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My Fiancé Canceled Our Wedding Eight Times, I Replaced Him
Novelix
Completed
"The night before our wedding, my fiancé announces that my best friend is pregnant with his baby. Then he runs after her, leaving me with a cigarette burn on my hand. I’ve waited eight years and watched our wedding fall apart eight times. He thinks I’ll wait again. This time, I keep the wedding and replace the groom. By the time he comes begging at my door, my new husband is there to answer it. I thought my brother’s friend was doing me a favor. Then I ask when he bought my ring. He bought it before I ever asked him to marry me."
Chapters (4)
第1章
The night before my wedding, my best friend Renata can barely focus on the party.
She keeps smiling at me, but there are tears in her eyes.
"I can't believe I'm really losing you to this idiot," she says.
I figure she's just getting emotional about the wedding and reach out to comfort her.
Before I can say anything, my fiancé, Sterling, taps the ash off his cigarette and laughs.
"What are you crying for? How about we play a game?"
He closes one hand around a coin and looks at Renata.
"Heads or tails. Call it right, and I owe you a favor. Call it wrong, and you owe me one."
I figure he's just trying to lighten the mood. Sterling's always been good at keeping a party going.
Renata stares at his closed fist. Her voice trembles.
"Heads."
Sterling opens his hand.
Tails.
Our friends start cheering and laughing right away.
Everyone assumes he'll go easy on her and ask for something harmless, if only for my sake.
Instead, Sterling looks at her and says, "You lose."
Then his smile drops.
"Go get an abortion."
The whole lounge goes dead quiet.
I freeze.
"Sterling, what the hell are you talking about?"
He shrugs like it's nothing.
"Exactly what it sounds like."
His eyes meet mine.
"The baby Renata's carrying is mine."
"If I'm marrying you, I need to clean up the mess I made before the wedding. Don't worry."
For a second, I forget how to breathe.
Renata looks at me, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Serena."
Then she turns and runs.
Sterling swears under his breath and goes after her without a second thought.
As he turns to leave, the lit end of his cigarette drags across the back of my hand.
Pain shoots up my arm.
He doesn't even notice.
I just sit there, staring at the red mark he left behind.
And that's when it hits me.
I'm the only one who actually lost this game.
...
"Has Sterling lost his damn mind?!"
"The wedding's tomorrow. Why would he pull this shit tonight?"
Half a dozen friends crowd around me, all talking over each other.
Gemma's the first to notice. She grabs my arm.
"Serena, your hand—"
She spots the burn and sucks in a breath.
"What the fuck? Did that asshole do this to you?"
I don't answer.
A clear blister is already rising in the middle of the burn.
Cash steps in fast.
"Let's deal with your hand first."
Everyone starts digging through bags and flagging down staff for a first-aid kit.
Daphne finally pulls a small tube of burn gel out of her purse and crouches next to me.
The gel is cold against my skin.
I flinch when she touches the blister.
Daphne glances up at me.
"You know you're allowed to cry, right?"
Cry?
I thought I would.
But my eyes are bone dry. It's like my brain hasn't caught up with what just happened yet.
My best friend and the man I'm supposed to marry tomorrow suddenly feel like two strangers.
The lounge falls quiet.
Then someone's phone chimes.
Sterling's sent a voice message to the group chat.
"Renata's in bad shape. I'm taking her to the ER. Someone tell Serena."
The room goes silent again.
Gemma loses it.
"He has your number! Why the hell can't he tell you himself?"
Cash grabs her by the shoulder.
"Whoa, whoa, Gemma. Calm down—"
"Calm down, my ass! You two are supposed to get married tomorrow, and he runs off after his ex and leaves you sitting here by yourself. What kind of asshole does that?!"
My hand tightens at that word.
I look up.
"His ex?"
第2章
Gemma freezes.
I look straight at her. "They dated?"
The lounge goes dead silent.
Gemma shakes her head fast.
"No, no. That's not what I meant. It just came out wrong"
I turn to Cash. "You knew too?"
