I Canceled My Wedding and Married Someone Else Chapter 05

I Canceled My Wedding and Married Someone Else Chapter 05

My car had barely left the neighborhood when I caught sight of Josh stumbling out through the

arview mirror. I stepped harder on the gas.

Right then, my phone rang through the car’s Bluetooth.

“Hello?” Carl’s low, slightly hoarse voice filled the car. “Sierra, P’m sorry. I was tied up with the New York project. I didn’t spend enough time with you before the engagement.

My fingers froze on the steering wheel.

“It’s fine. Carl… we still haven’t had an engagement banquet. If you want to choose another partner for the alliance, just tell me.”

“I won’t be a stain on your reputation if you’ve had a change of heart.”

Silence followed, deep and heavy. When Carl finally spoke, something dark simmered beneath his

tone.

“Sierra, the rumors involving you and another man were mishandled on my end. But I have no intention of replacing you.”

“I asked the group to publicly announce our engagement the moment I heard the gossip. I hope you

won’t blame me for acting without your consent.”

“I wanted everyone to know you’re my only choice. My only wife.”

The call ended. At a red light, I touched my burning cheeks and exhaled shakily.

Carl was different. He wasn’t controlling, yet he handled every problem cleanly and decisively.

Josh and Tiffany had shown warning signs long ago with whispers and odd behavior. Whenever I brought my concerns to Josh, he brushed me off with irritation.

“I’m not clarifying something I never did. Proving innocence is stupid. Tiffany is your friend, I’m

your boyfriend. If you doubt us and believe an outsider, the problem is you.”

“Sierra, you should reflect on why you’re always so paranoid.”

After the Howard–Robinson alliance became official, Josh spiraled for days, drinking, partying, losing himself in a haze.

Only when reality sank in, when he realized I was truly gone, did he break. And then he started chasing me down everywhere.

When I walked toward my building, he was already there, slumped against the wall. A cigarette

burned between his fingers, nearly down to the filter.

Several butts littered the ground around his feet.

“Sweetheart…” He pushed himself upright when he saw me, with a jagged wreck of a voice, stripped raw by whiskey and regret. “I missed you so much.”

I lifted my gaze to his hollow cheeks and bloodshot eyes. “Don’t call me that. We’re not connected

anymore.”

Josh’s eyes flooded instantly. Tears spilled as he grabbed my hand, pleading. “Okay… okay, I won’t

call you that. Just–don’t go. Sierra, can we sit down and talk? Please?”

Ten minutes later, we sat across from each other at a small café near the building.

“One iced latte,” he told the barista quickly. Then he added, “Oat milk latte. No sugar. She hates the

aftertaste.”

He glanced at me, hopeful. “I remembered this time.”

I stared at him, lips curving in a cold, mocking smile.

In the beginning, he’d kept a detailed memo on his phone with my class schedule, my allergies, the

food I liked, the little things I said in passing. He remembered everything.

But after he started working, he became more and more careless. Then one day he changed phones, forgot to transfer the memo, and slowly, everything about me faded from his mind.

Josh looked away, ashamed. Only when the coffee arrived did he raise his head again, just in time to

see the diamond ring on my finger.

A physical ache rippled through him, dull and suffocating. He placed a familiar ring beside my cup.

“This is the wedding band we designed together. I picked it up… and I’ve kept it safe.”

His voice cracked. “I can’t live with losing you. Please, come back to me.”

I didn’t look at the ring that once meant so much. I simply held up my right hand, letting the café lights catch the diamond Carl had placed there.

“There’s no more space here.”

Josh’s entire body jolted. It was as if someone drove a hammer straight into his chest. He couldn’t

breathe. He trembled, voice breaking.

“I don’t understand. Why did you suddenly call off the wedding? Just because I helped Tiffany once?

That’s enough for you to hate me?”

His expression twisted.

“Sierra… were you already involved with Carl behind my back?”

I traced the rim of my cup, eyes drifting over the tear tracks on his face. My voice was calm, too

calm.

“Three months ago, on that stormy night, when I got into a car accident near the outskirts and called you for help, where were you?”

Josh went rigid. His blood ran cold. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Cold venom flickered in my eyes as I answered for him. “You were in Tiffany’s bed.”