Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 52663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 211(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
I love you forever and always, and I’ll never let you go.
I flip the sheet over, looking for the rest, but it’s blank.
“I just read your vows,” I call out to her. “Um, they’re pretty short and to the point.”
“Exactly!” She steps out in an off-shoulder gown that takes my breath away.
“This is going to be a tough one to beat.” Her voice cracks. “What do you think, Emily?”
“I…” I stand up and move closer. “You look beautiful.”
She arches a brow. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying,” she says, narrowing her eyes. “Can you ladies excuse me and my daughter for a moment, please?”
The attendants oblige, and she steps down. Then she places her hands on my shoulders.
“You’ve been distant with me lately.” She pauses. “You think I’m moving too fast, don’t you? It’s too soon to try on dresses to you?”
“You try on wedding dresses every time we move to a new town.”
“Well, yeah, but that’s to de-stress.” She smooths the veil, smiling. “What’s wrong with the vows?”
“Nothing, they’re just bare.”
“Well, they’re just a draft. I’m going to add more about the way he makes me feel, like…” She stares into the distance as if she’s waiting for the words to meet her halfway.
“It’s like suddenly you’re the only two people on the planet?” I ask. “Like, the world could end right then and there, and you’d be fine dying in his arms.”
“Well, I would never want to die, Emily.” She shoots me a look. “That’s quite macabre of you.”
“I just mean that when you’re with him, it feels like no one else will ever matter, and that no one else you were with before ever compared. You were meant to find him, and he was meant to find you.”
“Yes.” Her lips curve into a smile. “That.”
“Have you ever gotten bad vibes from him?” Her eyes beg me to keep quiet about anything that might ruin this. “Did he say something that makes you think I should reconsider?”
“I was simply asking a question,” I say. “Just making sure this is true love.”
“Oh. Well, it is!” She smiles. “You know, whenever you think you’ve found the love of your life, I’ll be there every step of the way. Speaking of which, tell me about that guy you met.”
“It’s not going to work out,” I say. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Already? How do you know?”
I just know… “Let me see the next dress.”
“Gladly!”
She turns, floating back into the dressing room without a care in the world.
Without any regard for how her life decisions continue to affect me…
I sit down slowly, fingers clenched in my lap, and stare at the discarded envelope like it might offer a way out. I don’t know how to breathe in this room. Not when I can already see what’s coming.
Because she’s choosing him.
And if I choose Cole, I know I’ll lose her.
A relationship with him wouldn’t just strain what we have—it would obliterate it. It would stain everything this wedding is pretending to be.
She’s building her whole future on him, stitching it into lace and satin, pinning it with gold-plated hair combs. And I’m the one standing here with scissors.
There is no version of this story where I get to keep them both.
24
COLE
Where are you?
We need to talk, Emily. Now.
Are you avoiding me?
Please, Emily. Come to my room…
She’s answering my messages hours later, in short staccato replies—“sorry. just saw this.” Or bullshit like, “Sorry, been writing.”
But I know she’s not writing. I know she can’t write, especially not with the weight of everything clouding her mind.
She hasn’t been on the balcony in days, and she’s spending nights in the guest suite downstairs—across from Matt instead of me.
She spends her free time with Taylor now—laughing, texting, tucked in close like I’m not right down the hall.
She's showing me better than she can tell me.
She’s pulling away and picking sides.
25
COLE
On the night of the wedding rehearsal, Emily steps into the restaurant wearing a white silk dress that reveals the curve of her breasts, her hair pulled up in large curls. Her skin catches the light, and for a second, the entire room stills.
“Jesus…” someone on my left mutters. “How can anyone ever focus when she’s around?”
You can’t. My jaw locks, breath tight.
She shakes hands with guests and smiles for photos. Other men in the wedding party take long, lingering stares, and no one bothers to hide it.
They look at her like she’s available. Like she isn’t mine—wasn’t mine—weeks ago, skin on skin, swearing it would always be us.
She glances at me once. Barely. Then takes a seat a few chairs down like it doesn’t cost her anything.
I can’t do this shit...
“Are you planning to give a toast to your father and the future Mrs. Dawson, Cole?” Frank, my father’s business manager, nudges me with a grin.
“A toast to what?”
Everyone at the table laughs like I’ve made a joke.