He pulls the cigarette from his mouth and gives a strained laugh.
"Knew what? I practically live at the office. How would I know anything?"
"Cash," I cut in. "You were Sterling's college roommate."
His smile stiffens.
He stares at the cigarette between his fingers for a few seconds.
"Sterling and Renata got pretty close junior year."
"It ended. Then he started dating you. I thought it was over."
I turn to Daphne.
She looks away too.
"Serena, I just... didn't think it was worth bringing up."
"We've all seen how Sterling treats you anyway."
I stand there, trying to process it.
So this is the secret everyone's been keeping from me.
Until tonight, everyone in this room but me knew Sterling and Renata had history.
Maybe they knew it never really ended, either.
Gemma comes over and grabs my wrist.
"Serena, I didn't mean for that to slip out."
"I know."
"Then stop looking at me like that."
I manage a small smile.
"How am I supposed to look?"
Gemma goes quiet.
Cash stubs out his cigarette and puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Give Serena a minute."
Gemma lets go of me.
I walk out of the lounge and call my dad.
"Dad... we're not doing the wedding at our hotel tomorrow."
For a second, he doesn't say anything.
"Again? Serena, how many times is that now?"
I stop walking.
How many times?
The first time was two years ago, in the spring.
The venue was already booked when Renata got into a car accident and broke her leg.
I wanted my best friend standing next to me as my maid of honor, so I pushed the wedding back.
Sterling told me it was fine. We could wait.
The second time was that fall.
We picked a new date, but Renata had a falling-out with her family and had nowhere to stay.
Sterling let her move into the condo that was supposed to become our home after the wedding.
"She's in the guest room. I'm in mine. You have nothing to worry about," he told me.
Obviously, the three of us couldn't actually live there together. He suggested pushing the date again.
The third time was last March.
Everything was set when Renata called me in tears, saying her boyfriend had dumped her.
I was scared she might hurt herself, so I stayed with her for three days. The wedding just... didn't happen.
The fourth time was last September.
I dragged Sterling to my parents' place and made him promise, in front of them, no more delays.
A week before the wedding, Renata swallowed half a bottle of sleeping pills.
Sterling took the call in the middle of our final menu tasting and ran out.
One delay turned into another, and somehow they all led back to the same woman.
This is the eighth time we've tried.
The venue is booked. The wedding planner has every detail confirmed.
Our engagement photos are framed. Five hundred invitations already went out.
Everything was finally lined up.
Until tonight, when Sterling ran after Renata again.
Dad coughs on the other end of the line, pulling me back.
"All right. What did your best friend do this time?"
I look up at the dark sky.
"Nothing much."
Dad breathes out, relieved.
Before he can say another word, I add.
"She's just pregnant with Sterling's baby."
第3章
I barely hear what Dad says after that.
All I catch is that he wants me to go back to the condo, pack a bag, and wait for someone to pick me up.
I used to hate going home because my parents watched me too closely.
Tonight, I say yes.
After the call ends, I take out my phone to call an Uber.
Footsteps sound behind me.
"Serena."
I stop.
Sterling circles around and stands in front of me. His eyes drop to the back of my hand.
"You got burned? Let me see."
He reaches for my wrist, but I step back.
His hand hangs in the air for a second before he pulls it away.
"Fine. Don't show me."
He slips both hands into his pockets.
"Renata's at the ER. It's a bad stomach bug, nothing to do with the baby. I got her settled and came back because I figured you'd still be upstairs."
"What makes you think I'd wait for you?"
"You didn't drive."
I fall silent.
He's right.
I waited at home for him to pick me up tonight.
When he was two blocks away, Renata called to say she was sick, and he made a U-turn to go get her.
I ended up riding here with Gemma.
Sterling nods toward his car.
"Get in. I'll take you home."
He pauses, then adds.
"I still need to go back to Renata. She already felt awful tonight, and I went too hard on her with that bet. I probably made it worse."
He says it like nothing happened.
Like betraying me with my best friend is something he can explain once and brush under the rug.
