As he finished speaking, a wave of jeers erupted from outside.
Seeing the groom taking so long to get out of the car, the relatives and friends who had come to pick up the bride gathered at my door.
"Could the groom be forced into marriage? He's playing games in the wedding car and won't even come to pick up the bride."
"It's already 11:30 and they’re still getting married? The auspicious hour has already passed!"
"If you don't want to get married, just say so. You're making us wait here. The bride didn't even bother to prepare a cup of tea. What a jerk! No wonder the groom changed his mind at the last minute!"
At this point, someone started banging on the door.
"Get out, bride! Give us an explanation!"
"Right! Is she dead in there? Who wants to suffer here in this heat?"
Seeing the commotion outside intensify, Chloe glanced at me meaningfully.
"What's the point of hiding? Go out and appease the guests."
"No."
I stood there with my arms folded.
She was the one who stopped me from leaving and accused me of hiding.
So, I just threw in the towel. There was a sudden, urgent knock on the door at the moment.
Ryan's voice, tinged with obvious impatience, said, "Emily, hurry up! We need to get to the wedding as soon as possible. We're running out of time!"
Chloe immediately opened the door with joy and pushed me out.
"Sister-in-law, you've been waiting so long for my brother to come. Why are you still dawdling?"
Ryan, sweating profusely, leaned against the wall, panting. Megan slumped on the ground, complaining, "Ryan, why are you running so fast? You almost killed me!"
Ryan grabbed my wrist; his eyes fixed on Megan.
"I have a ranked matchmaking appointment with a great player tonight. We need to get the wedding done quickly. We'll practice a few more games this afternoon. We can't lose too badly tonight."
I abruptly shook his hand off.
"You two can get married. I'm not going."
Ryan's face suddenly changed.
"What's wrong? You've called me dozens of times, urging me to come." I came to pick you up and now I'm in a hurry and you're not going anymore?”
Megan slapped her forehead exaggeratedly. "Oh my God! Emily, did you actually want me to marry Ryan? How on earth did you misunderstand us? You have such a filthy mind!"
In disdain, Chloe rolled her eyes. "Emily, you've gone too far!"
The friends and family who were already preparing to go downstairs pointed at me and started cursing.
"I've never seen such a rude bride before!"
"The groom came to pick her up and she's still so sullen and refuses to give me a way out. If I were the groom, I'd walk away!"
"That's right, it's her choice! There are so many women out there, she's nothing to her."
Ryan didn't say a word to defend himself but simply looked at me gloomily. "I'll ask you one last time. Are you going or not?"
I gripped the doorknob tightly, silent. Ryan scoffed and turned away.
"I'll wait for you in the car for one minute. If you don't show up, our wedding is off!"
Downstairs, Ryan sat in the wedding car, glued to his stopwatch, his eyes flicking towards the hotel entrance.
When he saw me running out, skirt in hand, he gave me a knowing look and was about to get out to pick me up.
But I walked straight to the freshly parked Rolls-Royce Phantom, opened the door and got in.
