Oops, Wrong Bride? Fine. No Wedding. Chapter 07

Oops, Wrong Bride? Fine. No Wedding. Chapter 07

Three months later, winter had settled over Riverton. I’d brought Mom’s things and moved us

back into the old house, Everything was the way I remembered it, with nothing much changed.

After some time off, I found a job in Riverton. It was close to home, the workload was light, and my coworkers were easy to get along with. During that stretch, the lawyer I’d hired, Dana

Pierce, sent me an update on the case.

Dana: [It’s over. We won, and it went smoothly.]

The hospital had turned over the security footage from that day, and it confirmed that Wendy had deliberately provoked Mom with her words and triggered the attack. She’d assumed Ethan

would cover for her, so she hadn’t bothered holding back from the start. Now the law was going to deal with her.

Mom was slowly getting better.

On my day off, I’d come back from the hospital and was feeding the stray cats outside the

corner store. Snow had started coming down, and the wind was picking up.

An umbrella opened over my head, right on time.

I looked up, startled, and met Caleb Whitlock’s smiling eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

“Passing by.”

The first time I met Caleb, it was pouring rain. It was eleven at night, and I was stuck outside my office building. He handed me an umbrella. After that, he always seemed to show up exactly when I needed something. Sometimes it was a pen, sometimes a book, or whatever else I

happened to need. Being around him was easy.

“Thank you.”

I stood up and pulled my scarf tighter. When I lifted my head, I met Ethan’s dazed stare.

I froze. He’d tracked me down after all.

In the middle of the heavy snow, he was barely dressed. He had on nothing but a thin jacket,

and he looked like he’d rushed straight here. I acted like I hadn’t seen him and looked up at Caleb. “Let’s go.”

An ice-cold hand grabbed my wrist. It was Ethan. “Iris.”

I jerked my arm free. “Don’t touch me!”

“I’ve been looking for you for so long. His voice was shaking. Up close, I could see the dark

circles around his eyes. He’d lost a lot of weight. “Iris, I was wrong. I know I was wrong. I’m done with Wendy for good. Let’s have another wedding. You always wanted to get married, didn’t you…”

I took a step back. I looked at how hurt and miserable Ethan was, and for the first time, I felt

nothing.

“When you were pranking me with them, did you think you were wrong? When you wrecked my wedding with them, did you think you were wrong? When you let Wendy set off my mom’s attack, did you think you were wrong?” I choked up. “Ethan, my mom was never anything but good to you. And how did you treat her? The three of you nearly killed her!”

Ethan’s eyes slowly reddened. Tears fell one after another, leaving a wet patch on the ground. “Iris, give me one more chance. I can make it up to you. I’ll spend my whole life making it up to

both of you…”

I took a deep breath and steadied myself. “I gave you chances. I gave all of you chances, more

than I can count.”

Every time they assumed the worst of me, every time they left me behind on purpose, I’d swallowed it in silence because I didn’t want to lose them.

I looked up and smiled at Caleb. “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” he said gently.

As we walked away, a broken sob rose behind us.

I didn’t look back.