All Chapters of When Even My Wedding Became About My Sister, I Called It Off: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Matteo put his hand on the box of black pearls."Don't sulk. How could Viola be seen wearing something the jeweler threw in for free?"I gave him a serious look."Then why is it fine for me to get married in it?"He paused, then laughed."You two are different. She's always been the one in the spotlight, and you don't like attention."It wasn't that I didn't like being seen.The first time I handled a difficult contract for the family, I secretly practiced a thank-you speech. Then my father said Viola was better with the press and told me to give the speech to her.As my mother fastened Viola's earrings, she spotted me in the doorway and asked why I hadn't changed into something darker."Your sister is the star tonight. Don't take the spotlight away from her."I hung the new dress back in the closet and never wore it again.Law school, contracts, cleaning up their messes—I would learn anything. If I made myself useful enough, surely one day they would put me first.But even my own wedd

Chapter 2

Noah thought I was joking.To him, I was the lawyer who never gave an inch for a client but went home and said "it's fine" to everything.But if I stopped being agreeable, nobody would need me.My sister only had to show up to make everyone happy. I had to do so much just to earn a single "thank goodness for Elena."I had always mistaken being needed for being loved.The next day, Matteo came to pick me up, as planned, to see the estate where we would live after the wedding.I was heading for the passenger seat when he caught my arm."Viola gets carsick. You sit in the back."My sister came out just then. He opened the door for her and held his hand against the doorframe so she wouldn't bump her head.I got into the back seat and didn't ask why she was coming.I had designed the second-floor study myself. It was where I would work on client files after the wedding. I had gone back and forth with the designer over which lamp to put beside the desk.Matteo had never looked at the plans.

Chapter 3

My birthday—and Viola's—fell three days before the wedding.In the middle of the table sat a single almond cake. Matteo had ordered it.My sister loved almonds. I was severely allergic to them. When my mother saw I hadn't touched the cake, she said cutting back on sweets would help me look better in a wedding dress.Matteo placed the party hat on Viola's head."You make a wish first."I watched him light the candles for her, then suddenly called his name. "You remembered to bring two sets of jewelry. Why only one cake?"He paused."Hasn't it always been this way?""So I don't get a birthday, ever. Is that it?"My mother put down her napkin."Your sister has barely slept these past few days. It's just one cake. Do you have to fight over it?""I only wanted to make a wish too."My mother acted as if she hadn't understood. "Aren't you about to marry Matteo? What more could you want?"Matteo added, "Don't keep everyone waiting."Suddenly, I couldn't speak.When a contract went wrong, they

Chapter 4

He knocked on my door and asked as casually as if we were discussing something ordinary, "Elena, let's move the wedding to the evening, all right?"Viola's appointment ceremony will only happen once."I looked at him and suddenly found it funny.And how many weddings was I supposed to have?Marisa reminded us over the phone that the church arrangements and the guests' travel plans had already been finalized, and any last-minute change required the bride's consent.My mother answered for me. "She'll agree."Matteo looked at me with gentle certainty."You're the reasonable one."I suddenly remembered the first time I won an award for my legal aid work.My parents said they couldn't come because my sister had an important interview. Matteo promised he would be there, but in the end, he went to my sister's interview too.I stood onstage holding my certificate, and every family in the audience had come for someone else.Afterward, he called to ask if I could look over my sister's interview

Chapter 5

Matteo didn't believe it.He went to the dressing room first, then had someone open the bridal suite upstairs.There was no wedding gown on the bed and none of Elena's belongings on the dressing table."Did she change rooms?"The manager brought the cancellation record. She had canceled the room days ago and forfeited the deposit.He dialed Elena's number. The call didn't go through.Marisa's cancellation notice was still on his phone. During the ceremony, he had glanced at Elena's name on the notice, then locked the screen. He had assumed it was another small issue Elena could handle.Elena's parents followed him upstairs. First, they scolded their daughter for being difficult. Then they said she couldn't even manage her own wedding."Find her and bring her back at once. Make her apologize to the guests!"Matteo didn't answer.He scrolled through his contacts, looking for someone who would know where Elena was.But other than members of the Bellani family, he couldn't think of anyone.

