My Fiancé Chose Her Over Me—So I Canceled Our Wedding Chapter 02

That afternoon, we went to the hotel for the wedding menu tasting.

The manager had barely handed me the menu when Ethan pulled it away.

“Give it to Soph.”

“She’s the picky one. If she likes it, we’ll know it’s good.”

Luke and Ryan immediately leaned in on either side of her.

“Skip that. Soph doesn’t eat cilantro.”

“And switch out the oysters. She thinks they taste too fishy.”

Sophie turned the page and wrinkled her nose.

“Why is there a sweet fish dish on here?”

Ethan took a pen and crossed it out.

“Change it.”

I stared at the maple-glazed salmon he’d just crossed off the menu.

After graduation, Ethan couldn’t find a job for a long time. I covered our rent and living expenses.

I canceled my train ticket home and stayed in the city with him for Christmas.

When he finally got his first paycheck, he took me out for maple-glazed salmon and said earnestly, “When we get married, this has to be on the menu. It’s your favorite.”

Next came the soup.

Dessert.

Wine.

Seven of the twelve dishes I’d chosen were replaced.

Nobody asked me once.

Even the manager looked uncomfortable. He offered a quiet reminder.

“Mr. Brooks, today’s tasting is really meant for the bride and groom…”

“Same difference.”

Ethan didn’t look up.

“They like pretty much the same things.”

I let out a short laugh.

Six years.

He couldn’t even recognize the face wash I used every day.

But he knew Sophie didn’t eat cilantro, thought oysters tasted fishy, and didn’t like her cake too sweet.

Finally, we confirmed the seating at the head table.

Sophie looked at the list and hesitated.

“Won’t it be awkward sitting with the parents?”

Ethan took the seating chart.

“Then sit next to me.”

He picked up the pen and moved my name over one seat.

I stared at the paper.

Finally, I spoke up.

“Ethan.”

“Whose wedding is this?”

The table went quiet.

Sophie’s smile froze.

Luke was the first to frown.

“We’ve known each other forever. What’s wrong with us sitting at the head table?”

Ryan jumped in, too.

“Don’t be so petty. It’s one seat.”

Ethan’s face hardened.

“It’s our wedding. It isn’t just yours.”

“Does everything have to be exactly the way you want it?”

I looked at him.

Suddenly, I didn’t want to say another word.

Apparently, even at my own wedding, wanting anything I liked made me petty.

Wanting to sit beside the groom made me petty, too.

But if Sophie didn’t like a dish, all three of them immediately changed it.

If she didn’t like her seat, even the bride had to move over.

I slid the seating chart back across the table.

“Fine.”

“Let’s do whatever Sophie wants.”

Ethan’s expression finally softened.

He reached over and ruffled my hair.

“See? Was being reasonable really that hard?”

They gathered around Sophie again to try the desserts.

Four spoons clinked together.

Nobody looked at me again.

But the hotel manager quietly followed me into the hallway.

“Ms. Bennett.”

“Our events office has approved the cancellation request you sent this morning.”

“Are you sure you want to cancel?”

Beyond the glass, Ethan bent his head over Sophie’s dessert, picking off the nuts for her.

Luke and Ryan said something I couldn’t hear.

All four of them laughed.

They’d done it countless times before.

They were a complete little group, with no room for a fifth person.

I looked away.

“I’m sure.”