Chapter 3

I picked up my clutch and turned to leave.

“There’s something at the company. I’m leaving first.”

I went to the fitting room, took off the wedding dress, and changed back into my own clothes.

When I passed through the front hall again, familiar voices came from inside.

Someone inside lowered their voice and urged him.

“Ethan Shaw, are you really not going after her? What if she refuses to marry you?”

“Sophie looked like she was about to cry just now.”

Ethan Shaw was silent for a few seconds, but his tone was very certain.

“She won’t.”

“Sophie is already thirty. She’s the most desperate to get married.”

My heart sank hard.

Thirty, desperate to get married...

Those two phrases were like a blunt knife, cutting into my chest little by little.

The next second, he said again:

“But Nina just got teased by you guys so much that her face turned red.”

“I need to go comfort her.”

His friends started teasing him again.

“How are you going to comfort her, in bed?”

“You just said Nina was good in bed!”

...

My heart was already so numb that it could no longer ache.

At that moment, my phone vibrated.

It was a message from my mother.

“Honey, how is the wedding rehearsal going?”

“I can’t wait to see you in your wedding dress.”

“For this wedding, from the venue to the flowers to the lighting, you confirmed everything bit by bit, and I’m so excited too.”

“My daughter is going to marry happiness at her favorite venue!”

Favorite?

I suddenly remembered that at the very beginning, I had wanted a wedding themed around white lily of the valley.

But Ethan Shaw only took one look at it and said:

“Nina said lily of the valley is too plain.”

“A wedding should be more vibrant.”

So the lily of the valley was replaced with the red roses Nina Wells liked.

I wanted pale silver lighting.

Ethan Shaw said, “Nina said warm tones look better in photos.”

I wanted pale pink embossed invitations.

Ethan Shaw said, “Let’s listen to Nina. She’s young and has good taste.”

Only later did I realize.

The wedding I had seriously prepared for nearly a year.

Bit by bit, it had been changed into something Nina Wells liked.

And I, the bride, had only one thing left on it—my name.

I looked at the wedding rehearsal site that had already become unrecognizable and suddenly smiled.

Then I sent my mother a message:

“Mom, I’m not going to marry Ethan Shaw.”