I’d spent seven years dreaming about marrying the man I loved. Everything was ready, and 150 guests were coming to celebrate with us. Then I went looking for my earrings and saw something I wished I hadn’t. I thought nothing could hurt worse, until I discovered how long I’d been deceived.
“Oh my God… please tell me you didn’t actually do that.”
Sean was standing at the altar, holding the wedding band I’d just returned to him.
His smile had vanished.
“You asked me to wait until after the wedding, Sean. I told you I wouldn’t.”
He glanced toward the guests.
“Oh my God… please tell me you didn’t actually do that.”
“Mae, please. We can still work this out.”
“Not today.”
That morning, I’d been sitting in the bridal suite when Isla arrived with two coffees.
Isla was my maid of honor and best friend.
“We can still work this out.”
She’d known me long enough to recognize when I was worrying about things I couldn’t control.
“Please tell me you’ve eaten something,” she said.
“I had half a muffin.”
“Mae, you’re getting married in three hours.”
“Please tell me you’ve eaten something.”
“Which explains why I’ve barely eaten,” I said with a grin. “I’m okay, Isla. Just nerves, I guess.”
She handed me a cup.
“Then let Stella worry about the flowers. And everything else.”
Stella was our wedding coordinator. She’d spent months helping me plan the day.
“Just nerves, I guess.”
At 28, I was finally marrying Sean, my boyfriend of seven years.
We’d met in college.
He’d helped me through difficult times, celebrated my first promotion, and made our small apartment feel like home.
I loved him. I adored him.
We’d met in college.
Even when we disagreed, I believed we wanted the same future.
“Where’s Brooklyn?” Isla asked.
“Probably still in makeup.”
“Stella needs her for the flowers.”
I checked the time.
“Stella needs her for the flowers.”
Then I remembered my earrings.
“Brooklyn has my pearls. I’ll go grab them.”
She was one of my bridesmaids and had been a close friend for years.
She’d helped me choose the earrings because I’d wanted something simple. They were my “something new” from her.
Then I remembered my earrings.
I left Isla with my coffee and hurried down the hallway.
Brooklyn’s door was slightly open.
I raised my hand to knock.
Then I heard Sean laugh.
I raised my hand to knock.
I recognized his voice immediately.
“You’re making this harder, Brook,” he said.
I pushed the door a little farther.
Sean was standing beside the dresser.
He was kissing Brooklyn.
His hand rested against her cheek while her arms circled his neck.
“You’re making this harder, Brook.”
I watched him pull away.
Then he kissed her again.
Neither of them noticed me.
I backed into the hallway.
For a moment, I couldn’t remember where I’d been going.
Then he kissed her again.
Then I hurried into the nearest bathroom and locked the door.
I stared at myself in the mirror.
My hair was finished. My makeup looked perfect.
I started crying.
Someone knocked.
I started crying.
“Sweetheart, we need to get you ready. The guests are arriving.”
It was Stella.
I pressed a tissue beneath my eyes.
“Give me ten minutes, please.”
“Is everything all right?”
“Sweetheart, we need to get you ready.”
“I need a moment. I’ll come find you.”
When she left, I dabbed my face with a tissue and prayed I hadn’t ruined anything.
Part of me wanted to find Sean and demand an explanation.
But I needed more than an excuse.
“I’ll come find you.”
I opened the door and went looking for Isla.
She was waiting beside my dress.
“Where have you been?”
I closed the door.
“Sean was kissing Brooklyn.”
She was waiting beside my dress.
Isla stared at me.
“What?”
“I went to get my earrings. They were in her room.”
She took my hand.
“Mae, are you sure?”
“I watched them, Isla. It happened.”
“Mae, are you sure?”
Her face changed.
“Oh, honey.”
I started crying again.
Isla pulled me into a hug.
After a while, she asked, “Do you want me to tell Stella to stop everything?”
Her face changed.
I pictured our guests arriving.
One hundred and fifty people were coming to watch us marry.
Some had traveled for hours.
“I don’t know what I want yet.”
I wiped my face.
Some had traveled for hours.
“I need to speak to Brooklyn.”
“Do you want me there?”
“No.”
Isla nodded.
“Call me if you need anything.”
“I need to speak to Brooklyn.”
Brooklyn entered the bridal suite shortly afterward.
She was holding my earrings.
“There you are!” she said. “I nearly forgot these.”
I took them.
“Thanks.”
“I nearly forgot these.”
I slipped them into my bag.
She stepped closer.
“Hey, are you okay? You seem a little… different.”
I looked straight at her.
“Better than you think, Brooklyn.”
Her smile faltered.
She stepped closer.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing. Come on, we have a wedding to get to.”
She studied my face.
I could almost see her trying to decide what I knew.
“Actually,” I added, “could you come outside with me?”
“What do you mean?”
She followed me into the quiet garden.
“Mae, what’s going on?”
“How long have you been seeing Sean?”
She stopped walking.
“What?”
“Mae, what’s going on?”
