Chapter 1
On my wedding day, Kai Schneider received a critical condition notice from his ex-girlfriend. Her dying wish was to put on a wedding dress for one last time.
To fulfill her wish, Kai locked me inside the lounge so he could walk down the aisle with her.
I could hear his voice from the other side of the door, filled with annoyance. “Could you be any less cold-hearted? What’s so hard about letting a dying patient get her final wish?”
Later, a young man who had crushed on me for many years climbed up to the rooftop and threatened to jump if I didn’t say yes to his proposal.
With reddened eyes, Kai pleaded, “Are you seriously going to let go of our seven-year relationship for him?”
I flung his hand away. “Should I watch him die, then? It’s just a trip to the courthouse. Have some compassion.”
…
The wedding ceremony was an hour away.
I sat before the vanity table, and on my phone screen was a photo Kai’s ex-girlfriend had sent me.
In the photo, she wore the wedding dress I had chosen and linked arms with Kai with a delighted smile. He glanced down at her, his gaze full of affection.
She also wrote, “He said I looked better in it than you do. If you wish for your wedding ceremony to go smoothly, beg me.”
I turned off my phone and asked the makeup artist, “Tell me, was there really a sizing issue with my dress, or was that just a convenient excuse?”
The bridal studio I booked didn’t just handle my dress—they were also in charge of my hair, makeup, and photography.
I spent a fortune and worked closely with their team to ensure everything would be perfect for the big day. But now, the makeup artist could barely look me in the eye.
The message was loud and clear.
I recalled how Kai was always on the phone or glued to his laptop whenever he came to watch me try on dresses. When he was with his ex, however, he was all smiles.
My grip tightened on my phone as I took a deep breath and said, “Please tell Kai to come over.”
I needed an explanation.
The makeup artist quickly asked her assistant to summon him.
I stared at the reflection in the mirror. The bodice was pulled so tight I could barely breathe. Perhaps I was never meant to wear something unfitting in the first place.
Someone else arrived first—the wedding host. He wore the same look of guilt but with an added hint of remorse, which the makeup artist had lacked. “I’m sorry, Ms. Layton, but you don’t have to be there anymore.”
“Pardon?” I let out an exasperated huff before questioning, “So, you’re telling me that I, the bride, cannot show up to my own wedding. Is that what you mean?”
The host parted his lips, ready to explain, when Kai finally arrived. “This is my idea.”
He donned an all-white suit I had chosen for him, but the bow tie seemed unfamiliar.
Seeing my gaze fixed on his collar, he uneasily cleared his throat. “Addison is going under the knife in a few days. The hospital has issued a critical condition notice. Apparently, her one last wish is to wear a wedding dress.”
I snickered. “At our wedding?”
I knew about Addison Yale. In the third year of dating Kai, I found out that he had an ex who lost all her hair due to chemotherapy.
They had grown up together, and their families were close. Even though they broke up, they couldn’t completely sever ties.
As she was receiving treatment in another city, her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Yale, asked Kai, who was in the same city, to take extra care of her.
I had always been respectful and sympathetic toward Addison, and I pitied the fact that such a young woman had to suffer from illness.
However, after our date, when she asked Kai to bring her soup in the middle of the night, my opinion of her quickly changed.
Time and again, I had let things slide because she was ill.
Besides, Kai was clear-headed and always prioritized my wishes. Whenever Addison asked him to do something, he would report back to me, and only in truly urgent situations would he go once or twice, sometimes even bringing me along.
That was until today.
When did he accompany her to try on wedding dresses? And when did he decide to give up the wedding dress I had chosen and let her replace me at the ceremony?
