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Five Weddings, Five No-Shows：My Fiancé Married My Best Friend
Novelix
Completed
"Five wedding dates. He bailed on every single one. So did my best friend.I told myself they were busy. Work, bad timing, whatever. I believed it because I had no one else.Then I found their secret Instagram. Every time they stood me up, they were together. Road trips. Concerts. Matching jackets. And a Cartier ring he never gave me.Turns out they got married at a courthouse two years ago. I was the other woman in my own relationship.So I burned everything. Sold the house. Left town without a word. Took a job in New York with the one man who never stopped believing in me.Now my ex is on his knees begging me to come back. His little wife is screaming in my face at my own launch event.Too late. I already found someone better. And I'm never looking back. "
Chapters (3)
第1章
Five wedding dates. Five no-shows. Same two people every single time. My fiancé and my best friend.
Group chat buzzes. Vanessa.
"Ugh sorry babe! Work blew up, can't do the maid of honor thing today. Next time I swear!"
Then Ethan. Cold as always.
"Hey. Got pulled out of town. Let's just push the wedding. Or just do it without me, whatever."
I'm gripping my dress so hard my knuckles are white. I can't breathe.
I scroll back through the chat. My stomach turns.
Their last messages are some back-and-forth about a case. My questions about the wedding? Just sitting there. Nobody even bothered.
It's always like this. I'm the one who doesn't exist.
Ding.
Vanessa just posted on Instagram.
"Sunrise hikes and you. Everything just hits different. Two hopeless romantics lol."
I shut my phone off. It hits me like a truck.
Seven years with him. Ten years with her. Four cancelled weddings.
And I let it slide. Every. Single. Time. They're busy. They've got big careers. Sure. Fine.
They skipped my birthday. They skipped my mom's funeral. They bailed on four weddings.
And dumb, dumb me just kept forgiving.
Then I found this account. Every time they stood me up, they were together. Road trips. Concerts. This whole secret life I wasn't part of.
I'm done pretending.
Something in me just flatlines.
I leave a comment under her post.
"Cool, so you want the wedding too? Or just the groom?"
The post vanishes. Poof. Her whole account goes private.
Her texts start blowing up my phone.
"Aria omg please let me explain, it's not what it looks like..."
I swipe them all away. I don't feel a thing. No point. I'll be gone soon anyway.
I pull up Nathan's number. Hands steady. Heart dead.
"Give me a week. I'll take the job."
I stand up and yank the veil off. I look around this room. Flowers. Ribbons. Everything perfect for a wedding that was never gonna happen.
My eyes burn but nothing falls.
"Ugh, Ethan doesn't even DESERVE you. If I was a guy I'd lock you down so fast."
That was Vanessa. Right here in this room. Cracking up, hanging decorations, zipping me into dresses. Then she made sure I never made it down the aisle. Five times.
Phone rings. Wedding planner. She sounds stressed.
"Ms. Wells? Ceremony window's passed. Same deal as last time? We pushing it again?"
Nails digging into my palms. Sting keeps me steady.
"No. Kill it. We're done."
Dead air. Then, real careful: "Okay but... you're locked into the annual package and that's nonrefundable. You sure about this? Eight years is a long time, honey. Whatever's going on, I'm sure you two can—"
"He's the problem. So I'm taking out the trash."
I look down at my hand. That cheap little ring he gave me when we had nothing. I twist it off and toss it in the garbage.
Pale mark on my finger. Only proof any of this was ever real.
"Baby, I know this ring is trash. But one day I'm gonna put something on your finger that'll blow your mind."
That ring? I saw it two weeks ago on Vanessa's Instagram. Cartier. Twenty grand easy. He never spent a fraction of that on me.
Eight years and what did I get? Knockoff bracelets off a sidewalk table. Perfume from the CVS clearance bin.
Eight years. That's what I was worth to him.
I cancel the wedding for real. She doesn't fight me.
I hang up and collapse on the couch. Hollow. Gutted. Like someone scooped out everything inside me.
Three a.m. Front door flies open. He storms in windblown and wild, still wearing a matching Patagonia jacket. Same one she had on in that post.
"Nessa, how come you didn't grab me one too?"
I asked her once. Totally clueless. She just laughed and slung her arm around me.
"Girl, you get winded going up stairs. What do you need this for? They had a two-for-one thing so I just grabbed a pair. He can actually keep up with me, so."
I checked later. No sale. Two hundred bucks each. A brand literally known for their his-and-hers line.
Ethan sees me sitting there like a zombie. Goes cold.
"What the hell was that comment? She saw it and lost it. I had to drop everything to come deal with this. Can you not start shit for ONE day?"
I stand up. Chest so tight I can barely talk.
"A work trip. On top of a mountain. On a trail. You think I'm that stupid, Ethan? Months of cozy couple posts and I'm just supposed to smile?"
He looks away. Voice drops. Reaches for my wrist, all soft now.
"Come on. I just didn't want her going alone. It's not safe. The trip was real. You're blowing this up."
I rip my wrist free. I look in his eyes and I see a stranger.
"When some psycho chased me three blocks and I called you scared to death, you told me to stop overreacting. But she goes on a hike and suddenly you're her bodyguard?"
I let out a laugh that doesn't sound like me.
"We're done, Ethan."
His eyes go wide for half a second.
Then this little smirk creeps across his face.
第2章
"God, you really are clueless. Your mom's gone. Your dad's a deadbeat drunk. Who the hell else is gonna want you, Aria? Huh? You got some other guy lined up? Or you planning to just be alone forever?"
My eyes sting. My lips won't stop trembling.
