My Fiance Married His Childhood Sweetheart Before Our Engagement Party Chapter 03

My Fiance Married His Childhood Sweetheart Before Our Engagement Party Chapter 03

[Evelyn, don’t go online today.]

Olivia’s message came at two in the morning.

I didn’t see it until seven.

[What happened?]

[People found your photos.]

I opened X.

The top trending post was from a gossip account.

[Wentworth Engagement Disaster: Bride-to-Be Waits Alone for Three Hours.]

The attached photo had been taken by a guest.

I was in the rented gown, sitting alone at the empty head table, smiling while toasting the guests.

The comments were endless.

[Renting a dress for a Wentworth engagement? That’s rough.]

[Two hundred people watched her get stood up, and she still covered for him. Painful.]

[Someone give this woman a trophy for believing nonsense.]

I shut my phone off.

Two minutes later, I turned it on again because someone was calling.

Not Adrian.

His mother.

“Evelyn, honey, I wanted to discuss something with you.”

Her tone was far more polite than usual.

So polite it made my skin crawl.

“Don’t look at those things online. I’ll have someone try to take them down.”

“You can’t take them down, Mrs. Wentworth.”

“Then let’s handle it another way.”

She paused.

“Evelyn, I’ll be honest with you. When Sophia came back from Europe last year, she was still hesitating. Adrian came up with a way to make her jealous.”

“What way?”

“Find someone to hold an engagement party with first. Make Sophia realize she still cared.”

My ears rang.

“So the engagement was fake?”

“I wouldn’t call it fake. It was more of a formality.”

I lowered my gaze to the silver ring on my finger.

Fifty dollars.

Bought from a small stall at a Brooklyn flea market.

I had chosen the pair.

He wore his for two days before taking it off.

I wore mine for three years.

“Mrs. Wentworth, I printed two hundred invitations. I paid the ballroom deposit.”

“Adrian will pay you back.”

“When?”

The other end was silent for a few seconds.

“When he’s more comfortable financially. Oh, and Evelyn, about the twenty thousand dollars you advanced to his company…”

“What about it?”

“The company is under pressure right now. Could you maybe…”

I did not let her finish.

I hung up and opened my banking app.

Then I checked the joint savings account Adrian had convinced me to open with him.

Balance: zero.

The last transaction was three days ago.

The day he married Sophia.

Withdrawal: $8,000.

Memo: Honeymoon fund.

That eight thousand dollars came from six months of freelance work.

He had said a joint account would be convenient.

After marriage, it would all be shared anyway.

I believed him.

My phone vibrated.

It was Olivia.

[Eve, there’s something I shouldn’t have hidden from you.]

She sent a screenshot.

It was from an iMessage group chat.

Group name: [Adrian’s Plan.]

Adrian had sent a message the night before the engagement party.

[Tomorrow’s show ends after the party. Don’t let Evelyn find out.]

The replies were neat.

[Got it.]

[Adrian, you’re brutal.]

[She really thinks she’s the bride.]

The final message was from Adrian himself.

A laughing meme.

Olivia sent another message.

[I’m sorry. I only found out yesterday that you two were actually together. He told everyone you were just helping him out temporarily. If you don’t have anywhere to go, come to my place.]

I stared at the screenshot for a long time.

[She really thinks she’s the bride.]

That was what they called me.

And he laughed.