I Changed The Wedding Into A Cancellation Mid-Ceremony Chapter 08

I Changed The Wedding Into A Cancellation Mid-Ceremony Chapter 08

Nathan showed up three days after the wedding.

I’d just gotten my parents settled back home. His car was parked out front.

He was standing beside it, clutching a shopping bag. Inside was an exact replica of my mom’s

mother-of-the-bride dress and a massive check.

The second he saw me, he hurried toward me.

“Elena.”

“I hired one of the best tailors in the city.”

“I’ll have a new one made for your mom. The exact same dress:”

I looked at the bag. A humorless smile crossed my face.

“Nathan.”

“You still think a dress fixes this?”

He swallowed hard.

“I know it doesn’t.”

“I just wanted to try.”

I shoved the bag back into his chest.

“You can’t undo the three stitches in my dad’s palm.”

“You can’t undo the moment my mom lowered her head and agreed she looked like a mess.

“And you can’t take back the way you and Vanessa mocked the speech my dad worked on for two weeks.”

“None of it can be undone.”

Nathan’s eyes welled up.

He pulled the speech from inside his jacket. My dad must have dropped it on our way out. The paper was

creased beyond repair. Wine stains still bled across the margins.

“I read it.”

“He wrote a really good speech.”

His voice cracked.

“Elena, I was a monster.’

“I shouldn’t have silenced him.”

“I shouldn’t have shoved them to the back.”

“And I never should’ve chosen Vanessa over you.”

I held his gaze.

“It’s not about what you should or shouldn’t have done.”

“It’s that you didn’t care. Not about me. Not about my family.

The truth hit him so hard he actually swayed on his feet.

He stood outside for hours. He was still there when the sky darkened and the rain started.

My mom saw him through the window and sighed.

“Elena, he’s still out there.”

“Let him rot.

The rain picked up. Nathan didn’t move.

He used to hate being inconvenienced. When I was burning up and needed a ride, he complained about the drive. When my mom needed surgery and I asked him to come, he said he was stuck in meetings.

Now he finally had all the time in the world. Too bad I didn’t need it anymore.

He came back the next day.

This time, he was on his knees at the front door.

My dad opened the door to take out the trash and nearly dropped the bag. Nathan looked up at him, eyes

raw.

“Mr. Ashford, I’m sorry.”

“I failed you and your wife.”

“Say whatever you want to me. I deserve it.”

My dad looked at him for a long time. Then he pulled the door a little closer.

“Get up.”

“The neighbors don’t need a show.”

Something like hope flickered in Nathan’s eyes.

My dad’s next words killed it.

“Elena’s not marrying you”

“Don’t come back.”

The door closed. Nathan stayed on his knees the entire night.

Nobody opened it again.

By the third day, Nathan was running a fever. His assistant called.

“He’s burning up. 104 degrees. He keeps asking for you.

I had one answer.

“Take him to the hospital.”

The assistant went quiet.

“He says he won’t go unless you come.”

I almost laughed.

“Then that’s his funeral.”

I hung up and took my mom shopping.

My mom tried on a pale coat and stood in front of the mirror, not quite sure of herself.

“Is it too much?”

I straightened her collar.

“No.”

“Mom, from now on, you wear whatever you want.”

“You don’t have to worry about impressing anyone ever again.”

Her chin trembled.

My dad turned away, pretending to look at something on the rack, and wiped his eyes.

My phone rang again. This time, it was Nathan himself.

I picked up.

His voice was so broken I could barely make out the words.

Elena.

“I know what I did.”

“Give me one more chance.

“I’ll treat your parents the way they deserve. I swear.”

I looked at my parents’ reflection in the mirror. They were standing tall. They didn’t have to shrink for

anyone anymore.

My voice was steady when I answered.

“Nathan.”

“My parents don’t need a son like you.”

“And I sure as hell don’t need a husband like you.”

“Keep your regret. It’s too late for it to mean anything.”

The line went quiet. So quiet I thought he’d hung up.

Then I heard it, his voice breaking.

“Elena, please don’t leave me.’

I didn’t answer. I ended the call and blocked his number!

Outside, the rain had stopped.

I took my parents’ hands and we walked outside. The mall behind us glowed with light.

It hit me then. The wedding didn’t shatter my life. It just stripped away everything I’d been too blind to see.

Some people don’t deserve a place in our lives. And no one was ever going to make my parents feel small

again.