I didn't look at them once. I sat quietly on the couch, swiping through my phone.
Eugene paused at the door and turned to call back to me. "Amelia, wait for me to come home."
I lifted my head and gave him a small smile. "Have fun."
Only after the two of them disappeared at the elevator did I get to my feet.
I looked around. The couch, the plants, the curtains.
Every single thing I'd chosen with my own hands. Every corner held some trace of him.
I set the keys down on the shoe cabinet, the little bear keychain swinging from them, and then I pulled open the door and left.
By the time I reached Cloudvale, the sky had nearly gone dark.
When I walked out of the airport, I spotted Mom and Dad from a distance, standing at the arrivals gate, Mom holding a bag of oranges.
I dragged my suitcase toward them, and the moment I saw their faces, everything I'd been holding back broke loose, the tears falling and falling and refusing to stop.
Mom set down the oranges and pulled me into her arms, patting my back, slow and steady. "It's all right now. It's all right. You're home now."
Dad stood beside us and said nothing. He just quietly took the suitcase from my hand.
I leaned against Mom's shoulder, listening to her murmur, and slowly closed my eyes.
Before I went to sleep, a message came from Eugene.
【I'll bring you here next time.】
I didn't reply. I locked the screen and set the phone aside.
Over the next few days, Eugene messaged me every single day.
Sometimes a night shot of Capital City, sometimes a long voice note that, when I played it, was all about Lisa.
I swiped past them one by one, and then I tapped delete.
Two days before the wedding, I posted photos of the bridal suite in the group chat, along with the location of the house.
【Everyone, make sure you come to my wedding on time.】
The replies came almost instantly.
【We'll absolutely be there on time!】
【We're coming even if it rains knives!】
【Finally, the day is here. We'll definitely be there!】
Reading their replies, I couldn't keep the corners of my mouth from lifting, even as my eyes started to sting.
At almost the same moment, Eugene's call came through.
I pressed answer, and his accusing voice came through the receiver right away. "Amelia, why can't you just understand me?"
"I promised you we'd get married the second I'm back from Capital City. You're the one making a scene, trying to corner me into giving in this way."
"I'm telling you, cancel the wedding now. The only one who'll end up humiliated is you."
I let out a cold scoff.
Right. The only one who'd be humiliated was me.
The first two times the wedding was called off at the last minute, it wasn't just me who was humiliated. Mom and Dad couldn't hold their heads up in front of the whole family either.
"Eugene, we're done. Don't contact me again."
He went quiet for a moment, then he started to laugh, a contempt running through it. "Amelia, threats like that don't work on me."
Lisa's voice came through the receiver. "Eugene, it's our turn. Hurry up."
His tone turned to a command. "Cancel the wedding now."
Then he hung up.
The moment he ended the call, I felt no grief.
I'd only confirmed, one more time, that I would never be his first choice.
I'd just set the phone down when Mom came in holding the bridal gown. "Amelia, I altered the size again. Try it on once more."
I took the gown and put it on. The shoulder line sat smoothly, the waist fit just right.
The next day, I drove to the airport to pick up Christina and the others.
A few friends crowded around me, unable to help asking, "Amelia, didn't Eugene go to Capital City?"
Christina shot her a glare, but the others were watching me too, waiting for an answer.
I smiled, my voice calm. "The groom isn't him."
Everyone fell silent.
They had witnessed the whole of Eugene's and my love story.
From getting together to the proposal, from the first postponed wedding to the second, they knew better than anyone how long I'd waited.
Someone opened her mouth to say something, and Christina reached over and gave her sleeve a light tug. She closed her mouth.
The whole way back, Christina sat in the passenger seat and asked nothing.
On the wedding day, I was up doing my makeup before the sky had fully brightened.
Finally someone couldn't hold it in any longer. "Amelia, Eugene does have you in his heart. Why not wait a little longer?"
I shook my head. "I waited three years. No more waiting."
"He and I are completely over."
At some point Christina had posted dozens of photos in the group chat of me in my bridal gown, every one of them caught at just the right moment.
When Eugene saw the photos of me in my wedding dress, his mind went completely blank.
