Chapter Two
1179 Words
Ella stared at Greg as though the man standing before her had suddenly become someone else.
The word he had spoken continued to echo through her mind, impossible to accept despite the silence that had settled over the church. No. He had said no. In front of everyone they knew, in front of both their families, and most painfully, in front of her father, Greg had refused to marry her.
Her fingers trembled around the bouquet.
She searched his face for some indication that he regretted what he had done, but there was nothing. Greg remained strangely calm, his expression almost indifferent as he stood beneath the flowers they had chosen together.
“Greg,” Ella whispered, her voice barely audible. “What are you doing?”
He did not answer immediately.
Instead, he looked past her.
Ella followed his gaze.
Her eyes landed on Susan.
Susan was standing among the bridesmaids several steps away, dressed in the pale rose gown Ella had personally chosen for her. She had been Ella’s best friend for years, the person Ella trusted more than almost anyone besides her father.
Susan had helped her choose the wedding dress.
She had stayed with her through every fitting.
She had listened to Ella talk endlessly about Greg, about their future, and about the life she hoped they would build together.
She had smiled beside Ella throughout the entire wedding preparation.
And now she was looking at Greg.
Not with shock or with confusion, but with love.
Ella's stomach dropped.
She looked back at Greg, then at Susan again.
The pieces refused to fit together.
“What is going on?” Ella asked.
Greg finally turned toward her.
“I never wanted this marriage.”
The words struck her harder than his rejection.
Ella's lips parted, but nothing came out.
“You never wanted this marriage?” she repeated, struggling to make sense of what he had said. “Then why did you agree to it?”
Greg gave a faint smile that held none of the affection she had once believed existed between them.
“Because there were things I needed to wait for.”
A cold feeling settled in Ella’s chest.
Her father shifted in his seat at the front of the church. His face had lost some of its colour, and his eyes were fixed on Greg with an expression Ella had never seen before.
“Greg,” George said firmly. “Explain yourself.”
Greg ignored him.
His attention remained on Ella for another moment before moving toward Susan.
“Come here.”
Susan hesitated.
For the first time, uncertainty appeared on her face.
Ella stared at her.
“Susan?”
Her best friend slowly stepped forward.
Each step seemed to make the room smaller.
Ella could barely breathe as Susan approached the altar. She wanted to believe there was an innocent explanation. She wanted Susan to reach her and whisper that Greg was confused, that something had gone terribly wrong, that she had no idea why he was behaving this way.
But Susan did not come to Ella.
She walked toward Greg.
Ella's eyes widened.
“Susan, what are you doing?”
Susan stopped beside Greg.
Their shoulders nearly touched.
Ella looked from one to the other, and a terrible understanding began forming in her mind.
“No,” she whispered.
Greg reached for Susan's hand.
Susan allowed him to take it.
Ella felt something inside her break.
“You two...” Her voice faltered. “How long?”
Neither of them answered.
That silence was enough.
Ella's throat tightened as tears gathered in her eyes.
She had trusted Susan.
She had told her everything.
Every fear.
Every hope.
Every private thought she had about Greg.
Susan knew how much this wedding meant to her. She knew how much Ella loved the man standing beside her.
Yet she had been hiding something.
Greg lifted Susan's hand and pressed his lips against it.
Then he turned toward her.
“I love you,” he said.
A murmur swept through the church.
Ella felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her feet.
Susan lowered her gaze, but there was no surprise in her expression. She looked almost relieved.
Ella shook her head slowly.
“This isn't real.”
Greg looked at her.
“It is.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You're in love with Susan?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without hesitation.
Ella stared at him, unable to understand how easily he could destroy everything they had built together.
“What about me?”
Greg's expression hardened.
“What about you?”
Ella flinched.
For fifteen years, she had believed she mattered to him.
She had believed that even if their marriage had been arranged by their families, their relationship had grown into something genuine. She had believed the late night conversations, the quiet moments, the promises, and every time Greg had told her that their future belonged together.
Had all of it been a lie?
She looked at Susan.
“Did you know?”
Susan's eyes met hers.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she gave a small nod.
Ella's heart sank.
“How long?”
Susan looked uncomfortable, but Greg stepped closer to her.
“Long enough.”
Ella closed her eyes.
A tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.
The church suddenly felt unbearably warm.
She could hear people whispering behind her, but she could not make out their words. Her entire world had narrowed to the two people standing in front of her.
Greg.
Susan.
Her groom.
Her best friend.
The two people she had trusted most had been standing together while she had been preparing to marry Greg.
She had been planning a future while they had apparently been building one without her.
Greg turned toward Susan.
Ella watched helplessly as he placed one hand around her waist.
“Susan,” Ella whispered.
Susan looked at her.
There was a flicker of guilt in her eyes.
But it disappeared almost immediately.
Greg leaned closer.
Ella's heart stopped.
“Greg, don't.”
He kissed Susan.
He did it without hesitation, without shame, and without looking back at Ella.
A collective gasp moved through the church.
Ella stood frozen as the man she had expected to marry kissed her best friend in front of everyone.
Her bouquet slipped slightly in her trembling hands.
She could no longer feel the flowers.
She could barely feel herself standing.
The tears came freely now, but she did not wipe them away. She could not bring herself to look anywhere else.
She had walked down that aisle believing she was walking toward her future.
Instead, she had walked directly into her greatest humiliation.
When Greg finally pulled away from Susan, he looked toward Ella.
His face was cold.
“This wedding was never meant to happen.”
Ella stared at him through her tears, unable to understand how the man she had loved for fifteen years could say those words as though their entire relationship had meant nothing.
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