He Left Me Waiting, I Left Him Forever

Chapter 2

"Vivienne!" Arthur called out as he strode after me the moment I reached the front door. "Do you really have to make things this ugly? You know about Leah's depression."

"Apologize?" I shot back, fixing him with a cold stare. "She took my jersey without asking, she took my front-row seat, and now she gives me a teary little sorry, and that is supposed to make everything okay?"

"I already told you, it was an accident," he said, his jaw tightening as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Leah had an anxiety attack the night before we left. She was crying and saying she wanted to see Messi. I am her brother. How could I just stand there and watch her fall apart?"

"So I was supposed to stand at the airport like an i***t for three hours?" I held his gaze and did not back down.

He looked a little guilty under my stare, and his tone turned impatient. "Fine, the airport thing was my fault. I forgot to call you. But the wedding is only two weeks away. Can you please calm down and stop being so unreasonable?"

The moment I heard that word "wedding," I quickly cut in, "Arthur, about the wedding..."

I had not even finished what I was trying to say when a sharp, piercing scream suddenly tore through the house from inside.

Arthur's face instantly went pale as he let go of my hand without a second thought and dashed back into the living room.

I followed him in and saw Leah slumped on the wool carpet, both hands clutching at her chest while she gasped for air in rapid, ragged breaths, crying out, "Arthur, I cannot breathe. I am so scared," with tears spilling down her cheeks and her entire body curled into a tight ball.

"Leah, do not be scared. I am right here," Arthur said as he dropped to his knees, pulled her into a tight embrace, and kept patting her back. "Breathe. Look at me. You are going to be okay."

All of Arthur's friends scrambled around in a flurry of panic, some rushing to get water while others ran off to find her medication, but I just stood at the edge of the crowd and watched the whole pathetic scene unfold with cold detachment.

The face that had been glowing with such pride only moments earlier when she was showing off that diamond necklace was now as pale as a sheet, and I could not help thinking that the Academy really owed her an Oscar for that performance.

As Arthur continued to hold her and whisper reassurances, he turned his head to look at me with his brows knitted together and disappointment written all over his face, and he said, "Vivienne, you were never this harsh before."

I did not stay a moment longer, simply turned around, and walked straight out of the house.

On my way to my apartment, my phone buzzed with a text from Arthur, which said: Leah got scared by what you said and had a mild panic attack. I am staying with her tonight. Stop being so difficult.

I read the message and pressed the lock button without typing a single word in reply.

*****

The next morning, I was at my desk going through the paperwork for a merger deal when my phone lit up with yet another i********: notification.

When I opened it, the screen showed me Leah's latest post, a photo of her standing in front of the fitting mirror at a bridal salon, wearing an incredibly lavish wedding dress made of heavy lace, with thousands of Swarovski crystals scattered across the train that glittered and sparkled under the lights.

I recognized it instantly as the very main gown I had flown all the way overseas to have custom-made, waiting six long months for it to be finished, the dress that was supposed to be mine for the wedding, and the very dress that bore witness to the promise Arthur and I had once made to spend our lives together.

The caption read:

Came along with my brother while he was trying on suits, and I could not help trying this on for myself, honestly felt like a real princess in it.

The very first comment underneath it was from Arthur.

Arthur: [Because you are one.]

I stared at that comment for what felt like a very long time, until my eyes started to sting from all the staring.

This wedding dress had once held every dream I had ever built around the idea of marriage, but now it was hanging on a scheming woman who had been deliberately trying to provoke me, and it had become nothing more than a prop for her and Arthur to play out their little act.

My phone screen lit up again with a direct message from Leah.

Leah: Vivienne, you do not mind me trying on your wedding dress, do you? It is a little big on me, but the sales assistant said they could alter it to fit perfectly for my birthday party next month. Arthur also said I look better in it than you do, and since you are getting married so soon, you would not mind lending it to me, would you?

Every single line of that message was packed with provocation, and it was the same old move she had pulled on me.

I looked at the screen and let my thoughts drift back over the past three years, remembering how Arthur had constantly put Leah ahead of me, always with the same excuse that she was his only sister and had never received enough love and care.

He had walked out on our Valentine's dinner and rushed back home because Leah said she was afraid of the dark, and he had rushed away from my promotion celebration without even a word of congratulations because she had supposedly caught a bad cold.

I used to believe that if I were understanding enough and let things slide, he would eventually recognize how much I truly meant to him, but now I could only see myself for what I really was, just a fool who had been performing for an audience of one.

My fingers flew over the keyboard as I replied to her.

Vivienne: Keep it. Consider it my contribution to your funeral outfit, and who knows, you might even get another chance to wear it at your own memorial service.