My Wedding Photos Belonged To His First Love Chapter 04

My Wedding Photos Belonged To His First Love Chapter 04

Seven days before the wedding, Derek’s mother Margaret Sullivan asked me to come to the family home for dinner.

She said, “Let’s sit down as a family and clear the air.”

When I arrived, Lily was already there. She was wearing a pale blue dress, sitting next to Margaret, showing her a photo album.

Margaret was smiling warmly. “Lily is so photogenic. No wonder Derek always loved taking your picture back then.”

I stood in the doorway.

Derek glanced up at me. “You’re here.” Like I was just a guest who’d shown up late.

At the dinner table, Margaret pushed a box toward me.

Inside was a set of pearl jewelry.

“Wear this on the wedding day,” she said. “None of those artsy statement pieces you like. It wouldn’t be appropriate.”

I said, “I’ve already planned my accessories.”

Margaret frowned. “Nora, when you marry into the Sullivan family, you can’t have everything your own way.”

Lily said softly, “Margaret, Nora’s a photographer. Her taste is just different from ours, that’s all.”

Margaret smiled. “She just likes to fuss over little details. A wedding isn’t a personal showcase.”

Derek didn’t say a word. He was cutting Lily’s steak for her. Like she was the one he was about to marry.

I stared at his hands. He’d done that for me once, too.

I’d been out shooting night scenes until my stomach was burning. He picked me up and took me to a diner for soup and toast.

He’d said, “Take your time, okay?”

I remembered that for years.

Now I knew that a man isn’t incapable of being tender.

He just saves his tenderness for certain people.

After the meal, Margaret told me to find the backup table cards in the storage room. When I pulled open the cabinet door, a box on the top shelf tipped and fell.

Old photo albums spilled across the floor. I crouched down to pick them up.

The first one: Lily’s seventeenth birthday.

The second: Lily’s senior thesis show.

The third: Lily trying on a wedding gown.

In the photos, Derek looked much younger. He stood beside the dressing mirror, and there was actual light in his eyes.

I flipped to the last page. Tucked inside was a document. A custom gown order contract.

Client name: [Lily Morgan]

The style number was identical to the wedding gown I was supposed to wear.

The order date was five years ago. Before I had ever met Derek Sullivan.

My fingers went still on the paper. So Lily hadn’t worn my wedding gown. I had been wearing the one she didn’t want.

Footsteps sounded behind me.

Derek stood in the doorway. His expression shifted immediately. “Who told you to go through these?”

I held up the contract. “This gown. You ordered it for her?”

He went silent. Silence was the answer.

Lily appeared behind him. When she saw the contract, tears spilled down her face instantly. “Derek, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you still kept this.”

Derek reached out and took the contract from my hand. “That was a long time ago.”

I asked, “Then what am I?”

He frowned. “Nora, don’t do this. Not right now.”

I let out a laugh. “The gown was hers. The concept was hers. Her photos got retouched first. Derek, what exactly am I as your bride?”

Margaret’s voice cut in coldly. “Nora, every man has a past. Dwelling on it only makes you look insecure.”

I looked at Derek.

He averted his eyes.

In that moment, that was clearer than any answer he could have given.

I turned to leave. Lily grabbed my hand. “Nora, don’t be mad at Derek. If you don’t like the gown, I can pay you back for a new one.”

The bracelet on her wrist swung as she moved.

I froze.

It was a charm made from the vintage camera my mother left me.

Last year, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I tore my studio apart.

Derek had said, “Old stuff goes missing. You just have to let it go.”

Now it was on Lily’s wrist.

My voice came out very quiet. “Where did you get that?”

Lily blinked. “Oh, that? Derek gave it to me. He said it was just some old parts lying around.”

I looked at Derek. “You took my mom’s camera apart?”

A muscle in his jaw jumped. “I didn’t know it was your mother’s.”

“I told you.”

He paused. “It was a long time ago. I forgot.”

Forgot.

The day my mother died, I held that camera and sobbed until I couldn’t stand.

He was right there beside me.

He said, “I’ll take photos with you from now on.”

And he forgot.

I slowly pulled my hand back and stacked the old albums neatly on the table.

Derek’s eyes tracked my every move. “Where are you going?”

I didn’t answer.

I just pulled out my phone and changed the final access permission for the wedding screen’s main video file to “Only Me.”

A prompt flashed on the screen.

Are you sure you want to overwrite the original playback file?

Behind me, Derek’s voice turned ice-cold. “Nora, this wedding is happening as planned. Don’t make me do something we’ll both regret.”

I hit confirm.