I Prepared Our Wedding, For His Another Bride Chapter 04

I Prepared Our Wedding, For His Another Bride Chapter 04

The room fell silent. Cyrus tilted his head slightly, waiting for my answer.

I replied flatly, my voice completely devoid of emotion. “I won’t. Congratulations to you both.”

Cyrus’s face darkened instantly. He wrapped an arm tight around Bianca and marched her out. “Let’s go—no need to stand here inviting bad luck.”

I thanked the venue staff and headed back to my hotel room. I knew I needed to leave Seattle as soon as possible.

I didn’t have much luggage—everything I’d brought was wedding supplies I’d spent months preparing.

Handmade blanket my friend sent me, the crown I’d stayed up nights crafting, the ring I’d hand-carved with both our names etched into the band.

All bright wedding decor, now nothing but dull, lifeless pieces.

Tears finally spilled over, splattering onto the photo of us from the day we first met that I clutched in my hands.

I sank to the floor, and the sharp cramping in my abdomen flared up again, cold sweat dripping down my spine.

I grabbed my phone without thinking, my fingers moving faster than my brain. I’d meant to order a taxi, but I dialed Cyrus’s number instead.

He didn’t pick up.

A single text popped up on my screen: [I’ll wait until you apologize and admit you were wrong.]

A bitter laugh broke through the pain. This was his same old manipulation trick—but this time, I wasn’t going to crawl back to him begging for forgiveness.

I checked myself into a hospital and ran through all the exam procedures. The doctor delivered the news flatly: I was pregnant again.

I stared at the ultrasound scan, my heart sinking to my feet. The scene mirrored last year perfectly.

Last time I’d held the ultrasound printout, doctors were offering their congratulations, and I couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear.

Now the only words I heard were the doctor’s quiet, gentle question: “Are you certain you don’t want to keep this baby?”

I’d just opened my mouth to answer when my phone vibrated violently against my palm.

Cyrus’s voice crackled through the speaker. “I’m giving you one chance to make this right. Bianca loves your photography work. You’ll shoot her entire wedding for her, and if she’s happy with the photos, I’ll forgive all this.”

I could barely draw a breath from the cramping, my voice thin and weak. “That’s never going to happen.”

Bianca’s whiny voice cut through the line from Cyrus’s side.

“I want her to shoot our wedding! If she refuses, I’m locking you out of the bedroom on our wedding night,” she whined.

Cyrus cooed soft reassurances to her, then his tone turned cold and sharp again when he spoke to me. “This isn’t a request. You will show up.”

I hung up the call, turned to the doctor, and whispered four quiet words. “I want to end the pregnancy.”

The exam table was ice cold beneath me, but nothing stung half as badly as my shattered heart.

I’d come to Seattle hoping to relive the sweet memories of how Cyrus and I first met—only to find every gentle moment he’d promised me was reserved for another woman.

Tears soaked the hair at the nape of my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to stop replaying every memory. It was all over now.

When I woke up after the procedure, my phone was flooded with missed calls from Cyrus. Dozens of texts lined my inbox too.

[You took Bianca’s photography gig request—you’re obligated to shoot her wedding.]

[Refusing to fulfill the booking counts as fraud. I’ve already contacted the police, Elowen.]

A hollow, bitter laugh rumbled in my chest. Eight years of love, and we’d end up dragged into a police station over a photography job.

I sent Bianca a full refund for her canceled shoot.

Seconds after I hit send, two uniformed police officers pushed open the exam room door.

They’d barely started asking me questions when one officer’s work phone rang.

“Officer, have you sorted this issue out yet?” Cyrus’s voice came through the speaker.

The officer replied evenly. “There’s no grounds for a fraud charge here. Additionally, the patient just underwent a termination procedure, so we won’t be detaining her for questioning.”

Cyrus’s voice went rigid, shocked. “Termination… wait, she lost the baby?”