Chapter 4

On the morning of the wedding, Noah came to pick me up wearing a sharp, perfectly tailored dark suit.

He stood at the door of my hotel suite, looking as relaxed as if nothing had happened in the past few days. For a second, he even looked like the young man who'd stood outside the ER five years ago after driving all night to be with me.

"Ready?"

He smiled and pinched my cheek, completely sure of himself. "I knew you couldn't actually go through with calling off the wedding."

I didn't answer.

When we pulled up at the hotel by the river, I walked into the bride's dressing room. The first person I saw was Claire.

She wore a long, pure-white silk dress and pearl earrings, her hair carefully pinned up.

Anyone who saw her alone in a wedding photo would probably assume she was the bride.

I stopped. "Who told you to wear white?"

Claire glanced down at her dress with an innocent expression. "Is this white? I switched dresses at the last minute this morning. I didn't give it much thought."

Noah walked in just then and frowned, trying to smooth things over. "It's just a dress. You're the one in the wedding gown today. Who could actually steal your spotlight?"

"This is my wedding."

Claire's eyes immediately turned red, as if she'd been deeply wronged. "Forget it, Noah. Don't fight because of me. I'll just change."

She covered her face, turned, and ran out.

Noah glared at me, his chest heaving. "Happy now?"

I ignored him.

At 11:58 a.m., the ceremony began.

The ballroom doors slowly swung open. Arm in arm with my father, I walked down the aisle as the band played.

Noah stood in the center of the raised platform at the front of the ballroom.

Above him was the white rose arch I'd personally approved, and every candle lining the aisle was lit. More than 200 guests rose from their seats and turned to look at me.

I was halfway down the aisle when a commotion broke out in the back rows.

Someone cried out, "Claire fainted!"

I stopped.

Claire was on the floor next to her chair, deathly pale and shaking all over.

Noah barely hesitated. He ran straight down from the platform.

The officiant froze in place, but the music kept playing. More than 200 guests turned their heads in unison to watch him.

Noah pushed through the crowd and scooped Claire up off the floor.

She clutched his collar, her voice weak and trembling. "I can't breathe... Noah, don't leave me here alone."

The hotel manager had already asked someone to call 911.

With my arm still linked through my father's, I stood in the middle of the wedding I'd spent seven months planning and watched my groom carry another woman in a white dress out of the room.

I called out to him. "Noah."

He looked back.

"If you leave now, what happens to the wedding?"

He looked frantic. "Look at her. How can I not help?"

"The paramedics are on their way. The hotel staff are with her."

"I still can't just leave her lying here alone!"

"And what about me?"

Noah finally seemed to lose patience with me, and his voice rose sharply. "Irene, she can't breathe! What's the big deal if the wedding's an hour late? Do you really have to compete with a sick woman right now?"

The whole ballroom went silent.

I looked at him. "Noah, if you carry her out that door, don't bother coming back."

He looked at me for a few seconds.

Right on cue, Claire started shaking again in his arms and clung tighter to his neck.

Noah gritted his teeth. "Don't make me choose like this when someone's life is on the line."

Then he carried her out without looking back.

The band kept playing.

Behind me, a slideshow of our engagement photos played on a loop. In one, Noah leaned down to kiss my forehead while I smiled with my guard completely down.

People in the audience started whispering.

I let go of my father's arm, gathered the heavy skirt of my gown in my hands, and climbed onto the platform one step at a time.

The officiant's hands were shaking as he handed me the microphone.

"Everyone."

More than 200 pairs of eyes were on me.

"Today's wedding is canceled. The food and drinks are already paid for, so please stay and eat. I'm sorry you came all this way just to see this circus."

A wave of hushed gasps rippled through the room.

Noah's mother was on her feet almost instantly. "Irene, don't do anything rash. Whatever the problem is, it can wait until Noah gets back. I'll make him apologize to you."

I looked at her and gave a small smile. "Mrs. Grant, he's not going to be my husband."

I took off my veil.

Then I reached for my engagement ring.

After two years, the ring was a little tight. I had to twist it several times to work it over my knuckle and off my finger.

Then I set it down in the center of the platform.

My finger suddenly felt impossibly light.