On my wedding day, Ethan’s childhood sweetheart got into a car crash.

Ethan’s eyes went red, and he said he had to go see her.

I begged him not to.

I didn’t want our wedding ruined.

More than that, I didn’t want to disappoint my dying father.

He shoved me away, his voice harsh.

“Madison’s life is on the line, don't you have a heart?”

“How can you be so cold!”

Tears streamed down my face, but a smile touched my lips.

“If you walk out that door today, this wedding has nothing to do with you anymore.”

Ethan just scoffed.

“I seem to recall you being the one who begged me to get married.”

“Don’t worry, even if you got on your knees and begged me, I wouldn't come back.”

Later, when he finally remembered to call me, he heard the voice of another man—one he knew all too well.

“Shh, she’s tired.”

“She’s sleeping, so don’t be loud.”

“Ethan, I’m asking you one more time, do you have to go see Madison?”

“Are you really okay with ruining our wedding?”

“What if I asked you to stay? Madison just texted me a minute ago, she’s not in a car crash, but my dad…”

Backstage, I was still in my white wedding dress, but there wasn't a trace of happiness on my face.

My dad has stage-four stomach cancer.

The doctors said it wouldn't be long.

He told me his last wish was to see me find my person, to see someone take my hand for the rest of my life so he could go in peace.

I didn’t want him to leave with that regret, so I moved the wedding up.

But now, my groom was about to walk out ten minutes before the ceremony.

All because someone told him Madison, the one that got away, was in a car accident and wanted to see him.

But her taunting text from three minutes ago was still glowing on my phone screen.

I desperately tried to show Ethan the proof on my phone, but he smacked it out of my hand.

The phone clattered to the floor.

I stumbled and fell to the ground with it.

“Enough! Aubrey, Madison might be dying and all she wants is to see me! Don’t you have a heart?”

“How did I ever fall for a cold-hearted woman like you!”

Looking at him, I knew there was no stopping him today.

Suddenly, I started to laugh.

Laughing at how stupid I’d been.

Someone had warned me that his relationship with Madison was more complicated than it seemed, but I chose to trust him completely.

Now, reality had just slapped me across the face.

Tears dripped from my cheeks onto the floor as I stared at him, my gaze hard as steel.

“Ethan, if you walk out today, this wedding has nothing more to do with you.”

I heard his dismissive laugh, cold and sharp.

“You seem to have forgotten who was the one begging to get married in the first place.”

“Don’t worry. A vicious woman like you? You could get on your knees and I still wouldn’t take you back.”

“A one-woman wedding? Think you can handle that?”

“Ha, just the thought of it is humiliating.”

“But you deserve it!”

After stabbing me with those cruel words, Ethan turned and left without a backward glance.

I stared at the floor in silence for three minutes.

His harsh words echoed in my mind.

And then, tangled up with them, another voice surfaced—

“I know I shouldn’t have feelings for my best friend’s girl, but I just want you to know. I want to marry you. I’m dead serious.”

Slowly, deliberately, I picked myself up off the floor and smoothed out my dress.

Then, I made a phone call.

“Remember what you said before?”

“Marry me. Right now. Are you in?”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

“On my way. Wait for me.”

After I hung up, the wedding planner stood in the doorway, wringing her hands.

“Miss Hayes, did the groom… run? The ceremony… what do we do?”

I smiled at her.

“We proceed as planned.”

“Who said the groom ran off?”

As I walked towards the stage, I received a video and a few messages from Madison.

[You know, this whole wedding you planned so carefully? It means nothing to Ethan. It was just a tool for him to get back at me.]

[Why? Because I went on one blind date my parents set up. He thought I was going to get married, so this was his way of getting even.]

In the video, Ethan was out of breath, clutching her hand, sobbing that he was so, so glad she was okay.

Overcome with emotion, he began pouring out his love for her.

All the sweet nothings he never said to me.

He once told me those words were too cheesy.

Turns out, it was just because I wasn't the one he was saying them to.

I didn’t finish the video, because it was my turn to go on stage.

What followed was a ten-minute-long tirade against me.

Accusing me of being cold-hearted, of trying to keep them apart.

If the man in that video wasn’t my fiancé, I’d almost believe I was the villain trying to break up true love.

The planner’s voice called to me.

I shut off the video without replying to her.

It didn’t matter. None of it mattered now.