I Got A Thanks You Card While She Got His Pink Diamond Chapter 02

I Got A Thanks You Card While She Got His Pink Diamond Chapter 02

The next morning, I arrived at the bridal boutique alone.

When the consultant unzipped the garment bag and lifted out my wedding gown, her eyes lit up.

“Ms. Monroe, this looks perfect on you. Is Mr. Caldwell coming today?”

I hesitated. “He’ll be here.”

That was the last time I would ever be so sure of Ethan.

But ten o’clock came and went, and he never showed up.

At ten thirty, his assistant sent me a message.

Ethan’s assistant: [Ms. Monroe, something urgent came up for Mr. Caldwell. He may not be able to make it today.]

I called Ethan.

He finally picked up, but I could hear Sienna trying not to cry in the background.

“Leah, I’m at the hospital,” he said.

I tightened my grip on the phone. “What happened?”

“Not to me. Sienna had a reaction to the necklace last night, and her neck is swollen.”

I looked down at the wedding gown I was wearing. The waist was cinched so tightly that I could barely breathe.

“Today was supposed to be our dress fitting.”

The other end of the line went quiet for a moment.

Ethan let out a soft sigh.

“Leah, don’t compare yourself to her.”

“You’re the one I’m marrying at the courthouse tomorrow, and you’re the one who’ll be standing beside me at the wedding.”

“Sienna is sick. I’m only staying with her for a while. Do you really have so little confidence in us?”

My throat closed up.

Just then, the consultant approached with a box in her hands.

“Ms. Monroe, Mr. Caldwell just had this delivered for you.”

Inside was a pair of ivory satin bridal shoes. The heels were low, and blister pads had already been placed along the backs.

A card lay beside them.

[You always get blisters on your heels. Don’t wear anything too high.]

Something twisted painfully in my chest as I held the card.

So he did remember.

When I was eighteen, I had worn heels for the first time and rubbed both of my heels raw and bloody.

Ethan lowered his voice over the phone.

“Did you get the shoes?”

“Yes.”

His tone turned coaxing.

“Try not to be upset. I’ll come home tonight and have dinner with you.”

Before I could answer, Sienna called out in the background.

“Ethan, do you think this is going to scar?”

“No,” he said immediately. “Let me see.”

The call ended.

I looked down at the shoes.

They fit perfectly, but the man who had sent them hadn’t shown up.

Noah arrived at three that afternoon.

By then, I had already tried on everything.

When he pushed open the door and saw me, his gaze lingered for a moment.

“You look good.”

He walked closer, then glanced down at my feet. His brows immediately pulled together.

“You have another blister?”

He crouched and pulled a small box of bandages from his pocket.

“Don’t move.”

He placed one over the blister with a gentle, practiced touch, just like he used to.

When he finished, he looked up at me.

“Does it hurt?”

I didn’t answer.

Noah stood and helped steady me.

“Let’s get you in the car. It’s cold out.”

It was still raining.

He angled the umbrella toward me, leaving one shoulder soaked through within moments.

I followed him to the car and was about to get in when I noticed a white stuffed lamb sitting in the front passenger seat.

I stopped.

Noah froze for a moment, then quickly placed a hand on the door, speaking as though it were nothing.

“You can sit in the back.”

I looked at the stuffed animal.

“It can’t sit in the back?”

Noah paused.

“Come on, Leah. Sienna has been waiting for it all afternoon.”

“So I sit in the back while a stuffed animal rides in front?”

He sighed.

“Leah, you’re different.”

“You’re stronger than she is.”

My eyes suddenly burned, but I still reached up and pushed his hand away.

“Noah, I don’t want to be strong today.”

The gentleness faded from his face.

“Don’t put me in the middle.”

I laughed quietly.

“You always expect me to be reasonable. Why do you never expect the same from her?”

Noah was silent for two seconds.

Then he said, “Because she actually cries.”

I nodded.

“Then I guess I don’t.”

Clutching the garment bag to my chest, I turned and walked into the rain.

It was pouring, and after only a few steps, the backs of my heels began to ache again.

I didn’t look back, and Noah didn’t come after me.

It didn’t matter anymore.

Twenty minutes later, Sienna posted on Instagram.

In the photo, the spotless white lamb sat beside her hospital bed.

Her caption read:

[Someone drove through the rain to bring it to me. He said he wouldn’t stop worrying until I felt better.]

I stood by the side of the road with my bridal accessories in hand, my heels aching until they went numb.

The consultant ran out after me and handed me a paper bag.

“Ms. Monroe, you forgot your veil.”

I took it from her.

That was the moment I realized I no longer wanted to go through with the courthouse wedding at all.