519 Invitations Had Her Name, I Cancelled The Wedding Chapter 01

Seven days before the wedding, the stationer delivered 520 paper invitations to my house.

I opened the first one, and my fingers froze.

The bride’s name read: Madison Brooks.

I didn’t believe it. I opened the second, the third, the fourth.

All 519 of them carried Madison’s name.

Only the last one had a sticky note tucked in the corner.

[For my future sister-in-law. Don’t be mad.]

My own name was squeezed at the very bottom, in a font so small it looked like a footnote.

Madison stood in the doorway, pen in hand, smiling at me.

“See? I told you the printer was fast. Nathan asked me to go over them with him, and I guess I accidentally put my own name in.”

Nathan Caldwell stepped out of the elevator just as she said it. He only frowned.

“Don’t start.”

Madison immediately raised her hands in surrender.

“Fine, fine. I’ll pay. I’ll pay for all 520.”

She slid the top invitation into Nathan’s suit pocket.

“But I’m keeping this one. You never know. It might come in handy someday.”

Nathan didn’t take it out.

He looked at me like he was handling a minor inconvenience.

“There’s no time. We can fix the digital version. We don’t need to reprint the paper ones.”

No reprint.

He knew I had spent three months choosing the paper.

He knew my father had loved handwritten art, so I had picked cotton rag paper to honor him.

He also knew the line on the invitation, [To my daughter on her wedding day], had been copied word for word from my father’s old letters.

But Madison had written the wrong name on 519 invitations, and all he said was that we didn’t need to reprint.

I picked up the only invitation that carried my name and tore it in half.

Nathan’s face darkened.

“Evelyn Harper, what the hell is wrong with you now?”

I looked up at him.

“Nothing.”

“It’s just that out of 520 invitations, one less with my name on it doesn’t matter.”

Madison bent down and picked up the torn invitation, clicking her tongue.

“Evelyn, your temper is honestly terrifying.”

“The paper didn’t do anything to you. Why tear it up?”

Nathan reached for the half still in my hand.

“Stop it.”

“Your parents are coming by for the invitations tomorrow. You’ve made a mess of things. How are we supposed to clean this up?”

I avoided his hand.

“Reprint them.”

His brow pressed down.

“The printer needs at least ten days. The wedding is in seven. What am I supposed to hand out?”

Madison immediately raised her hand.

“Use mine.”

“Everyone knows I’m your closest friend. Who’s actually going to care?”

She spread a stack of invitations across the coffee table like a fan.

Every single one had her name and Nathan’s name on it.

It stung my eyes.

Deborah Caldwell came out of the kitchen, glanced at the mess, and her face fell.

But in the end, she looked at me.

“Evelyn, the wedding is almost here. Don’t ruin the mood over a few pieces of paper.”

Richard Caldwell set down his coffee mug.

“Everyone’s been notified. The venue’s already paid for.”

“There’s no time to reprint. Just fix the digital version.”

They said it so lightly.

As if the person whose name had been written wrong wasn’t the bride, but a decoration placed in the wrong spot.

Madison suddenly picked up her phone and took a picture of the invitations.

“I’m posting this. The caption will be: [519 wrong invitations, 1 rightful bride.]”

My voice went cold.

“Delete it.”

Madison blinked.

“Evelyn, I can’t even post that?”

“You call my wedding invitations wrong love, and you want me to laugh with you?”

Nathan finally lost patience.

“Madison just has a big mouth. Do you have to take every single word so seriously?”

I looked at him.

“If she put your name on a wedding invitation with someone else, would you still call it just a big mouth?”

Madison dragged out a laugh.

“Someone else?”

“Evelyn, I’ve known Nathan for twenty years. You’ve only been with him for seven.”

“If we’re really keeping score, you’re the one who came second.”

The living room went quiet for a moment.

Nathan frowned.

“Madison.”

She immediately covered her mouth.

“Okay, okay, I’ll shut up.”

But the smugness in her eyes didn’t fade at all.

I turned and put all the invitations back into the cardboard box.

Nathan pressed his hand on the lid.

“What are you doing?”

“Returning them to the printer. Reprinting.”

“There’s no time!”

“Then the wedding’s off.”

Deborah’s voice shot up.

“Evelyn Harper, do you know what you’re saying?”

I nodded.

“I do.”

Nathan stared at me, his eyes turning colder by degrees.

“You’re canceling the wedding over one name on an invitation?”

I corrected him quietly.

“Not one name.”

“519 reminders.”

“Reminders that in this relationship, someone will always come before me.”

Madison stopped smiling.

Nathan grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the study.

The door had barely closed before he lowered his voice.

“Evelyn, don’t make this uglier than it has to be.”

“We already signed the marriage license. The wedding is the last step.”

I looked down at my wrist in his grip.

“Then file for divorce.”