He Let Her Try On My Wedding Dress

Chapter 2

The lights in the ballroom at Corven Hotel were being adjusted.

I stood in the doorway as a line of text slowly scrolled across the large screen.

Groom: Emmett Mercer. Bride: Nadine Kessler.

The lobby manager saw me and immediately looked uncomfortable.

"Ms. Fenton, what brings you here?"

"I'm here to cancel the wedding reception."

The manager wiped his forehead. "But Mr. Mercer told us yesterday to keep the venue booking. He said we only needed to change the names on the welcome sign and the screen."

I followed his gaze.

Onstage, Emmett was holding Nadine's hand as they rehearsed their entrance. She missed the beat twice in a row. Instead of losing patience, he took her hand and led her through it again.

"Don't look at your feet. Just follow me."

Nadine beamed. "You're so patient. You'll spoil me."

Emmett lifted the hem of her skirt for her. "For the next few days, you can be as demanding as you like."

Standing by the door, I remembered dragging him here to rehearse a month earlier. By the third run, he'd irritably sat down and started looking at his phone. It was a wedding, not an exam, he'd said. Good enough was good enough.

Now, his patience seemed endless.

Emmett looked up and saw me. His smile vanished.

"What are you doing here?"

He let go of Nadine's skirt and strode over.

I looked at the screen. "I'm here to cancel the venue booking."

He frowned. "You can't. Nadine needs it for her wedding."

I almost laughed. "So our reception has become yours, too?"

Emmett glanced around, clearly unwilling to let me go on.

He lowered his voice. "Mr. Kessler doesn't have much time left. This is his only chance. I know you're upset. I'll make it up to you afterward." He rested a hand on my shoulder. "Didn't you want an island wedding? We'll do that later."

In the past, those few words might have been enough to calm me down.

He'd always known how to soothe me. That was why I'd kept believing he simply wasn't good at expressing his feelings.

"What about the deposit I paid?"

Emmett blinked. "It's only 50,000 dollars. Do we really have to keep score over that? The Kessler family has a lot of expenses right now. What's wrong with saving her a little money?"

He said it so casually, as though it wasn't much money and my hurt wasn't worth mentioning.

Nadine came over, lifting the hem of my wedding dress. The pearls my mother had left me gleamed softly at her waist under the lights.

"Ms. Fenton, I'm so sorry. I said we could do it anywhere, but Emmett didn't want my dad to have to settle."

She looked up at the screen, and tears suddenly spilled down her cheeks.

"Honestly, seeing my name next to Emmett's feels so unreal. When we were little, the grown-ups always joked that we'd get married someday. I never thought I'd get to live that dream, even for a pretend wedding."

Emmett stiffened. "Nadine, don't say things like that."

As if she'd only just realized her mistake, Nadine hurried to apologize. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking back to when we were little. Please don't get the wrong idea, Ms. Fenton."

Emmett immediately moved in front of her. "Her father's this ill, and you still have to force her to apologize?"

I hadn't said a word.

Yet the moment Nadine cried, I became the one in the wrong.

"Fine. I won't hold it against her."

I turned to the manager. "Mr. Mercer will pay the balance. Refund my deposit of 50,000 dollars."

Emmett's face darkened. "Celia, don't throw a tantrum here."

Nadine caught my hand. "Maybe I can pay you back the 50,000 dollars later. Emmett's already spent so much on me. I don't want to trouble him again."

I slowly withdrew my hand. "Miss Kessler, if you're having a wedding, it's perfectly reasonable for you to pay for it."

Emmett lost the last of his patience. "Celia, haven't you made enough of a scene? If you want to take your anger out on me, do it at home. Stop embarrassing yourself here."

I looked at him.

Our 8 years together apparently counted for less than a few tears in Nadine's eyes.

"Fine. I won't make a scene anymore."

I turned and left.

Behind me, Nadine quickly lowered her voice. "Is she really angry? Should you go after her?"

Emmett sounded indifferent. "No. She'll get over it in a couple of days."

As soon as I left the hotel, I contacted a law firm to have a divorce agreement drawn up.