Chapter 6

During my first week in North Harbor, I worked late almost every day.Noah gave me a three-month contract for project-based work. My first client was the owner of a small shipping company. When he saw my last name, he pulled his documents back."A Bellani, speaking for people like us?"I knew what he was afraid of.In the past, I had written clauses for my own family that left small companies with nowhere to turn.I didn't ask Noah to vouch for me. I just slid my proposal across the table."Hear me out first. If you're not satisfied, you can find another lawyer."The buyer was using the shipping company's berth renewal to pressure its owner into selling the business at a low price. I went through the port's original agreement several times and found a clause stating that the other side had no right to decide the renewal on its own.At the hearing, the other side interrupted me twice."These are standard acquisition terms."I turned to the renewal clause in the appendix and handed it ov

Chapter 7

My mother came up first and grabbed my arm."Running off on your wedding day. How are both families supposed to hold their heads up?"Matteo looked at Gabriel."Who is he?""No wonder you won't come home." My mother's voice grew shriller. "You've got someone else out here?"My face burned. I hadn't done anything wrong, but being spoken to like that still made me feel ashamed.Gabriel didn't answer for me. He only asked if I wanted him to stay.I said I could handle it. He nodded and stepped back inside.That steadied me a little. I pulled my hand free from my mother's grip."Matteo, I told you a long time ago that the engagement was over. You didn't believe me. I'm telling you again now. We're finished.""What can't we discuss at home? You don't want me, and now you don't want your parents either?"My voice trembled as I looked at them. "Weren't you the ones who never wanted me?"My mother frowned, but I didn't let her interrupt."The day I got my license, you were celebrating one of V

Chapter 8

I looked up."What do you mean?""On the wedding day, I told Matteo I would marry him."Viola stared at me."He turned me down. He couldn't even deal with his own family's affairs. All he wanted was to find you."For a moment, I didn't know how to react.Once, I thought I would cry with happiness if this day ever came.But hearing that now, I only felt tired.For more than twenty years, I'd always come second. Was being chosen once supposed to erase all that pain?"There's nothing for me to be happy about."My sister's face darkened."Haven't you always wanted to beat me?""I wanted my own wedding, my own dress, and someone who thought of me first when they bought something. I didn't want your things just to prove I'd won."I wiped the tears from my face."Viola, you can keep being the negotiator. I have my own work. I don't want to wait for Matteo to make his choice before I know whether I'm worth anything."She sneered, "Without the Bellani name, who do you think you are?"You draft

Chapter 9

The color slowly drained from Matteo's face."What I said that night—I was drunk. It wasn't—""Wasn't what you meant?"I looked at him, and my chest still ached."Were you marrying me because I was steady, or because it meant you could see Viola more often?"He didn't answer."I planned that wedding for you. I tried on that dress more than ten times. I couldn't bear to leave a single photo out of the slideshow. And you said marrying me was nothing more than your way of accepting reality."By the end, my voice was hoarse. "Matteo, did you ever once think about how much hearing that would hurt me?"When I said I didn't want the black pearls, you thought I was being greedy. When I said I wouldn't marry you, you thought I was having a tantrum. You didn't listen until I actually left. As long as I still loved you, did nothing I said matter?"He reached for my hand, but I pulled it away."I didn't think I would ever love you. But after you left...""That's your problem."The tears came, and

Chapter 10

The real break with my family came a few months later.My father reused my old signature to file share-transfer documents in my name. He planned to use the shares my grandmother had left me to pay the Moretti family's security fees."Just let it go through," he said. "Then the family will drop the matter of you walking out on the wedding."As I held the phone, something inside me slowly turned cold.It wasn't that they didn't know I'd refused. They just didn't think my refusal mattered.I gave the revocation receipt to an independent lawyer, asked to have the signature verified, and had every party to the transaction notified that the transfer was disputed.My father asked whether I really had to drag outsiders into it."Yes. You don't get to sign my name for me anymore."Once the deal was frozen, the family took turns trying to change my mind. My mother said the door was still open if I withdrew my objection.I cried all night. The next day, I reaffirmed my decision to take legal acti

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP