Chapter 12
The line went dead with a click.
Everyone in the hall stared at him with confused looks.
His parents panicked like crazy, begging him to get moving.
“The ceremony started! What are you doing? The Collins won’t be coming to the wedding. They’re never coming back to the country. Why are you torturing yourself? Just go in!”
“We called you like twenty times on the day they left asking you to come say goodbye. You didn’t pick up once. Finish the wedding first, then we can all visit Spain later and you can explain everything to your uncle Collins.”
Every word felt like boiling oil on Ethan’s heart.
Realizing he might never see Avery again made his hands shake.
The officiant called for him a third time but he still made no move to enter. Instead he tried calling back.
The automated “this phone is off” message frustrated him even more. He tried Avery’s number next.
This time he got a “cannot be completed” message, meaning she’d blocked him.
Realizing this, his temple throbbed with anger. He opened his messaging app and sent several messages.
A stream of “message failed to send” notifications marks crushed Ethan’s last bit of hope.
He turned to leave but ran into Sophia in her wedding dress at the exit.
She stared at him with confusion and urgency.
“They’ve called you three times. Why aren’t you coming in?”
Faced with her questioning, Ethan could barely form a coherent sentence.
“I… I need to handle something. Can we… can we postpone the wedding a few days?“]
Sophia’s face instantly darkened.]
She dropped her skirt, her eyes turning cold.[]
“Why? Why postpone? Are you having second thoughts about marrying me?”
Before Ethan could answer, his father jumped in.]
“No no Sophia! Ethan just heard about Avery moving away and he’s a bit shocked. Just give him a minute to process it.”
Hearing this, Sophia immediately understood what he wanted to “handle.“]
The anger she’d been holding back exploded as she lost her composure and screamed.[]
“You want to postpone OUR WEDDING for AVERY? Are you fucking insane? I’m telling you right now–if you walk out that door, we are DONE!! ”
