The Wedding Where I Was The Witness, Not The Bride Chapter 10

The Wedding Where I Was The Witness, Not The Bride Chapter 10

I hung up.

Later, I heard Wren had gotten sick again-the same fragile body, the same familiar chaos. Mom drained their savings to treat her, pouring out over a million dollars like water into sand. But Wren still wasn’t right. When Mom finally snapped and yelled at her, Wren bolted out of the house and disappeared. It took half a month to find her. After that, Mom never raised her voice again-just treated Wren like a fragile goddess, tiptoeing around her as if a single harsh word might shatter her completely.

Mom aged a decade in a single year. Her hair turned grey, her shoulders sagged, and the sharp,

confident woman I remembered was gone. In her place was someone exhausted, hollowed out, still pretending she had made the right choice.

Friends and relatives whispered behind her back. They’d swapped gold for glass, throwing away a daughter who could have carried the whole family on her shoulders. And now they had nothing left

but each other.

Mom cried every day, posting sad quotes on social media, hoping I’d see, hoping I’d soften, hoping I’d come back. Marcus, out of prison now, couldn’t find a job. His record followed him everywhere. He wanted Mom to beg me for a position. When she couldn’t, they started screaming at each other, each blaming the other for driving me away.

Then they turned on Grayson, hitting him up for money again and again. He blocked them. So they showed up at his company, making a scene, dragging Wren into the lobby to wail and flail. It got him fired. And when he sued them for extortion, a family that had once been so close finally tore

itself apart for good.

My friend asked if I felt satisfied.

I shook my head. “They’re not fighting because they’re sorry. They’re fighting because the only person they could drain dry-me-is gone. Now they have to feed on each other. My only regret is

not leaving sooner.”

I opened the window. The breeze was warm and soft against my face. Outside, the sky was streaked with late-afternoon light, soft and golden. I smiled. “I have a meeting this afternoon. Thanks for telling me all this-I’ll get the bill.”

My friend grinned. “Heard you’re getting a promotion. Congratulations.”

The corners of my mouth lifted. After I left them, my life had been nothing but clear skies. And I

would keep walking my own path-leaving the past, the filth, and the rot behind, where they belonged.

would keep moving forward.