Chapter 4

Joshua's POV

"We need to change our wedding date," Renee said.

I glanced at the calendar on the table. The word "wedding" was written in big, bold letters beneath the date, seven days from now.

I didn't know why she wanted to postpone the wedding, but I had already decided not to go through with it anyway. Even if she hadn't brought it up, I would have found an excuse to call it off. Her request actually saved me the trouble.

I nodded. "Okay. I'll call the hotel and cancel the reservation."

Renee froze, taken aback by how easily I agreed.

She probably had expected me to press her for an explanation. After all, I had spent a lot of time meticulously planning every single detail of the wedding. I even paid the hotel a hefty extra fee just to secure the date, all so we could have the perfect wedding venue.

But instead of questioning her, I had calmly agreed. Renee looked at me with a complicated expression.

"You don't have to cancel it. Chad says he'll never get the chance to get married, so he wants to have a symbolic wedding with me. That way, he won't have any regrets. I'll have the ceremony with him that day. Then we can reschedule our wedding for another time."

She said it so casually, as if she were deciding what to order for takeout.

It was just like a month ago, when she'd told me she wanted to have Chad's baby through artificial insemination. She'd made it sound like a discussion then, too, but she'd already made up her mind. She was simply informing me of her decision.

I lowered my gaze, hiding the bitter irony in my eyes.

Reschedule our wedding for another time? She had no idea that I'd be leaving this city for good in a week. We wouldn't have a second chance.

"Okay," I replied quietly.

Renee stared at me, looking somewhat unsettled.

I turned and headed toward the bedroom. Since our wedding was off, who she chose to marry was no longer my concern.

My reaction was probably much calmer than she'd expected. I hadn't asked a single question or thrown a single fit, leaving whatever excuses she'd come up with useless.

Just then, Chad called. Renee immediately pulled herself together and stepped onto the balcony to answer.

When I woke up the next day, Renee was about to head out. As she slipped on her shoes, she reminded me of her plans.

"After we finish taking the wedding photos, Chad and I are going on a trip for a few days. He's always wanted to visit Belruce, so I'm going with him.

"Let's keep the wedding simple. I don't have time for rehearsals or dealing with decorations. You can decide everything yourself. No need to check with me."

I swallowed a bite of toast before replying, "Okay."

Sure, I would keep it simple. There would be no wedding photos, no guests, and no officiant. And no groom.

When Renee saw that I continued eating breakfast without saying anything else, she added, "After the wedding, we can go to Vortella for our honeymoon. I remember you've always wanted to go."

If this had happened in the past, I would've been thrilled to hear Renee suggest a honeymoon and would have started making plans right away.

I'd tried many times to get her to travel with me, but she always refused. She said she didn't enjoy traveling and found it too exhausting.

Now, I just kept eating my toast without saying a word.

Renee glanced at me in surprise and seemed about to say something else. But when she noticed the time, she hurried out the door, leaving only a quick, "We'll talk about it when I get back."

I picked up the calendar from the table and drew a big X over the words "wedding photos".

There were six days left.

After breakfast, I started packing my things and clearing out everything in the house that was no longer needed.

The photo album had fewer than five pictures in it. The projector had been gathering dust for ages. The matching pajamas had never even been worn.

During the five years Renee and I had lived together, I'd carefully picked out everything in the house, slowly turning an empty apartment into a warm, cozy home.

But on closer inspection, I realized Renee had barely touched most of it. She used to say that even in a relationship, she was her own person and hated using matching couples' items because they made her feel tied down.

Once I left, those things would only be clutter to her anyway. I figured I might as well get rid of them now, along with every memory of us.