He Chose Her, So I Canceled Our Wedding

When I returned to the private lounge, Sienna was surrounded by people taking photographs.

The vintage Valenti brooch glittered against her silver dress. Our wedding photographer stood nearby, capturing close-ups while several women admired the stones.

One of Damian’s cousins lifted his whiskey glass.

“That’s quite a prize, Damian. If I hadn’t seen the invitations, I might think Sienna was the woman you planned to marry.”

Sienna’s eyes immediately turned red.

“Please don’t say that. Alessandra will think I’m trying to take something from her.”

Every person in the room looked at me.

Damian was sitting near the center of the lounge. When he saw me standing by the door, his brow moved slightly.

“Why are you standing over there?” he asked. “Anyone looking at you would think someone had mistreated you.”

I almost laughed.

I was the one they had humiliated, yet even my silence was being treated as a scene.

Damian held out his hand.

Normally, I would have crossed the room and sat beside him. I would have smiled until both families believed nothing was wrong.

This time, I did not move.

Damian’s expression tightened.

Luca stood first and walked toward me. He had gentle features and always seemed to be smiling, even when he was settling the disputes my father never allowed to reach a courtroom.

Until I was twenty-one, I had believed Luca was the one person who would never embarrass me.

Now he leaned closer and lowered his voice.

“Alessandra, don’t put Damian in an awkward position in front of both families.”

I looked at him. “Have I said anything?”

Luca paused.

Across the room, Sienna touched the brooch and began to unfasten it. Her tears fell faster as she looked between Damian and me.

“I’ll give it to Alessandra. This is her wedding dinner. I shouldn’t keep something that upsets her.”

Her fingers had barely reached the clasp when Damian spoke.

“Leave it on.”

He turned to me.

“She drew the winning key. The prize belongs to her.”

I gave a quiet laugh.

The room fell silent.

Damian’s eyes grew colder.

Luca frowned. “It was a game, Alessandra. Do you have to make it this unpleasant?”

He took half a step toward Sienna, putting himself between us.

“Sienna has struggled with feeling unwanted since she was a child. She was finally happy tonight. Can’t you let her have this?”

There it was again.

It had not always been this way.

Before Sienna and her mother joined our family, Damian remembered every promise he made to me, and Luca was the friend who always stood on my side.

Then my father married Sienna’s mother, and every disagreement began ending the same way. They stopped asking what was fair and started asking what would keep Sienna from crying.

She needs it more.

You are stronger.

Let her have it.

I looked at Sienna.

She stood close to Damian with tears still clinging to her lashes. But when our eyes met, there was no fear in hers.

The corner of her mouth moved slightly.

Then Damian stood and came toward me.

Damian raised his hand to touch my hair, the same gesture he always used when he wanted me to stop arguing.

I turned my head away.

Someone behind him drew in a sharp breath.

Damian’s hand remained in the air for a second before he lowered it.

His expression darkened.

“I’ll be at the bridal atelier tomorrow at ten.”

I looked up at him. “You remembered?”

He stared at me as if I had asked something ridiculous.

“When have I ever forgotten a promise I made to you?”

I could have answered him.

Instead, Sienna coughed softly from across the room.

Damian turned away from me at once.

“What’s wrong?”

Sienna shook her head and touched the skin beneath the brooch.

“It’s nothing. My neck feels a little itchy. I’m probably not used to wearing it.”

Damian crossed the room and examined the faint red patch near her collarbone. He immediately picked up his coat and draped it around her shoulders.

“I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“You don’t have to.” Sienna looked toward me. “Alessandra is already upset. I don’t want to ruin her evening too.”

“You’re not ruining anything,” Damian said.

Luca glanced at my face and sighed.

“Don’t fixate on this, Alessandra. Damian is marrying you. Sienna is only our little sister.”

I looked at him.

“Does a sister accept a vacation chosen by her sister’s fiancé?”

The faint smile disappeared from Luca’s face.

“Do you have to say it like that?”

Damian looked back at me, his voice turning cold.

“That’s enough, Alessandra.”

Suddenly, I had nothing left to say.

Even after they deliberately gave Sienna the vacation I had planned and left me with an empty case, they still expected me to smile and say that I had terrible luck.

By the end of the evening, the skin beneath Sienna’s brooch was slightly red.

Damian took her to the hospital.

Luca stayed behind to take me home.

“Don’t take what happened tonight too seriously.”

“You know Damian. He sounds cold, but he cares about you.”

“He’ll attend your fitting tomorrow. In two days, he’ll marry you.”

Luca rested his hands on my shoulders.

“You’ve already won, Alessandra. Stop competing with Sienna over small things.”

I looked directly at him.

“What did I win?”

Luca froze.

His mouth opened, but no answer came.

Because even he could not name a single thing that truly belonged to me.

I gave a small, bitter laugh.

“Apparently, nothing.”

That night, I booked a one-way flight for the morning of my wedding.