Like the cigarette he dragged across my hand before chasing her didn't matter either.
I don't move.
"Go by yourself."
"Serena." His voice hardens.
"Your hand is burned. If you stand out here waiting for a ride alone, Gemma and the others will ask me why I left you. Then I'll have to explain everything. If you're not tired of this, I am."
"If you're so sick of it, why did you get her pregnant?"
Sterling pauses, then lowers his head with a laugh.
"You jealous?"
"That's Renata. She's not some stranger!"
"If I hadn't gone after her, could you live with yourself if something happened to her?"
He even smiles as he says it, almost patiently, like he is waiting for a difficult child to calm down.
Something inside me shuts off.
"Get in."
He jerks his chin toward the car.
"I'll take you home, and we need to do something about that hand."
My pulse jumps.
A shudder of pure revulsion runs up my spine.
"Sterling, every word coming out of your mouth makes me sick."
He looks surprised for a second.
Then he smiles.
"Serena, you're angry. I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
"If I say you're both disgusting, you'll pretend you didn't hear that too?"
"Yeah."
"What if I say I can't stand looking at you?"
He holds my gaze.
"If you really couldn't stand me, you wouldn't still be here talking to me."
He reaches out and pulls the zipper of my jacket a little higher.
"Go home and get some sleep. If you still want to yell at me tomorrow, I'll listen."
His expression turns serious.
"But don't take this out on Renata. I'm the one who screwed up. She came to me, and I didn't push her away. She said she needed me, and I went."
He says it without excuses.
He admits he betrayed me, but still makes sure to protect her.
The cold from the burn gel has faded.
Now the place where the cigarette touched me finally starts to hurt.
第4章
I glance down the empty street, then walk toward Sterling's car.
He can just be my driver tonight.
I don't have the energy to stand out here with my hand throbbing while I wait for another ride.
The corner of his mouth lifts as he follows me.
He opens the passenger door, but I walk around it and get into the back seat.
Sterling looks at me through the window.
"You sit back there, I'm gonna feel like your Uber driver."
I don't answer. I just fasten my seat belt.
He stands outside for two seconds before walking around the car and getting behind the wheel.
The ride is quiet.
The air blowing from the vents carries a faint trace of cigarette smoke. The blister on my hand throbs beneath the cool air.
I think about the first time I saw Sterling, back in junior year.
He was playing basketball and showing off every chance he got.
When a girl offered him a towel, he waved her off and wiped the sweat away with the back of his hand.
Back then, I thought he was confident and decisive.
He never hesitated. Never dragged anything out.
Now I realize he has always been that way.
Even when it comes to us.
The car stops in front of my building. I open the door and step out.
The night wind hits me, lifting the hem of my jacket before letting it fall again.
Behind me, the window rolls down.
Sterling finally says what he has been holding back the entire drive.
"Serena, we should postpone the wedding."
I stop.
"Renata's an emotional wreck right now," he explains.
"An abortion would be too hard on her body in this state."
I turn around.
"Weren't you the one who said you wanted to clean up your mess before marrying me?"
He pauses.
"That bet was supposed to make her..."
"Make her what?"
Sterling is silent for two seconds.
"Serena, can you not force me to choose right now?"
"You already chose."
That bet was never about forcing Renata to get an abortion.
He wanted to scare her into fighting for him.
She did, and he gave in.
It doesn't matter anymore.
The moment he threw me aside to protect her, I was finally free of him.
Sterling doesn't argue.
"I already told the wedding planner to find us the first open Saturday next month. We won't have to wait long."
Before I can answer, his phone rings.
He listens for a few seconds, his grip tightening around the phone.
"Your stomach hurts? I'm on my way."
He looks back up at me.
"Serena, I caused this mess. I'll clear it all up and make it up to you."
Then he hits the gas and speeds away.
I take a slow breath and look down at my hand. The blister is full and swollen now, impossible to ignore.
It sits against my skin like a brand.
A reminder that after tonight, nothing will ever be the same.
