Chapter 4

Ethan instinctively caught me, checking to see whether I was injured.

The next second, Mandy ran over, tears streaming down her face.

“Faye, Ethan and I were kind enough to pay for you to try on wedding dresses. How could you go so far as to seduce him?”

Ethan’s eyes instantly turned to disgust, and he shoved me away. He pulled out a handkerchief, wiped the spots where he had touched me, and looked at me with disappointment.

“It’s been five years, Faye… How did you get like this? You used to be nice. You were never like this.”

The contemptuous looks from everyone around us cut through me like knives. I had never been so humiliated in my life, and I was too stunned to speak. All I could do was instinctively clutch the gown to cover my body.

Ethan tossed the handkerchief beside me, took Mandy’s hand, and was about to leave. Yet, right at that moment, Riley grabbed onto his coat. She raised her head, stubbornly holding back her tears.

“My mommy didn’t do it! Someone stepped on mommy’s train! Mommy didn’t do it on purpose! Mister, I swear!”

Ethan’s eyes widened in shock. He instinctively grabbed Riley’s arm, his voice trembling. “What… what did you just call me?”

Riley sobbed softly, but she spoke, loud and clear, “Mister.”

I struggled to my feet and shielded my daughter behind me. “Sweetheart, you got it wrong. You shouldn’t call him that. He’s your Aunt Mandy’s husband, so you should call him Uncle Ethan.”

Ethan’s face turned pale in an instant, and he hastily dragged Mandy away.

After paying for the damaged wedding dress, I took Riley home. There, I began packing up my things.

From the deepest corner under the bed, I dug out a time capsule—something Ethan and I had bought together when we had just started college. We agreed to write a letter inside whenever there was something worth remembering and to open it together when we turned eighty. However, ever since we got divorced five years ago, I hadn’t written in it again.

I gently unfolded a letter. It was Ethan’s earliest memory.

“Faye, you smiled at me today. You’re so cute. However, your sister is so annoying; she’s always picking on you. I will protect you from now on.”

As I got to the middle of the pile, my eyebrows gradually furrowed.

“I’m realizing that Faye’s sister doesn’t have it easy either. I’ll help Faye make amends.”

“Mandy cried today. My heart really aches for her.”

Eventually, the tone of his letters began to change.

“If only I had met Mandy earlier. But I can’t let Faye down either. What on earth should I do…”

“Faye already has so much. That is why I’ve decided to choose Mandy.”

Towards the top of the pile, the letters were filled with his affection and admiration for Mandy. Not a single word mentioned my name anymore.

A chill ran down my spine. It turned out that the relationship I had held onto so dearly had been riddled with holes for a long time.

The wedding the next day was grand. Holding up my gown, I was about to walk down the aisle with Mandy when my parents stopped me.

They lowered their voices and said, “Faye, today is actually just Mandy’s wedding alone. What we said before was just to teach you a lesson. Actually, the Clark family knows nothing about this. When the time comes, you’ll just go out as the bridesmaid.”

I smiled and nodded, lifting my skirt as I walked down the aisle.

When the ceremony was about to start, however, the doors opened again, and my parents’ cheers became stuck in their throats. Seth stood at the door in a tailored suit, holding a flower bouquet and looking at me with a smile.

Ethan’s eyes widened in shock. “Isn’t he uninvited? How could…”

My lips curled into a smile. It was true; they hadn’t invited him, but I did.