We Planned Nine Weddings, All Canceled For His Superstitious Childhood Friend Chapter 04

We Planned Nine Weddings, All Canceled For His Superstitious Childhood Friend Chapter 04

I tried to push myself off the floor, but every bit of strength had drained out of me. All I could do was pound on the door again and again.

No one answered.

I called the hotel front desk three times, but every call hit a busy line. I was about to try again when my screen went black.

My phone was dead.

I looked around, grabbed a chair, and swung it at the lock.

I hit the lock once, twice, then a third time.

The lock cracked. One of the chair legs snapped. The door still held, but the lock had loosened.

Just a few more hits—

Then I noticed the wall-mounted screen in the lounge.

It was showing a live feed of the ceremony.

I stopped.

On the screen, Julian slid the diamond ring I had chosen onto Sienna’s finger and said with genuine emotion, “At last, I have my bride.”

I gave a humorless smile.

Then I picked up the broken chair leg, wedged it into the gap beside the lock, and pried hard.

The lock finally gave.

I pushed the door open just as Elliot Vaughn came running around the corner.

Elliot was the boy I had grown up with. He had confessed his feelings several times when we were younger, and back then, he only ever had eyes for me.

But I had spent all those years chasing Julian. I turned Elliot down every time and let him down again and again.

Grandma had always thought Elliot was the better man—kind, steady, dependable—but she had never been able to talk me out of my obsession with Julian.

The moment Elliot saw the state I was in, pain flooded his expression.

“How did you get hurt this badly?”

He immediately had someone bring a first-aid kit, then gently cleaned and dressed my wounds, taking care with every touch.

I watched him and asked softly, “Didn’t you say you’d never come to my wedding?”

His hands stilled.

When he answered, his voice was low and rough.

“I planned to watch you be happy from a distance, then finally let you go.”

“But when I got here, you weren’t the bride. Then I heard someone say you’d been locked in here, so I came straight over.”

He looked up, his expression steady.

“Everything they did to you, everything they owe you—I’ll make them answer for it.”

I looked at the man in front of me—the man who had only ever had eyes for me—and made my decision.

“Elliot, let’s get married.”

“You told me once that if I ever changed my mind, you’d always be there. Does that still stand?”

Elliot went completely still.

He stared at me, shock flashing through his eyes. When he spoke, his voice trembled slightly, but there was no hesitation in it.

“It does. It always will. Mara, let’s get married.”

Once my wounds were taken care of, we drove straight to the courthouse.

The license and civil ceremony went quickly.

Before long, I held our new marriage certificate in my hands, its reality filling me with a quiet, steady warmth.

I borrowed a charger and turned my phone back on.

The second it booted up, messages from friends and family flooded the screen.

They were all asking the same thing.

[It’s your wedding day. Why is Sienna the bride?]

I scrolled past them one by one.

Then I laid our marriage certificate out, took a photo, and posted it to Instagram with one caption.

[You got the ceremony. I got the marriage.]

Back at the reception, Julian had an arm around Sienna as they made the rounds greeting guests.

One of his friends suddenly went pale and hurried over.

“Julian, we’ve got a problem. Mara… got married.”