He Canceled Our Wedding 18 TIMES for His Bestie Chapter 02

He Canceled Our Wedding 18 TIMES for His Bestie Chapter 02

Back in the dressing room, I peeled off the wedding gown.

The second I changed into my casual clothes, I could finally breathe again.

I was packing up when Griffin and Mirabelle walked in.

He looked at me, delivering his usual lecture.

“You left the stage five minutes early, plus you botched the vow timing again. That’s minus five points on your wedding performance.”

“Learn from it. Practice another five months before the next one. Stop making us clean up your mistakes.”

Griffin had always used a scoring system to measure how perfect a wedding was.

Every point deducted meant another month of practice for me.

Month after month.

Over eighteen weddings, I’d waited for him for seven full years.

After seven years of waiting, I still had no marriage to show for it, and another year wouldn’t make any difference.

I didn’t have seven more years to waste. And I didn’t want to wait anymore.

When I stayed silent, he took it as agreement.

Mirabelle, though, looked curious. “Wait, you can get points deducted? I thought you only added points, Griffin.”

“What’s Sandra at now?”

My throat went dry. “Negative five. What about you?”

“I’m over six thousand!”

I froze, rooted to the spot.

She must’ve thought I didn’t believe her, because she eagerly shoved her phone in my face, scrolling through her feed.

They were all photos of her and Griffin, each with a caption adding up the points.

[Mirabelle baked perfect cookies. Plus ten.]

[Mirabelle left work right on time. Plus twenty.]

[Mirabelle rode in the passenger seat and didn’t get wet in the rain. Plus fifty.]

The latest post from three minutes ago was: [Cleaned up Sandra’s wedding mess perfectly. Plus one hundred!]

The account was a male profile I didn’t recognize.

But I instantly knew the profile picture.

It was the watch I’d given Griffin.

Back when I knew he had a separate account for Mirabelle, I’d told myself it was just a rarely used burner. Just him keeping his distance.

But now I realized that the account on my friends list that never posted anything was probably his burner. This one, the one he actually used, was his real account.

I stared at those blinding scores, my eyes burning so much I couldn’t lift my head.

Seven years of struggle, reduced to a negative score. It all felt like a joke.

Mirabelle must’ve sensed the awkwardness because she gave Griffin a quick punch on the arm.

“Look what you did! Sandra’s your fiancée, how can she be at negative five?”

They started bickering over the points.

But I quietly pulled out my phone and texted my client.

[Mr. Pierce, is that offer to transfer me to your overseas branch still on the table?]

[Absolutely. I’m flying out the day after tomorrow. Want to come along?]

I looked up and caught Griffin’s gaze.

My heart skipped a beat.

But he just frowned and clicked his tongue.

“Fine. I’ll add five points back, so you don’t keep whining about me being too harsh.”

“Don’t wear that dress next time, though, or I’m taking two more off.”

“You’ve worn it a dozen times already. It’s old. You should’ve thrown it out ages ago.”

His eyes landed on the corner of the gown sticking out of my suitcase.

My hand tightened around my phone, and I hit send. [See you the day after tomorrow.]

Then I dragged that wedding dress out of my suitcase.

Along with every piece of jewelry and clothing he’d picked out for his perfect wedding, I dumped it all into the trash.

“You’re right. Old stuff should’ve been thrown out long ago.”

Griffin stared at the pile, a flicker of hesitation crossing his face.

Before he could speak, the dressing room clock started chiming.

I cut him off. “Time for the toast. Any delay and we’ll miss the cue.”

With Mirabelle beaming expectantly, Griffin turned and walked out with her.

Just before the door closed, he paused. “You gave me a heads-up on timing, so that’s plus three points. I believe it will be okay if you take one more week of prep.”

“Don’t worry. Our next wedding will go off without a hitch.”

I kept packing without stopping, not a single ripple in my chest.

He didn’t know there wouldn’t be a next one.

And I didn’t want his overdue exception anymore.