After He Left Me Behind, My Wedding Ring Changed Hands Chapter 04

After He Left Me Behind, My Wedding Ring Changed Hands Chapter 04

My parents exchanged a look.

“Um… have you told Reid?”

My grip tightened on the steering wheel, and my voice turned a little colder.

“No. We’re not married. There’s no reason to.”

A breakup didn’t require his agreement.

I only had to tell him.

I took my parents to a well-regarded upscale seafood restaurant nearby.

We had barely finished ordering when several familiar voices drifted over from the adjoining dining area on the other side of a partition.

I was already tired of it.

It was starting to feel like there was no escaping them.

Reid was there with his parents, Elise, and Elise’s parents, making sure everyone had everything they needed.

He was acting like a son-in-law to Elise’s parents.

He not only knew all of Elise’s dietary preferences, but also knew exactly what kind of crab her parents liked.

I stared down at my iced tea, my fingers curling tight.

But when it came to me, Reid knew nothing.

He couldn’t even be bothered to meet my parents.

Eventually, the conversation at the next table turned to me.

Reid’s mother spoke with undisguised contempt.

“Mara?”

“I never thought she was right for him. I still don’t understand why Reid would choose Mara when Elise is such a sweet girl.”

Once she got going, she didn’t stop.

“And her parents? I met them once. I was afraid they’d track dirt all over my carpet.”

My parents lowered their heads, guilt written across their faces.

My hands clenched into fists, and my breathing grew unsteady.

Through all of it, Reid never defended me once.

He didn’t even try to stop his mother.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

I stepped around the partition into the adjoining section, my voice going cold.

“You look down on me? Fine. I don’t want your son either. Is that clear?”

Everyone at the table froze.

None of them had expected me to hear the whole thing.

Reid’s mother looked embarrassed, but there wasn’t a trace of remorse on her face.

Reid stared at me for a second, then came over and tried to pull me away.

“Everyone was just joking. Why are you turning it into a scene?”

My chest seized.

Every breath tugged at my injury, and the pain drained the color from my face.

“Joking?”

I yanked myself away from him.

The face I had once loved now made me sick.

“Then joke about yourself. You don’t get to use my parents as punch lines.”

My parents hurried over to hold me back.

“Mara, let it go. We…”

After a brief moment of embarrassment, Reid’s mother immediately recovered her usual air of superiority, and her words became even crueler.

“You can’t even take a few comments? No wonder you’re so petty.”

“You were never in Reid’s league to begin with.”

“And Elise? She and Reid have been close since childhood. If you ask me, you’re the one who shamelessly came between them!”

My parents stepped forward immediately.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

My head snapped up as anger burned through me.

I looked at Reid’s faint frown, my voice shaking.

“You think I’m the one who came between you two?”

He didn’t deny it.

Instead, he merely looked at me with weary impatience.

“My mom can be harsh. Why are you taking it to heart?”

Elise gave me a small, taunting smile from beside him.

Whatever strength I had left seemed to drain out of me at Reid’s complete indifference.

Everything I had given him over the years suddenly felt like a joke.

Elise stood beside Reid with a sweet, gentle look.

“Come on, Mara. Stop making a scene.”

More and more people had gathered around to watch, and their contemptuous stares settled on me.

“Are side chicks really this brazen now?”

“Look at the woman next to him—she’s obviously the real girlfriend.”

Someone even called out directly to me.

“If you’re the side chick, at least keep your head down and stop making a scene.”

My whole body went rigid.

It was only September, but I felt frozen from the inside out.

At those words, Reid’s brow tightened sharply.

But then he looked at Elise and once again chose to say nothing.

My parents stood there helplessly.

I gave Reid one long look, then turned away.

“Mara, you…”

Reid called after me and started to follow, but Elise suddenly cried out, rubbing the leg she’d injured in the accident.

“Reid, it hurts.”

He stopped immediately.

Once again, he chose her.

My parents followed me outside, apologizing over and over.

I stopped beside the car and turned around sharply.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I did.”

I should never have gotten together with him in the first place.

After I took my parents home, messages from Reid started coming in, every one of them blaming me.

Reid: [Elise’s leg is hurting again, and none of the parents could even finish dinner. Mara, you’re being completely unreasonable!]

Reid: [When you get home tonight, apologize properly to my mom and Elise’s parents.]

Reid: [We’re about to get married. Stop turning this into such a huge fight.]

He didn’t care how I felt.

He didn’t care that my parents had been humiliated and insulted.

All he cared about was defending Elise.

I read the messages once, deleted them all, and blocked him.

Then I went home, packed my bags, and headed straight to the airport.

Before takeoff, I pinned a post to the top of my Instagram announcing that the engagement was over, then turned off my phone.

As the plane lifted into the sky, I knew Reid would have no place in the next leg of my life.