Home / Ditched at the Altar, but I'm Thrilled / Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

All Chapters of Ditched at the Altar, but I'm Thrilled: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

7 Chapters

Chapter 1

I didn't stay to watch them make their toasts. I went straight home.My neighbor spotted me on the way in and looked stunned. "Brynn, what are you doing here? Isn't today your wedding?"I'd been planning this wedding for so long that practically everyone knew about it, which meant getting played at the last minute left me no room to pretend otherwise. I kept unlocking my door without missing a beat."Called it off," I said evenly. "He's busy."He was busy giving his first love a wedding.Pity flickered across my neighbor's face, but she was kind enough not to press further.I shut the door and rushed to the bathroom. I barely made it before I was throwing up violently, and I didn't stop until there was nothing left in my stomach. Then I collapsed against the floor, completely drained.I have a moderate adverse reaction to sleeping pills. Jared knew that, and he drugged me anyway. The fact that I woke up at all today was pure luck.When I got up to rinse my mouth, my phone blew

Chapter 2

After I dried my hands, my phone buzzed with a text from Jared. "Monday morning. I'll take you to get our marriage license.""Okay."I kept my reply short, then went to the bedroom to pack. In the closet, I found something that wasn't mine.It was something lacy and provocative, crumpled into a wrinkled ball like it had been shoved in there in a hurry. On closer look, there were dried stains on it.The door creaked open, and Jared walked in. He saw the redness at the corners of my eyes and understood immediately. Without missing a beat, he took it out of my hands."It's probably something Trey's girlfriend left behind when they were over."I kept my head down, hands trembling. It was not from sadness, but from disgust.Jared clearly misread me. He reached over and stroked my hair, tender and pitying. "Brynn, you know what I like most about you?"He didn't wait for me to answer. "You listen."Over the years, I'd heard that more times than I could count. I was always obedient, w

Chapter 3

After leaving the hospital, I dropped off some of my luggage at a storage unit. By the time I got home, Jared was already back, and Amber came up to greet me like she owned the place."Brynn, we're out of slippers, so just use the disposable ones."I looked down. She was wearing my home slippers, the ones Jared had bought me. They were a size five because my feet were small, and her heels stuck out the back. They didn't fit her at all, but she wore them in front of me on purpose just to get under my skin.I glanced further inside. Jared was on the couch playing video games with his friends, completely tuned out. I didn't say anything and bent down to put on the disposable pair.When I stepped into the hallway, a blast of cold air hit me and set off my allergies. I sneezed three times in a row. The thermostat had been turned down from 75 to 64. Jared noticed this time and took the remote out of my hand."Amber runs warm. She can't take it if it's any higher. Just tough it out for a

Chapter 4

Some time passed before Jared swore under his breath and yanked the door open, rushing outside. But I was long gone.His friend sensed something was off and spoke carefully. "Jared, you want me to go bring her back?"Jared stared out into the dark, a knot tightening in his chest. He hadn't expected me to actually have the nerve to leave. He let out a cold laugh, his face full of certainty."Bring her back for what? Give it three days, and she'll come crawling home on her own. The marriage license appointment has a deadline. Miss it, and it's gone."I was checking into a hotel when Amber forwarded me a voice message of that whole exchange. Her tone dripped with mockery, like she wanted me to face reality."If you really had any pride, you'd never go back. But we both know you can't give up a meal ticket like Jared. Even if nobody wants you here, you'll cling to him like a leech that won't let go."I knew exactly what she was doing. She was trying to provoke me into staying away fo

Chapter 5

Jared's mind went blank, like the words hadn't registered. He turned around slowly. "What did you just say?"The guy immediately shut up.Jared grabbed the phone himself and opened the post. The marriage license in the photo had my name on it, and the color drained from his face instantly.Amber glanced at the screen and suppressed a smile. "This is what happens when you're too good to someone who doesn't deserve it. She threw a tantrum over nothing and ran off to marry someone else. Just let her go, Jared. She was always punching above her weight with you anyway."The others piled on right away."For real, man. She was probably stringing Garrett Anderson along the whole time, holding onto you with one hand and hooking up with him on the side.""Just forget about her. There's a million women who look like that. She probably did this on purpose to get back at you and Amber for the wedding. That's seriously twisted.""Come on, let's keep drinking. Stop thinking about her."A scre

Chapter 6

I went back to Weybridge with Garrett. My job allowed me to transfer, so the move was practically seamless.He'd used his own track record to convince his parents, and they welcomed me into the family. Almost the very next morning, Jared tracked me down.He cornered me outside my office building, grabbed my wrist, and tried to drag me toward his car. "Come back with me and divorce Garrett Anderson! I don't care what happened, as long as you just—"The crack of my palm across his face cut him off mid-sentence. "Are you awake now?"Jared's eyes went red. "Did you just hit me?"His voice was shaking, dripping with open indignation. "You married someone else, and you hit me?"I looked at him calmly and almost laughed. "Now you know how I felt?"He froze, and his jaw tightened. His tone turned evasive. "That's not the same thing. Mine was just messing around. You actually got a marriage license."I nodded. "You're right, it's not the same thing. Yours was just messing around, but I'

Chapter 7

I shook my head. "I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. I should honestly be thanking you for pulling that stunt at the wedding for Amber's sake, because otherwise I would've actually ruined my own happiness."The thought sent a chill through me. "Every time I think about how close I came to marrying my own bully, it's enough to give me nightmares."In that moment, Jared understood what it meant to have the heart cut right out of him. Everything went muffled, like he couldn't hear anything anymore. All he could see was my mouth moving, and every word landed like a knife twisting into his chest."Why?" he asked.I stopped mid-sentence and looked at him, confused. "Why?"I almost laughed. "Because I don't like you.""How could you do this to me?"His tears spilled over, and his shoulders shook. I stared at him, genuinely taken aback.Jared had never cried before, not even when he and Amber broke up. Something strange stirred in me. A man like him actually cried when he go

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