The Day Another Woman Became the Bride Chapter 03

The Day Another Woman Became the Bride Chapter 03

I hung up, slid over in the seat, and rolled the window down.

I let the wind pouring through the window tear apart the bridal hair and makeup that had taken three hours to perfect.

The driver, who had heard everything, hesitated before speaking.

“Miss, what kind of man did you choose? Someone would actually marry a man like that?”

“When I got married, I wanted to carry my wife all the way into the chapel on my back.”

Carry her?

A bitter ache spread through my chest.

Mason had carried me once too.

That year, waist-deep snow blanketed the campus, and classes were canceled.

I’d a fever of 104°F. My roommate kept cooling me down with damp towels and was nearly in tears.

Mason forced his way into the women’s dorm and carried me through the snow to the campus emergency pickup point, where an ambulance took us to Westbridge University Medical Center.

In my haze, I could feel him shivering from the cold and stumbling again and again through the snow.

But I stayed warm. Not even the wind touched me.

He had taken off his only winter coat and wrapped it around me. By the end, he was exhausted and frostbitten.

Back then, his love had been so clear that even the blizzard seemed to see it.

The driver clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“So how did he turn into this?”

I shook my head silently.

I didn’t know either.

Maybe he’d changed the moment Paige returned from Paris.

The first time he lost control over Paige and smashed the matching mugs we’d made together.

The first time he left me stranded at the office until midnight on a rainy night so he could pick Paige up.

The first time I was in surgery and he was riding roller coasters with Paige at Six Flags New England.

Ever since Paige announced she didn’t believe in marriage, Mason had an excuse to stop hiding how much he favored her.

Countless firsts. Countless times I gave in.

Somehow, they’d added up to this.

When I left the group chat, Mason sent me a question mark.

Then nothing.

In his mind, this was only another protest, another tantrum.

Soon enough, I’d obediently go back and apologize.

But this time, I was truly exhausted.

Under the front desk clerk’s quietly surprised gaze, I gathered my heavy skirt and returned to the room.

I removed my makeup and took off the wedding gown.

I collapsed onto the bed and stared at the white hotel ceiling, still dazed.

How did it come to this so suddenly?

Just last night in this same bed, I’d been too excited to sleep.

When I checked my phone, Paige had just posted an Instagram Story.

“Some people might overthink this, so here’s a quick video to explain. I was only experiencing a wedding. Nothing inappropriate happened between Mason and me!”

The attached video showed the wedding entrance ceremony.

Even though I knew it would hurt, I clicked play.

In her wedding dress, Paige walked toward Mason amid applause.

She vowed before the officiant that they’d stay together until death parted them.

Then they exchanged rings and linked fingers.

I laughed bitterly.

They’d done everything except kiss.

Yet she still claimed that nothing inappropriate had happened.

Paige kept updating her Instagram Story.

She accepted Mrs. Whitfield’s heirloom bracelet, joined the toast, and heard the parents’ speeches…

It had gone far beyond the wedding entrance Mason had promised she’d merely experience.

After the bouquet toss, Mason finally texted.

“Are you at the hotel yet? Wait in the bridal suite a little longer. Paige is having fun, so she’s experiencing the rest of the events too.”

“Don’t be angry. Consider it compensation for making her cry.”

The bridal suite was only two rooms away from the banquet hall.

Even so, he couldn’t be bothered to come see me.