Chapter 3
The dreary ceremony finally ended.
The door to the lounge was pushed open, and Kai stood there. He pinched between his brows and looked visibly stressed. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. I’ll also visit your mom and dad and explain—”
“Don’t. They’re my family, not yours,” I interjected.
More precisely, they weren’t his family anymore.
Kai looked surprised at first, but the annoyance quickly took over his face. “Stop with the tantrum, okay? You knew Addison had been suffering through her illness. What’s so hard about doing something nice for her?”
Even then, he didn’t think he had done anything wrong. Instead, he was eager to defend Addison.
For a moment, I was at a complete loss for words.
“Fine—I’m just throwing a big tantrum. I’ll pack up my stuff and move out. I’ll also have someone sell our newlywed apartment. If you don’t want to sell it, just transfer the portion my family paid back into my account. That’ll be it.”
With that, I ran up to Mom and Dad, who were standing not far away.
Our relatives surrounded them. When I arrived, I overheard a question. “Did she seriously get dumped on her wedding day?”
My aunt, Sonia Booker, was also lecturing me behind my back. “A girl who’s too headstrong is never a good thing. Swapping brides on the wedding day? If you ask me, it’s a disgrace.”
I pulled Mom and Dad away, broken to see the embarrassment on their faces.
Without any regard, I refuted Aunt Sonia, “Are you on my side or Kai’s? It was his lack of integrity to blame for locking me away on my wedding day. He disrespected me by not discussing the matter with me beforehand.
“What did that have to do with my personality? If I knew this was going to happen, he wouldn’t even have the chance to be here today!”
Aunt Sonia, thoroughly embarrassed, muttered under her breath and left in a huff.
At that moment, Mom held my hand. I could see the worry on her face, so I comforted her, “It’s fine, Mom. Who cares about marrying a man like that? Not me, certainly.”
After seeing them off, I headed to our newlywed apartment alone to pack my things.
My stance had been clear, and I was rational. My emotions, though? They were a mess. Somehow, my tears decided to fall on their own.
Kai and I had decorated our future home together. Anywhere I looked, there were traces of him.
Take the small porcelain pot, for example. He bought it after learning about my period cramps, saying he would make nourishing soup for me every week.
He had also designed our walk-in closet simply because I told him I liked a certain style. I had joked that he went overboard with the LED lights after it was all set up, and he just pulled me into his arms, asking for a reward.
We first met in college and later spent a year in a long-distance relationship because of work. He put in a lot of effort to win me over.
When he confessed, he said he saw me in a debate, holding my own, fierce and confident. That was when he knew.
I used to sparkle like a rare diamond in his eyes, yet now, the light he used to admire had become too blinding for him. My fierceness and confidence were an eyesore.
I packed slowly, peeling myself away from the memories bit by bit.
When I finally finished, I realized that seven years of our lives only filled a box barely up to my waist.
Just as I contemplated how to discard the box, the door was pushed open. My best friend, Peach Harmon, dashed in.
As soon as I saw her, the facade of strength I had held up for so long collapsed all at once, and a wave of bitterness hit me, making my nose sting with the urge to cry.
Peach enveloped me in a warm, big hug. “I should’ve been your bridesmaid. That way, I could’ve backed you up.”
For a long time, she had hated Kai for his indecisiveness and inability to let go of his ex. She hated him so much that she refused to attend my wedding.
She even warned me, brutally, that I would regret marrying him. To put it bluntly, she said, “It’s already hard enough with Addison alive. If she dies, how do you compete with a ghost?”
We fell out over that.
Now, it seemed she was right on the mark. I was just grateful I got to win back a friend like her.
With Peach around, life didn’t feel so bad anymore.
She had arranged a work trip just to avoid my wedding. However, as soon as her plane landed and she heard what had happened, she rushed straight to me, worried I would be wallowing in sadness alone.
She even took days off from work to stay by my side, and for that, I was genuinely moved.
Then, on the day she cheerfully started trying to set me up with someone new, Kai showed up at my door.
I snorted coldly. When a jerk showed up, I couldn’t just let them waltz in without giving them a proper reception.
