.

I swallowed the nausea rising in my throat and sat alone in front of the massive cake. Jared never bothered to glance my way. And just like that, my birthday party ended under his icy indifference and the guests' mocking glances.

When the party was over, he was supposed to come with me to finalize the wedding details for the day after tomorrow. Instead, he left me standing alone by the restaurant doors again.

His black car rolled to a stop in front of me. Before I could reach for the passenger door, he stopped me.

"Mae drank too much, so I'll take her home. Handle the wedding however you want. Don't stay up late; I'm not coming back tonight."

Without bothering to wait for my answer, he rolled up the window.

I gazed away from Maeve, already sitting in the passenger seat, then smiled and reminded him before the window slid up. "Drive safe."

That caught him off guard. He looked at me a little longer in surprise before softening his tone. "I'll be there on time for the wedding."

Then, he rolled the window up fully, and he drove off without a second thought.

Autumn nights were chilly, but when I was staring at the black car disappearing down the horizon, the emptiness in my chest felt colder.

Jared rarely let me near his car, let alone offered me such meticulous care. I once assumed that was just how he was, but now I knew that it depended on who sat beside him.

I married him at 22. Seven years later, we still had no actual wedding.

Even before we got married, I knew there'd always been someone else in his heart. He'd agreed to our marriage just because his grandmother—Eleanor Rhodes—demanded it.

Most importantly, the woman he loved had left for abroad.

But now, she was back, working as his assistant, always by his side.

I drew in a steady breath and fixed the polite smile back on my face.

"Jared, I've let go now. I'll walk through this 13th wedding alone, and two days later, life will carry on just as it always has."