Seeing My Parents Ignored, I Knew This Don Wasn’t the One Chapter 04

Seeing My Parents Ignored, I Knew This Don Wasn’t the One Chapter 04

I didn’t argue anymore.

I just helped my parents into a hotel near the airport.

My dad apologized the entire way.

“Lottie, I’m really fine.”

“Did I make things difficult for Dominic back there?”

My mom was still holding the jam jar. She whispered, “Maybe I should just leave these things behind. I don’t want his family laughing at you.”

I looked at how small and anxious they were, and my nose burned.

They hadn’t done a single thing wrong. But they stood there like they’d committed a crime.

Once we were in the room, I told them to rest.

Then I pulled out my phone and canceled our flights to the Hamptons.

I bought three new tickets to Northgate instead.

After that, I emailed the wedding planner:

[Wedding’s canceled.]

She called back immediately, shock in her voice.

“Ms. Page, the wedding is tomorrow. Are you sure?”

I looked at my parents, already asleep on the bed, exhausted.

My voice was quiet. “I’m sure.”

At ten that night, Dominic came back.

He pushed open the door, his expression dark. Probably because the scene at the airport had made Eleanor’s family and her pack of friends uncomfortable.

He stood in the doorway, looking at me.

“Charlotte, we’re all flying out together tomorrow.”

“Enough with the attitude.”

He paused, then added, “Eleanor was crying for a long time today.”

“She thinks it’s her fault your parents couldn’t get on the plane.”

“When you see her tomorrow, apologize to her.”

I blinked. Then I laughed.

“Apologize to her?”

Dominic frowned.

“Her friends were already set to board.”

“But because you threw a fit and refused to leave, everyone had to reschedule.”

“All those people’s time got wasted. Don’t you think you owe them an apology?”

So my parents getting booted off a bus with bad tickets wasn’t a grievance worth acknowledging.

But Eleanor’s group not boarding on time? That was wasted time.

I looked at him. The urge to explain anything had vanished completely.

“Fine.”

Dominic exhaled, like he was relieved. He went to take a shower.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the three tickets to Northgate on my phone.

A strange calm settled over me.

Sometime in the middle of the night, noise from the living room woke me.

Dominic was on the phone, his voice low.

“Eleanor?”

“Why are you crying?”

Whatever she said on the other end made his tone immediately soften.

“Don’t freak out.”

“I’m coming over now.”

The door clicked shut.

And in that moment, I remembered something from years ago.

I’d had a fever in the middle of the night. I called him. He said he had an early morning at the casino for an inspection and told me to just take some Tylenol.

Back then, I’d made excuses for him. He was busy. It was good that he was ambitious.

But now I knew. He was perfectly capable of rushing to someone in the middle of the night.

It just had never been me.

The next morning, Dominic came back. There was a faint lipstick smudge on his collar. He probably hadn’t noticed.

Eleanor stood just behind him, eyes puffy and red. Her voice was soft as honey.

“Charlotte, I’m so sorry about yesterday.”

“I really had no idea I was causing so much trouble.”

Dominic looked at me. The message was clear: apologize.

I smiled faintly and said nothing.

At the airport, Eleanor’s family and her friends were already lined up at the business-class counter. Their personal assistants were handling the luggage check-in.

Dominic handed over the documents and efficiently got them processed. Eleanor’s parents. Her clique. A bunch of pretty girls whose names I didn’t even know. All business class.

When it was my parents’ turn, the agent glanced at the system.

“Mr. and Mrs. Page. Economy.”

My mom froze for a beat, then waved her hands quickly.

“Economy is good enough.”

“We’re happy to sit anywhere.”

Dominic leaned in, lowering his voice like he was afraid I’d make another scene.

“Re-booking yesterday was a rush job.”

“Business was all they had left.”

“It’s no big deal for your parents to sit in economy. It’s only a two-hour flight.”

Two hours. So now he knew it was only two hours.

But yesterday, he’d been perfectly fine making my parents sit on a bus for over thirty.

Eleanor whispered beside him, “Maybe I should give them my seat.”

Dominic shut it down immediately.

“No. You barely slept last night. Don’t put yourself through that.”

I looked at the concern in his eyes. Then I looked at my dad’s pale face.

The last thread holding something together in my chest just snapped.

The boarding announcement came.

Business class had a dedicated lane.

Dominic busied himself helping Eleanor’s mother and pushing her father’s luggage.

It was only at the gate entrance that he remembered to glance back at me.

“Charlotte, take your parents through the other line.”

“See you when we land.”

Then he walked Eleanor’s family and her friends into the business-class lane.

My mom said quietly, “Lottie, we should get in line. We don’t want to miss the flight.”

I took her hand and smiled.

“Dad. Mom.”

“We’re not going to that wedding.”

“I’m taking you somewhere else.”

My mom’s eyes went red.

“But the wedding…”

Over the PA, the final boarding call for Dominic’s flight rang out.

I took one last look toward the business-class lane. Dominic probably still thought we’d see each other when we landed in the Hamptons.

He didn’t know. We were never seeing each other again.