Chapter 1

I stepped outside and began ripping down the wedding decorations that covered the entire house.

My fiance, Elliot Stewart, frowned. "What's your deal? Lexie put a lot of work into hanging those."

I stared at my best friend, Lexie Powell, who was curled up in his arms, and let out a cold laugh. "The wedding is off. Why keep the decor?"

Elliot looked entirely baffled. "We're just postponing it, not calling it off. Are you really that worried I won't marry you?"

The coin I was clutching dug painfully into my palm.

He had postponed my birthday party and the Thanksgiving dinner. None of it meant anything to him.

My parents, Tyler Hudson and Carla Chapman, stood awkwardly by the doorway. Their eyes were filled with desperation. "A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event. You can't just ruin it like this."

Elliot cut them off without batting an eye. "Well, now it's a twice-in-a-lifetime event."

With those casual words, he turned my six months of wedding preparations into a total joke.

As the elders kept trying to reason with him, he looked past the crowd and scowled at me. "You're being way too aggressive. If we keep the wedding going now, think about how embarrassing that'd be for Lexie."

Yet when a coworker got married, and he caught the bouquet, his immediate impulse was to hand it to Lexie. He didn't care for a second how embarrassing that was for me.

It wasn't just me. Mom's and Dad's ashen faces couldn't muster even a hint of a smile, while our exhausted relatives could barely straighten their backs.

The humiliation of so many people didn't matter half as much to him as Lexie did.

Mom's voice carried a humble, pleading tone as she said, "Elliot, I'm begging you. You can't just cancel a wedding last minute."

Elliot's forehead creased with annoyance. "It's just part of the groom's challenges. She needs to lighten up. Is she really so desperate to get married that she can't wait a few days?"

An empty ring box clattered onto the floor.

Under everyone's scrutinizing stares, Elliot spoke up slowly. "I figured Lexie would play this game, so I didn't even bother bringing them."

So, while I was waiting for him with anticipation to pick me up for the wedding, he had already planned on postponing it all along.

My coworker couldn't hold back anymore. "What kind of friend ruins someone else's wedding? Even a homewrecker isn't this shameless."

Lexie's eyes instantly welled up with tears as she lowered her head in distress. "It must be nice to have family and friends standing up for you."

Elliot's expression darkened, and he pulled her even closer. "If it weren't for you, Lexie wouldn't be in this position. You owe her an apology."

Lexie bit her lip and murmured, "Forget it. Scarlett must be upset. We should just go ahead with the wedding."

Elliot stroked her hair gently. "You're taking all the blame and still worrying about others. Don't you know that the squeaky wheel gets the grease?"

He casually grabbed the gold bangle that was meant for me and slipped it onto Lexie's wrist.