Seeing My Parents Ignored, I Knew This Don Wasn’t the One Chapter 03

Seeing My Parents Ignored, I Knew This Don Wasn’t the One Chapter 03

Eleanor came over, her eyes red and watery.

“This is all my fault.”

“If my family and my friends hadn’t joined last-minute, your parents’ tickets wouldn’t have gotten pushed out.”

She dropped her voice even lower.

“But it’s my parents’ first time traveling this far, and I was scared they’d have nobody to help them.”

Dominic immediately turned to her.

“What does this have to do with you?”

“Stop blaming yourself for everything.”

I watched the way he protected her, and it felt absurd.

My parents got kicked off a bus because of a ticketing mistake. His first reaction was mild annoyance.

Eleanor’s eyes got a little red. And he immediately acted like she’d suffered some great injustice.

Half an hour later, his men brought my parents to the airport.

The moment my mom saw me, she hurriedly tried to hide the glass jar in her hands behind her back.

It was the jam she’d planned to bring to the Hamptons. The jar must have gotten jostled on the platform. The lid was loose, and red jam had smeared against the glass.

My dad was holding his back, his face terrifyingly pale.

But the first thing he said when he saw Dominic was, “Dominic, we’re sorry for the trouble.”

“We didn’t check the tickets carefully enough.”

My nose stung. “Dad.”

Dominic just glanced down at his watch.

“At least the delay wasn’t too bad.”

My mom held out the sticky glass jar, her smile painfully tentative.

“Dear, this is some raspberry jam I made myself.”

“I’ve also got some butter crackers. Those are for your family.”

“First time meeting so many of your family. We couldn’t come empty-handed.”

Dominic glanced down at it.

His brow furrowed almost on reflex.

“Ma’am, the Hamptons estate has a full catering service.”

“There’s no need to bring sweets and glass jars.”

“The wedding has a minimalist aesthetic. These aren’t really appropriate.”

My mom’s hands froze in midair.

Her smile faded bit by bit before she forced it back into place.

“Oh. Okay.”

“I didn’t know.”

She scrambled to stuff the bag away, hiding it behind her back.

“Then I won’t bring them. I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

Something lodged in my throat, aching so much I couldn’t speak.

On the other side of the group, Eleanor’s mother coughed softly again.

Dominic immediately went to her side and steadied her.

“Mrs. Vance, please, take a seat.”

“Did you skip breakfast this morning?”

He gestured for his personal assistant to go get hot coffee. Gentle. Attentive. Thorough.

It was a complete contrast to the coldness he’d shown my parents just seconds before.

One of Eleanor’s friends let out a low snicker.

“Elderly folks who’ve never flown before do get nervous.”

“And bringing those… local specialties? Not really a fit for a Hamptons wedding.”

My mom heard her. She clutched the jar tighter and dropped her head even lower.

“We’re not used to all this. We’re sorry for the trouble.”

Dominic acted like he hadn’t caught the humiliation in my mom’s voice. He just glanced at the cars waiting outside.

“Eleanor’s group has a lot of people and a lot of luggage.”

“Sir, ma’am, you can take the van in the back.”

I looked outside. The back vehicle had its rear seats packed with suitcases. It was clearly the support vehicle for staff and overflow baggage.

My voice went cold.

“My dad has a bad back, and you’re putting him in the luggage car?”

Dominic’s brow furrowed.

“Charlotte, do you have to make everything sound so awful?”

“It’s just a car with some bags in it.”

“We’ll be there tomorrow. Do you really have to make this into a fight right now?”

I looked at him.

And in that moment, I understood.

Dominic hadn’t forgotten to respect my parents. He’d simply never considered them worthy of respect in the first place.

My mom grabbed my hand.

“Lottie, stop. Please.”

“We’ll sit wherever. The wedding is what matters.”

The wedding is what matters—Even now, they were terrified of ruining my wedding.

But looking at my dad’s ashen face, and my mom clutching that jar of shattered dignity, the last flicker of hope inside me finally died.