Chapter 2

After I got back to my apartment, I came down with a low-grade fever.

It wasn't until the next morning that Zavier finally called.

I answered the phone in a painfully hoarse voice, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, there was a questioning edge to his voice.

"Everything went smoothly with the inspection of the new house yesterday, so why did you suddenly leave?"

"My clothes got soaked, and I came down with a fever."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Zavier's tone softened.

"I've already had someone add your voice to the system. Leave the furniture as it is for now. Once we're married and have lived there for a while, we can change anything that doesn't work for you."

This was the first time he had compromised.

I stared at the search result on my phone about calling off the wedding. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to tap it.

We had been together for three years, and the wedding invitations had already been sent out. I decided to give him one last chance to make things right.

That afternoon, I took some fever medicine and went to the bridal boutique.

Xyla was there too.

She was sitting on the couch in a long dress, flipping through a wedding dress catalog.

The moment she saw me walk in, she stood up.

"Natalia, don't misunderstand. Zavier doesn't know much about wedding dresses, so he asked me to come and give him my opinion."

I ignored her and looked at Zavier.

He walked over and pressed the back of his hand against my forehead. His brows furrowed.

"Why are you still burning up?"

The familiar warmth of his hand made my nose sting.

Back in college, I once came down with a 104-degree fever. Zavier stayed by my bedside all night, changing the cold compress on my forehead every half hour.

But the next moment, Zavier had already pulled his hand away.

"You're running a fever and you still came out? Try on the dresses, then go home early. Don't hold up the schedule."

It wasn't that Zavier had never loved me well.

His patience simply wasn't meant for me anymore.

The sales associate wheeled out the wedding dress that had been reserved.

It had a dramatic train and was encrusted with diamonds.

It wasn't the minimalist design I had chosen.

I looked at the sales associate. "I'd like to try on the dress I originally picked."

The sales associate looked uneasy. "Mr. Grant came in later with Ms. Lane and changed the order.

"This is the sample dress Ms. Lane tried on. Mr. Grant asked us to reserve it in her size and paid for it in full.

"If you want to switch back to your original design, we'll need to put it back on the schedule."

Xyla walked over and lightly brushed her fingers over the dress.

"This one looks really good on. I tried on a dress from the same line at a brand event before.

"Natalia, you're petite. We can shorten the dress, and it'll fit you just fine."

I looked up at Zavier.

"You promised I could choose my own wedding dress."

Zavier avoided my gaze, his patience clearly wearing thin.

"Just try this one on first. If it really doesn't fit, we'll figure something else out."

Inside the fitting room, the sales associate tightened the waist for me, but there was still a noticeable gap across my back.

I took one step forward, and all the excess fabric pooled around my feet.

The sales associate brought over more than a dozen pins.

"The measurements are quite different. Making major alterations would throw off the waistline. Mr. Grant gave us measurements for someone who's five-foot-nine."

From behind the curtain, Zavier said, "Xyla said this one looked good, so I had the boutique reserve it in her size. Just have them alter it to fit you. Don't make such a fuss."

I stared at myself in the mirror.

The shoulders sagged, and a row of pins barely held the waist in place.

I looked as though I had borrowed someone else's dress.

I pushed the curtain open.

Outside, Xyla picked up the matching sample wedding ring from the jewelry box.

She slipped it onto her ring finger with practiced ease.

"Natalia, let me check if the setting is secure."

The diamond ring fit perfectly around the base of her finger.

She took it off and handed it to me with a smile.

I took it and slid it onto my ring finger.

The ring slipped straight off my finger and landed on the heavy hem of my dress.

I didn't bother to pick it up.

I stared straight at Zavier.

"Even my wedding ring was sized to fit her finger?"

Zavier's expression stiffened for a moment.

"She helped pick out the design, and the boutique simply kept a sample wedding ring in the size she had tried on. The actual ring can still be resized."

I found the whole thing absurd.

"So the wedding dress, the ring, and the house can all just be adjusted to fit me?”

"Do you really have to look at it that way?"

He bent down and picked up the ring, his voice turning completely cold.

"Ordering a new wedding dress would mean waiting another two months. What about the hotel reservation? What about our guests? You can't scrap all the arrangements over a few measurements."

I gripped the oversized dress tightly.

"I don't want this dress."

Zavier shoved the ring back into its box and didn't look at me again.

"Natalia, when did you become so difficult to please?"

I stared at the glaring row of pins running down my back in the mirror.

They were forcing something that wasn't meant for me into place.

They also pierced the last bit of reassurance I had been clinging to.

I turned and walked back into the fitting room.

Behind me, Zavier turned to the sales associate and told her to start taking my measurements for the alterations.

He didn't even ask whether I still wanted to wear the dress.