“I saw you kissing him.”
Her face went pale.
“Mae, I’m so sorry.”
“How long?”
“Long… enough.”
“How long, Brooklyn?”
“Long… enough.”
She twisted her bracelet.
“We kissed a few weeks ago. It happened again after that.”
I looked away.
“And before that?”
“We’d been talking for months.”
“We kissed a few weeks ago.”
“About what?”
“Mostly the wedding. Sean was stressed.”
“Why didn’t he talk to me?”
“He thought you wouldn’t listen.”
I stared at her.
“About what?”
“So he talked to my friend instead?”
“It started because he needed advice.”
“And how did it end with you kissing him?”
“I didn’t plan for that.”
I wanted to shout at her.
“I didn’t plan for that.”
Instead, I asked another question.
“Did Sean tell you he didn’t want to marry me?”
“No. He said he loved you.”
“Then why were you kissing him?”
“He said he loved you.”
She couldn’t answer.
I turned to leave.
Then something she said about the wedding made me stop.
Three months earlier, Sean and I had argued about our guest list.
I’d wanted a smaller wedding.
She couldn’t answer.
He wanted to invite more people, which would stretch our budget.
I’d called Brooklyn afterward.
She’d listened while I explained how overwhelmed I felt.
“Maybe this is one of those things you can give him, Mae. It’s his wedding too.”
I took her advice.
“It’s his wedding too.”
We added 30 guests.
Now I turned back toward her.
“Did Sean talk to you about the guest list before you advised me?”
“Mae, we all talked about the wedding.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
We added 30 guests.
She looked away.
“Yes, he’d mentioned it.”
“Did he ask you to change my mind?”
“He was frustrated.”
“Brooklyn.”
She looked away.
She twisted her bracelet again.
“He said you’d listen to me.”
I stared at her.
“And you agreed to help him?”
“I thought it would make things easier between you.”
I stared at her.
I remembered our disagreement about the honeymoon.
I’d wanted a quiet week somewhere close to home.
Sean wanted a longer trip.
Brooklyn had encouraged me to reconsider that too.
“Was the honeymoon another one?”
Sean wanted a longer trip.
She hesitated.
“He’d mentioned it.”
“How often did you do this?”
“Not every time.”
I’d trusted her advice for months. Sean had known exactly what she was telling me.
“You let me think those were your opinions.”
She hesitated.
“I thought I was helping.”
“Would you have told me if I hadn’t caught you?”
Brooklyn looked down.
I walked away.
Sean found me near the ceremony entrance.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Brooklyn looked down.
He smiled and reached for my hands.
“I can’t wait to call you my wife.”
For one terrible moment, I wanted to let him hold me.
I could still remember the first dinner he’d cooked for me. He’d burned the rice and insisted it was supposed to taste that way.
I wanted to let him hold me.
Now I couldn’t look at him without remembering Brooklyn’s arms around his neck.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Before I could answer, he glanced toward the garden.
“Did something happen to Brooklyn? She looked upset.”
I pulled my hands away.
“What’s wrong?”
“Are you happy we’re getting married?”
He frowned.
“Of course.”
“Have you had doubts?”
“Mae, everyone gets nervous before a wedding.”
“Sean…”
“Are you happy we’re getting married?”
He touched my arm.
“I love you. You know that.”
I searched his face.
“Is there anything you need to tell me?”
His expression changed.
“I love you. You know that.”
“Why would you ask that?”
“Because I’m giving you the chance.”
He looked toward the ceremony area.
“We can talk after the wedding.”
I stepped away.
“No, Sean. We can’t.”
“We can talk after the wedding.”
I found Isla waiting in the bridal suite.
“How did it go?”
I told her everything.
The kiss.
The conversations.
The advice Brooklyn had given me after Sean complained about our disagreements.
Isla listened without interrupting.
I found Isla waiting in the bridal suite.
Then she asked, “Do you remember when you wanted that small wedding?”
I nodded.
“You were excited about it. You’d already found somewhere you loved.”
“Sean wanted something bigger.”
“And Brooklyn persuaded you to agree.”
“Sean wanted something bigger.”
I looked at my dress.
“I thought we were compromising.”
“Sometimes you were. But you didn’t know Sean was asking Brooklyn to help change your mind.”
I still loved Sean. That was the worst part.
I looked at my dress.
I wanted him to tell me there was some explanation that would make everything right.
But he’d just looked me in the eyes and lied.
“What do you want to do?” Isla asked.
I considered the question.
Then I stood.
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to walk down that aisle.”
She looked surprised.
“But I’m not marrying him.”
Stella met us in a quiet room.
I explained what had happened and what I’d decided.
She looked surprised.
She listened carefully.
“Mae, I can tell the guests the ceremony won’t take place.”
“I appreciate that. But I want to tell Sean myself.”
“Would you like to speak before the vows?”
“Yes. I have to do this publicly.”
She listened carefully.
She nodded.
“Then I’ll make sure the officiant understands. There won’t be any marriage declaration or exchange of vows.”
