He Said One Kneel Bought Forever Love, but Finally Begged Me Back Chapter 01

He Said One Kneel Bought Forever Love, but Finally Begged Me Back Chapter 01

During the family toast at our wedding, when we were supposed to thank our parents, Sloane Mercer, my husband Graham Whitlock’s girl best friend, left the groomswomen’s table and walked straight onto the stage.

She dropped into the seat next to Graham’s father and beckoned me over.

“Come on up and toast your new family, my dear.”

The room laughed.

She didn’t even flinch. She just pulled up a video from the night before and threw it up on the big screen.

In it, she was sitting on Graham’s lap, getting him to call her “Mommy.”

He did. Then she leaned in closer.

“What if your little bride refuses?”

He lit a cigarette without looking up, his smile lazy and sure.

“She wouldn’t dare.”

“She loves me too much to make a scene at our own wedding.”

The video cut out. Sloane reached over and patted me on the head.

“Come on, my little daughter-in-law. Cheers!”

I didn’t move.

Graham picked up a glass himself and came over to me.

“Sloane’s been in my life for twenty years. When you marry me, you respect her.”

She’d snatched my wedding ring once. He claimed she had seniority.

She’d deleted our photos. He insisted she was just insecure.

She’d left a lipstick mark on his neck. He said twenty years of friendship didn’t get thrown away over a girlfriend.

And now, at our wedding, he was playing the same card.

He leaned down and kissed my forehead.

“One little joke. And you get me for the rest of your life. That’s not a bad trade.”

I looked at him, and for the first time, the math was easy.

So I said no.

…

I didn’t take the glass.

Graham’s hand tightened around the stem. The warmth left his face.

“Laurel, don’t make me say it twice.”

I reached up and pulled off my veil. “The wedding’s off.”

The room went dead quiet.

Sloane was the first to laugh.

“Seriously, Laurel? It was a joke.”

“Graham played along. You can’t even take a joke?”

The groomsmen started jeering.

Graham’s mother stood up. “Laurel, do you know what day this is?”

“I don’t care how upset you are. You are finishing this ceremony.”

Graham’s father didn’t stand. He didn’t have to. His face said enough.

“Every guest the Whitlock family invited is sitting out there.”

“You back out now, and how do we explain that?”

I looked at Graham. “So nobody’s going to explain what just happened to me? In front of all these people?”

Graham took the mic right out of my hand.

“The bride isn’t feeling well. We’re going to take a break.”

I corrected him.

“I’m fine. I just don’t want to marry you anymore.”

He finally looked at me. Not worried. Just pissed that I’d made a scene.

Graham’s mother grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard.

“Haven’t you embarrassed us enough?”

“Every marriage has things you just have to turn a blind eye to. Sloane and Graham have been like this since they were kids, and you had to pick today to throw a fit about it.”

So that was the first lesson of being a Whitlock. Smile and take it.

The room was getting tense, so Sloane did what Sloane always did. She grabbed my veil off the chair and dropped it over her own head.

She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at Graham.

“Bride walked out. Guess her best friend’s filling in.”

“Come on, groom. Lift your best man’s veil.”

The crowd laughed again.

Graham shoved her away. “Cut it out. You’re such a pain in the ass.”

His words said stop. His eyes were laughing.

As Sloane stepped back, her sneaker landed on my veil.

The delicate lace caught under her shoe and tore with a sickening rip.

It was the last thing my mother left me before she died.

Everyone in that room knew. Graham’s mother just frowned. “It’s a piece of fabric, Laurel. You can buy another one.”

That was when I understood. They had never cared about me. Not really.

Graham grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the lounge.

The second the door shut, the act dropped.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You’d blow up our entire wedding over one joke?”

I looked at him and waited for the pain to hit. It didn’t.

Maybe I’d been disappointed for so long that by the time it all came crashing down, I didn’t even have the energy to fight.

“You’re right. Ruining a whole wedding over one joke from her? Not worth it.”

Graham’s jaw tightened.

“Laurel, stop saying things you don’t mean.”

“We already signed the marriage license. Walk out that door, and you’re still Mrs. Whitlock.”

I looked down at my wrist, still red from his grip. “Then I’ll file for divorce.”