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?

Chapter 2

Perhaps the air conditioning in the lounge was set too high, but the more I thought about it, the colder I felt to the bone.

Kai came to grab my hand, but I shook him off. I looked up at him, my gaze determined. "Get me back my wedding dress. I don't want her in it."

He frowned. "Stop making a big deal out of it, Lexi. It's just a ceremony. We can redo it anytime we want."

The way his lips curled and the frustration in his eyes stung me.

I refuted, "She wants my dress? Fine. But does she have to walk down the aisle with you?"

Was it her unreasonable tantrums, using her illness as an excuse to make demands, or was he already drifting away emotionally, just taking the easy way out?

Perhaps he knew I was right because his expression darkened.

He flung me away and headed toward the door, leaving behind some nasty words. "It's so suffocating to be with you. All you ever do is embarrass me and kill the mood."

Was I trying to embarrass him? Was I being unreasonable?

The clicking sound of the door lock pulled me back to reality.

I lifted the hem of my dress and banged on the door. "I'm not letting this happen! I'd spent too much time and effort on this day for you to call it just a ceremony…"

His impatient voice rang from the other side of the door. "Could you be any less cold-hearted? What's so hard about letting a dying patient get her final wish?"

I had tolerated her illness for many years, and now, I was supposed to give up my own wedding and husband because she was dying. Was I the one who made her sick?

My hand rested on the door handle, and I finally cooled down. "Think this through, Kai. You'd better not regret this."

His footsteps paused outside the door before growing steadily more distant. I slid down the length of my exaggerated skirt, feeling a hollow emptiness inside.

Addison had done it, hadn't she? She had successfully ruined my wedding.

My phone on the table rang urgently. It was a call from my parents. Before I could answer, the call was abruptly disconnected.

The lounge was just behind the hall, separated by a single door, and I could clearly hear the commotion, the surprise, and the buzz coming from the hall.

Then, guided by the host, applause followed.

Addison had posted a video online.

The camera focused on the large screen, and all the carefully planned photoshoots Kai and I had spent so much time on were swapped with Addison's face through AI.

The makeup I wore under the scorching sun, the aching waist and sore feet after a whole day, the hours spent perfecting each pose—all of it became a gift to her.

This hurt more than anything Kai had ever said.

Even though I was trembling with rage, my hand still clicked on the next video. In it, Addison walked toward Kai, stepping confidently under the stage lights.

Behind her, in the shadow backstage, I saw my parents. Their faces were filled with worry as they looked around for me, only to be held back by two security guards.

By then, tears were already streaming down my face, splashing onto my phone screen, right over the image of my parents' faces.

I had chosen the wrong man. In return, I had ended up embarrassing Mom and Dad.

I didn't bother watching the rest of the videos. Amid the celebration that was just one wall away from me, my mind gradually cleared.

I stood in front of the mirror for a long time, then quietly took off the ill-fitting wedding dress, wiped off my makeup, and changed back into my own clothes.

All that was left was relief. Thank goodness I saw the truth before I walked down the aisle with him.

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.