Before the Wedding, the Dutiful Bride Flew to Iceland Alone Chapter 04

Before the Wedding, the Dutiful Bride Flew to Iceland Alone Chapter 04

The next day, I was pulling my suitcase past the study. The door was cracked open.

Miles’s low laugh drifted out.

He was on a video call.

On the screen, Serena was propped against her headboard in a nightgown, a copy of his wedding vows in her hand. “Miles, this part is way too stiff.”

“Chloe, thank you for seven years by my side.”

She read it out loud and laughed.

“It sounds like you’re accepting an award, not marrying someone.”

Miles laughed.

“I’m terrible with words.”

Serena rested her chin in her hand, watching him.

“Why not write, “You’re like spring. You make everything feel lighter.””

“Isn’t that more romantic?”

Miles went quiet for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was lower.

“That sounds more like you.”

The other end of the call fell silent.

Serena’s voice went soft. “Then are you sure those are the words you want to say to Chloe?”

Miles didn’t answer right away.

After a long pause, he said, “It doesn’t matter who hears them at the altar.”

“Just pretend I’m saying them to you.”

I stood outside the door, something splitting open quietly in my chest.

I had written my own vows in secret. Three full pages.

I’d rewritten them again and again.

I’d cut anything that felt like too much and kept only the parts that were true.

I’d even asked Miles once.

“Should we write our vows together?”

He said, “Let’s keep it simple.”

It wasn’t unnecessary.

He just thought it was unnecessary with me.

Serena leaned closer to the screen, a faint smile on her lips.

“Then come a little closer.”

Miles frowned. “What for?”

She didn’t answer.

She just pressed her lips to the camera.

It was half-playful, half-something much more intimate.

Miles didn’t pull away.

He just sat there for a moment, then sighed.

“Serena.” “Don’t do that again.”

“I’m getting married soon.”

Serena’s gaze dropped, her voice going small.

“I know.”

“That’s why I wanted to let myself have this one thing. Before you’re officially off-limits.”

Miles didn’t push back.

His silence was permission.

The cold crept back into my fingers.

If he really thought she’d crossed a line.

Why didn’t he just hang up?

Serena flipped to the mockup of the wedding photo wall.

“Do you really need all these photos of the two of you at the wedding?”

“I think it might be a little hard for me, seeing how happy you two were.”

Miles stared at the screen, quiet for a second.

Finally, he said, “Then let’s take it down.”

“Chloe’s sensible. She won’t make a fuss.”

My eyes burned.

The photo wall was the one thing I’d wanted most.

Our first snowfall together.

Him pulling me under his jacket in the rain on our first trip. The birthday cake he’d baked from scratch.

I’d spent hours choosing every single one.

Because I thought they proved our love was real.

But all it took was Serena saying she’d feel uncomfortable.

And Miles erased it without a second thought.

Those were the moments I’d treasured for seven years.

When sadness runs deep enough, something in your chest just shuts off.

All that’s left is numbness.

I took hold of my suitcase and turned away.

My phone lit up.

The wedding planner again.

[Miss Bennett, Mr. Sterling just confirmed the photo wall is being removed.]

[Also, Mr. Sterling submitted new vows, asking me to CC Miss Vance.]

[Are you still sure you want to cancel?]

I read the messages and smiled.

Then I typed back, [I’m sure.]

The early morning wind swept down the hallway.

I pulled my suitcase down the corridor, one step after another.

Seven years on a photo wall, erased in a single sentence.

So I left the Miles from those seven years behind too. Just as I was about to board, the wedding cancellation hit his phone.

He called the planner immediately, his voice hard. “What the hell is going on?” The planner sounded even more shocked than he was.

“Miss Bennett canceled it herself. She mentioned leaving for Snowcrest, and implied the wedding is permanently off.”

“Mr. Sterling, you didn’t know?”