I looked at Isla.
She squeezed my hand.
Stella continued.
She squeezed my hand.
“The guests can still use the reception space afterward. We can deal with the other arrangements later.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t going to make another decision just because someone else would prefer it.
“Thank you.”
Sean had given me his wedding band that morning.
He’d been worried it would get misplaced, so I’d promised to keep the box safe until the ceremony.
I took it from my bag.
Then I asked Isla to help secure the box beneath the ribbon around my bouquet.
She looked at me.
I took it from my bag.
“You don’t have to prove anything to those guests.”
“I’m not doing it for them.”
She tied the ribbon.
Before the ceremony, I found Sean near the entrance.
“We need to talk.”
He checked the time.
“We need to talk.”
“Right now?”
His smile vanished.
“Mae, what’s happening?”
“I know about you and Brooklyn.”
His eyes widened.
“Right now?”
“Mae, please. Not here.”
“Is it true?”
He looked toward the ceremony doors.
“Can we get married first and talk afterward?”
“Is it true?”
“You want me to marry you before you’ve even explained?”
“Please don’t embarrass me in front of everyone.”
I stared at him.
“I won’t make those vows, Sean. Not today.”
His face tightened.
“I won’t make those vows, Sean.”
“Mae, don’t.”
“I’ll see you at the altar.”
Twenty minutes later, the music began.
Isla straightened my dress.
“Ready?”
“No.”
“Mae, don’t.”
She gave my hand a gentle squeeze.
“Do you want to leave?”
I shook my head.
“I want to finish what I came here to do.”
The doors opened.
“Do you want to leave?”
One hundred and fifty guests turned toward me.
I saw familiar faces smiling.
My hands trembled around the bouquet.
But I kept walking.
Sean stood at the altar.
I saw familiar faces smiling.
He gave me a nervous smile, as though he hoped I’d changed my mind.
I remembered the man who’d once driven across town because I’d mentioned craving ice cream.
The man who’d promised we’d always be honest with each other.
I reached him.
He offered his hand.
I reached him.
Instead, I untied the ribbon around my bouquet.
I removed the ring box and placed it in his palm.
His eyes widened.
He looked toward the officiant, who stepped aside as arranged.
Then he leaned closer.
I untied the ribbon.
“Oh my God… please tell me you didn’t actually do that.”
“You asked me to wait until after the wedding, Sean. I told you I wouldn’t.”
He glanced toward the guests.
“Mae, please. We can still work this out.”
“Not today.”
“I told you I wouldn’t.”
I turned toward the microphone.
One hundred and fifty people were waiting for us to exchange our vows.
“Thank you all for coming. I’m sorry this isn’t the ceremony you expected.”
Sean took a step toward me.
“Mae, don’t.”
I turned toward the microphone.
I looked at him.
“I came here this morning ready to marry you. But something happened that made me realize I couldn’t make those promises.”
The room grew quiet.
I looked at him.
“So there won’t be a wedding today. Sean has been having an affair with my bridesmaid, Brooklyn.”
Sean’s head turned sharply toward Brooklyn.
Several guests followed his gaze.
Brooklyn covered her face.
Someone near the front whispered, “Brooklyn?”
“Sean has been having an affair.”
Sean stepped toward me.
“Mae, please.”
“I’m not marrying someone who let me plan our future while he was hiding this from me.”
I returned the microphone.
Then I walked back down the aisle.
“Mae, please.”
Alone.
Sean caught up with me near the reception entrance.
“Mae, please. Just five minutes.”
I stopped.
“I’m sorry. About Brooklyn. About everything.”
I stopped.
“Did you ask her to change my mind about our wedding?”
He looked away.
“You listened to Brooklyn when you wouldn’t listen to me.”
I stared at him.
“So you knew she’d convince me.”
I stared at him.
“I thought it would stop us arguing.”
“And all that time, you were getting closer to her behind my back.”
He lowered his head.
“I’m sorry.”
“I would’ve listened if you’d been honest with me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I love you, Mae.”
I believed he meant it.
But I couldn’t trust him anymore.
“I wanted to marry you today, Sean.”
“I love you, Mae.”
He reached for my hand.
I stepped away.
“That’s why this hurts so much.”
I left before he could ask me to reconsider.
Isla found me in the bridal suite.
I stepped away.
I was struggling to remove my veil.
“Want some help?” she asked.
“Please.”
She freed it gently and sighed.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
I was struggling to remove my veil.
I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
“Starving, Isla.”
“There’s food downstairs.”
I thought about the reception and all the people waiting to hear what would happen next. I thought about seeing Sean and Brooklyn again.
“Starving, Isla.”
“Could we go somewhere else?”
Isla picked up her bag.
“Of course. Where?”
I considered it.
“Somewhere I can eat without wearing this dress. Help me out, please.”
“Could we go somewhere else?”
She smiled.
“That should be easy enough.”
I took the earrings from my bag and left them on the dressing table.
Then I followed Isla out.