He sees me shut down and grabs my hand again.
"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. It just came out."
Funny how the stuff that "just comes out" is always the truth.
When I was seventeen and my dad came home blackout drunk and nearly killed me, Ethan was the one who jumped in front of me. Took the knife. Held me and said:
"I'm here. Nobody's gonna touch you."
The day my mom died, I was at her grave, crying so hard I couldn't breathe. He pulled me into his chest and whispered:
"I'm sorry I'm late. I'm gonna love you the way she did."
Now his voice is ice.
"So that's it? I go on one hike with your friend and you wanna throw away everything? The wedding, us, all of it?"
I open my mouth and feel nothing.
"Yeah. Because I'm leaving—"
The door flies open. She walks in. He drops my hand like it burns.
Vanessa looks at him first. Then me. Eyes all glassy.
"Oh thank god, Aria. I was so worried you'd do something crazy so I came right back. We're ride-or-die, remember? Those posts were just us hanging out. Don't make it weird."
I don't say a word. She fidgets and tries again.
"Come on, you seriously think I'd go after your man? I would never do that."
Right. Ride-or-die. Except somewhere along the way I got pushed out and nobody bothered to tell me.
Shopping trips where they walked together and I trailed behind. Dinners where nobody asked what I wanted. A storm that cancelled our flight and they rebooked without even texting me.
And every time, the same excuse:
"Aria, we can't keep track of you every second. If something bugs you, just say something."
I did. Nobody cared.
"Okay. I believe you. And I'm done with both of you."
My voice barely comes out. But she won't quit. Her tears land right on my hand.
A year ago, that would've wrecked me. Not now.
We grew up in the same crappy apartment building. Paper-thin walls, roaches everywhere, heat that cut out every winter. She never had food in the fridge. So I'd steal groceries from home for her. My dad caught me once and beat me so bad I couldn't move for days. She saw the bruises and sobbed.
"Aria, thank you for wanting to be my friend. I'm gonna spend my whole life paying you back."
I put my hand on her shoulder and grinned. "I got you. Always."
Now her voice is shaking. Every word a knife.
"Today's on me. The wedding fell through because of me. So let's do it tomorrow, okay? Please? Just stop being mad."
I yank my hand free and slap her across the face.
"Tomorrow's the anniversary of my mom's death. You forgot?"
She stares at me, tears running. "I just... it slipped my mind..."
Ethan shoves me. Hard. Puts himself between us like she's the victim.
I slam into the shelf behind me. Our high school graduation photo crashes to the floor. Glass explodes. A piece catches my neck and I feel the sting, then the blood.
He glances at me. Doesn't even blink.
"We've been slammed at work. People forget stuff. Not everybody sits around all day with nothing to do like you. Was that really worth hitting her?"
"Honestly Aria, you're embarrassing yourself. You want a wedding that bad? This is what crazy looks like."
He's standing right there. But he might as well be on another planet.
"I—"
Before I get a word out, Vanessa shoves past him and bolts for the door.
"It's all my fault! I'll go! Just stop fighting because of me!"
Ethan lurches after her, then freezes. Looks back at me.
第3章
"Take care of that cut. I need to go find her, it's late. Get some rest."
Something in his voice goes soft. My heart drops one last time.
"Just go. I'm selling the house. Don't come back."
He snaps.
"What is your PROBLEM? I told you nothing happened! What do you want?"
Nothing. I just don't love you anymore.
"We're over. So yeah, I'm selling it. You're so obsessed with keeping her safe, go live with her."
I don't look up. I crouch down and start picking up glass with my bare hands. The photo cracked right down the middle. Me on one side, torn apart. Them on the other, perfectly fine.
My calm makes him crazy. Like my peace is a slap in his face.
"Go ahead. Keep this up. You'll come crawling back begging me to marry you."
I drop the photo and the glass in the trash. My voice is barely there.
"No I won't. I'm leaving."
"Fine. Run. Go far this time. I'm not coming after you."
The door slams.
I watch him go and feel nothing.
I used to pull this after every fight. Storm off to the park down the block. Sit on a bench. Wait. Because he always came looking.
Then one day he just stopped.
"I'm beat. Can you quit it? Why can't you be more like Vanessa? She can actually talk shop. All you do is fight with me."
Morning.
I zip up the suitcase. Carry a box out to the backyard. Strike a match.
Fire catches. Eight years. Ten years. All of it. Up in smoke.
That's when Ethan walks in. He sees what's burning and goes white. Lunges for the fire, bare hands, trying to pull stuff out. Too late.
He grabs my arm. Eyes wild.
"Why? You loved that stuff more than anything."
"I did. Not anymore."
The scrapbook Vanessa made me before exams. Every page full of photos, little notes, doodles. The bracelet she bought with her first paycheck.
And his stuff. Every love letter. The matching mugs from pottery class. When you stop loving someone, it's all just garbage.
He stares at me. Trying to read me. Getting nothing.
He drops his hands.
"You just want an explanation, right? Me and her, it's friend stuff. Nothing crossed a line."
One tear rolls down. I didn't mean to cry. It's just so pathetic it's funny.
You don't have to touch someone to cheat.
The snow trip. He took a photo and turned around to text it to her. Disneyland. He didn't grab the one I pointed at. He picked up a different one and paid for it. Gave it to Vanessa later.
I was right there. Standing right next to him. And his mind was on her.
"Stop. I don't need your explanations. I'm leaving. None of it matters."
My phone screen is still on. Flight to New York. He glances at it.
"Work trip? We'll figure out the wedding when you're back."
He doesn't push. I don't explain.
"What if I don't come back?"