My Boyfriend Never Really Blocked His Ex Chapter 05

My Boyfriend Never Really Blocked His Ex Chapter 05

The day I went to try on the dress, I pulled the curtain open and found Vanessa leaning against the doorframe, watching me with cool, deliberate amusement.

Nathan’s jaw tightened, his whole body coiled like he was bracing for an explosion.

“What are you doing here?” He didn’t bother hiding the irritation.

Vanessa tossed her hair, arrogant and spoiled to the core. “I like that one. I want to try it on.”

Nathan’s jaw flexed. “This is for our engagement, Ness. Don’t start.”

“Who says you have to be engaged to buy a dress?” She scoffed, stepping closer. She shot a venomous look my way. “I’m buying it for me.”

She smirked. “And don’t flatter yourself, Nathan. You’re just used goods. Only Lena here is desperate enough to want you.”

He shook his head with a laugh, half sarcastic, half relieved.

“Look who’s talking. You sure had a lot of fun chewing on that ‘used goods’ for seven years. Couldn’t get enough, right?”

“I was young!” Vanessa shrieked, jabbing a manicured nail at his face.

“God, Nathan, your game’s gotten weak. That boring stick-in-the-mud Lena must have sanded all the edge right off you.”

“At least I don’t go around biting people like a rabid dog,” Nathan shot back, straightening the cuff she’d just rumpled grabbing at him.

“All you know how to do is make a scene and embarrass yourself.”

They moved like a perfectly choreographed tango—vicious, ugly, yet thrumming with a twisted, unspoken intimacy.

I was nothing but an audience member who’d stumbled onto the stage by mistake.

“You want it? Take it.”

I cut through their love-hate tirade. My voice sounded surprisingly steady.

Nathan snapped his head toward me, the fire in his eyes dying instantly. He wrapped an arm around me.

“Lena. You look gorgeous in this one.”

His eyes were pleading. “This is our day. I don’t want you to feel like you’re settling.”

It felt like a needle pricking my heart.

How many times had he made me swallow my pride and settle, all for her? What was one more time, at this point?

I pulled away gently and tugged the corner of my mouth into a cold, hollow smile. And used his own words back on him.

“It’s just a dress. It doesn’t matter what I wear.”

I turned and walked back into the fitting room.

Nathan’s hand hung in the air. He stared at my back for a long moment, but he didn’t stop me.

The zipper slid down. Cold air hit my skin.

The door creaked open again.

Vanessa slipped in. Her eyes landed on the ring on my finger.

“You like it? I helped pick it out.”

She lifted her wrist. A glittering diamond bracelet caught the light, bright enough to make my eyes sting.

“It’s a set. He gave me the bracelet and the necklace.”

She leaned in, her breath hot on my ear.

“I actually got it before you did. He took me with him to pick it up.”

“Lena. You get all the leftovers. It’s honestly pathetic.”

I listened to her gloat. And weirdly, it didn’t hurt anymore.

I just looked at her, calm, as I slid the gown off and pulled my own clothes back on.

Then I threw it.

The gorgeous, expensive dress landed in a heap at her feet like garbage.

“You want someone else’s leftovers that bad? Fine. They’re yours.”

I walked out without sparing her another glance.

A minute later, they were at it again. Voices raised. Nathan’s cool mask cracking.

They were lost in their own little world. Neither of them paying attention to me.

I walked over to the wedding planner, who was checking her clipboard.

“Change the screen.”

I pointed at the digital display that read:

[Bride: Elena Pearce.]

“Update it.”

I looked at my disheveled, undignified boyfriend, and his ex, feral and screaming.

A faint, icy smile tugged at my lips.

“Swap it out. Put Vanessa Corbin down as the bride.”