When I Had Enough, I Stopped Loving Him

Chapter 4

The weather turned out perfect on the wedding day.

Live wedding clips kept popping up on my social media feed. I couldn't stop scrolling.

Ezra wore a tailored navy suit with a small white boutonniere pinned to his lapel, while Talia glided down the aisle in a floor-length white wedding gown, her face bright with a wide grin. He laced his fingers through hers and walked her down the red carpet lined with scattered flower petals.

The wedding officiant spoke up. "Ezra, do you take this woman to be your wife?"

"I do," Ezra replied.

Sitting on the bed in my tiny rented apartment, I pressed my thumb down and blacked out the phone screen.

It was my twenty-fifth birthday.

I shut my eyes for about a minute before unlocking the phone again.

A new message popped up from Shae, with a short video clip attached.

The footage showed them drinking from a shared wedding toast glass. Ezra looped his arm around hers, their eyes locked as the rims of their wine glasses clinked together.

A line of text sat beneath the video: The bride looks stunning! Ezra's such a lucky guy!

I couldn't tell if she'd sent it on purpose or just had no clue about Ezra and my former engagement. Either way, it didn't matter anymore.

I powered off my phone, threw on my coat, and headed out the door.

I ended up going to the wedding venue at Havenbrook Banquet Hall. 'I don't even know why I came. When my mind can't keep up, my body just makes the choice for me.'

The hotel lobby bustled with guests, decked out with fresh flowers and floating balloons. I lingered by the guest sign-in table instead of stepping into the main dining hall, peering through the floor-to-ceiling glass doors into the hall.

The formal ceremony had already wrapped up. Guests sat eating while the newlyweds made their rounds toasting table by table. Ezra carried a wine glass in hand, Talia never leaving his side. She leaned snugly against him, one hand resting on his forearm and the other gently cupping her rounded belly, looking every bit a real married couple.

"What are you doing here?"

The voice drifted over from my side. I turned to find Talia standing at the bend in the hallway. She held a glass of plain water, her makeup flawless, chin tilted up as she stared at me with pure arrogance. The soft, gentle tone from her private messages was gone. So was the frail, delicate act from her social media.

I stared at her for a long moment before answering. "I just came to see."

Talia let out a mocking laugh.

"See what? See your former fiancé marry me?"

She stepped two paces closer and lowered her voice to a sharp whisper.

"Nina, are you really this stupid? You moved out the second he told you to. You took all the blame without a single protest. He told you to wait, and you're seriously just sitting around waiting?

"Did it ever cross your mind that Ezra never wanted to marry you in the first place? His parents forced the arrangement. He's never gotten over me."

My fingers tightened around my purse strap.

"You're lying."

"Why would I lie?" Talia went on. "You think he kept making excuses to push back the wedding for no reason? Five years you were together, and he never once got down on one knee.

"But the second I came back, he canceled your engagement banquet overnight.

"So tell me—who do you think he really loves?"

My lips were trembling. I wanted to fire back, but my mind was too slow to piece together a single sentence.

Talia stepped even closer.

"Let me tell you something. This wedding was my idea. I told Ezra if he didn't give me the title of a wife, I'd kill myself.

"You want to guess what he chose?"

She tilted her head, her voice light and airy.

"He didn't even hesitate for a second."

I stumbled backward, my heel catching on the doorway threshold.

Talia reached out as if to steady me—but when her hand landed on my shoulder, she shoved. Hard.

I toppled backward, my spine slamming against the polished marble hallway steps. A searing, sharp pain ripped through my lower abdomen, like something inside me had been torn open.

I curled up on the cold floor, both hands clamped over my stomach. Something warm and wet trickled down the insides of my thighs.

Talia looked down at me where I lay crumpled, then knelt and murmured quietly, "If you're smart, you'll write this off as an accidental fall."

She stood, brushed the lint off her dress, and walked back into the packed banquet room without another glance.

I lay sprawled on the freezing stone floor, staring up at the glittering crystal chandeliers overhead. The light was blindingly bright. It stung my eyes.

A passing guest spotted me lying there injured and screamed, calling for an ambulance.

Toward the end, everything went blurry. The last thing I remember was someone calling my name. It sounded like Ezra's voice. Or maybe it wasn't.

*****

At the hospital, a doctor's face hovered above mine. His words rang crystal clear.

"Are you family? She was nine weeks pregnant. We couldn't save the baby."