His Mistress Tried on My Bridal Dress

Ten days before the wedding, I pushed open the fitting room door to find my fianc Ethan bent over, adjusting Chloe's wedding dress.

That dressI was the one who ordered it.

The store clerk stood nearby, smiling as she complimented Chloe's figure, saying the dress looked like it was custom-made for her.

I stood frozen in the fitting room doorway.

Chloe spotted me in the mirror and quickly covered her exposed cleavage.

"Natalie, don't misunderstand." Her voice dripped with innocence. "I just thought this dress was so beautiful, and I mentioned wanting to try it on. Ethan said"

Before she could finish, Ethan rushed to explain.

"Chloe's never worn a wedding dress before. What's wrong with letting her try it on?"

I looked at him, and suddenly felt like laughing.

This wedding dress? I didn't want it anymore. This fianc? I didn't want him either.

I said nothing, walking over slowly.

The store fell silent.

The clerk who'd been holding my gloves instinctively stepped back.

Ethan glanced at me, finally seeming to notice my expression.

"She just got back to the country and she's going through a rough time. It's just a fitting. Don't make a scene."

I stared at him and asked quietly, "When did this start between you two?"

His brow furrowed.

Chloe bit her lip, maintaining that innocent look. "Natalie, I really didn't mean anything by it. I just"

"Don't bother lying!" I cut her off.

"You knew exactly how important this dress was to me. Not only did you put it on, you had my fianc help you into it!"

Her face paled.

Ethan's voice dropped immediately. "Natalie. Why are you taking it out on her? She said she just wanted to try it. Why are you being so harsh?"

Looking at him, I suddenly felt that even getting angry would be a waste of energy.

I reached up and removed the veil from my head.

Ethan's expression finally changed. "Natalie, what are you doing?"

I ignored him, focusing on removing the ring from my left hand.

That ringhe'd put it on me just last month.

The ring stuck a bit as I tried to remove it.

I twisted it forcefully, and my knuckle quickly turned red.

Ethan walked over, finally showing some urgency, reaching out to touch me. "Stop this."

I stepped aside, avoiding his hand, and threw the ring on the floor.

"She wants to try on wedding dresses? You can help her. She wants to get married? You can marry her too."

The color drained from Chloe's face, and her voice began to tremble. "Natalie, please don't do this. I really wasn't trying to steal"

"You weren't trying to steal." I looked at her. "You just knew that whenever you reached out, he'd always take your side. And he's never disappointed you, has he?"

Ethan's expression darkened. "That's enough. You want to call off the wedding? Have you thought about the consequences?"

I suddenly smiled.

"I have. So from this moment on, the wedding is cancelled."

Ethan looked like he hadn't heard me correctly. "What did you say?"

"I said, it's cancelled." I turned to the clerk. "Please pull up all the payment records for this dress."

Chloe finally seemed unsteady on her feet, clutching the dress as she stepped back. "Ethan, maybe I should change out of this..."

"Change." I looked at her. "Right now."

Her eyes immediately welled up with tears, as if she'd suffered some terrible injustice.

A few minutes later, the clerk pulled up the payment records.

I held them in front of Ethan's face.

"See this clearly? I ordered the dress. I paid for it. You took my property to please your white moonlight, and you expect me to be gracious about it?"

Ethan's lips moved as if he wanted to explain. "Natalie, that's not what I meant."

"What you meant doesn't matter anymore. The wedding is cancelled!"

With that, I turned and walked out.

Ethan finally caught up, grabbing my wrist and lowering his voice. "Is this really necessary?"

I stopped and looked back at him.

"Ethan. You're gambling that I won't dare make a scene."

His fingers stiffened.

I pulled my hand free, bit by bit.

"Too bad. This time you bet wrong."

When I walked out of the bridal shop, the sun outside was blindingly bright.

So bright my eyes stung.

My bridesmaid Maya chased after me, shoving my phone and purse into my arms, her voice still shaking. "Nat, are you really calling it off?"

"Yes. Seven years. That's all it was. I'm not throwing away the rest of my life for it."

I got into the car and turned the AC to its lowest setting, but my back was still covered in sweat.

Maya sat in the passenger seat, glancing back at me several times, clearly wanting to say something.

I'd been with Ethan since my early twenties, supporting him from nothing to where he was today. Seven years total.

When we first got together, during his hardest times, I was the one who helped him through.

When he had a fever, I was the one who carried him downstairs to the hospital in the middle of the night.

During the most difficult period of his career transition, I was doing my own projects while also editing his resume and practicing interviews with him.

Even later, when Chloe's name started appearing between us occasionally, I kept telling myself not to overthink it.

A first love from college, leaving some shadow in his heartthat didn't mean anything would actually happen.

On his birthday, a message popped up on his phone. I saw it was from "Chloe." He said it was just someone from an old college group chat checking in.

The day she returned to the country, he cancelled dinner with my parents at the last minute, claiming work emergency. Later, I saw a photo she posted on Ins of someone picking her up at the airport. He was in the frame.

I stared at my phone for a long time but never asked.

It wasn't until today that I understoodsome relationships don't suddenly fall apart.

Maya finally spoke up. "Want to go home?"

"Let's go to my place," I said. "I need to sort out the accounts first."

She paused. "You're doing accounts right now?"

"If I don't do it now, should I wait for him to strike first?"

I unlocked my phone and pulled up the wedding budget spreadsheet.

Wedding dress final payment: twenty-eight thousand.

Maya looked at that figure and sucked in a breath. "You never settled this with him before?"

"I did," I said. "He told me to cover it first, and he'd pay me back when his quarterly bonus came through."

"Plus there were things he just assumed I'd pay for because I was better at handling logistics and could pay faster. We'd settle up later."

As I said it, I had to laugh at myself.

Settle up later.

Turned out in his mind, I was suitable for marriage not just because I was stable, understanding, and good at managing life.

But also because I could pay, could cover expenses, could handle all the hassles.

And all he had to do was show up when needed and continue playing the respectable groom-to-be.

My phone screen suddenly lit up.

A message from Ethan.

[Just calm down for a bit.]

Then a second one.

[Today wasn't as serious as you think.]

The third came quickly.

[Chloe just went through a breakup and she's emotional. I was just looking out for her. Don't blow this out of proportion.]

I stared at that phrase "blow this out of proportion," my fingertips growing cold.

Even now, his concern was about proportion.

Not about right or wrong.

Maya leaned over to look and nearly laughed in anger. "He's got some nerve."

I didn't reply.

The next second, my phone vibrated again.

This time it wasn't a private messageit was the wedding planning group chat.

That group included both sets of parents, groomsmen and bridesmaids, the wedding planner, hotel coordinator, and a few close relatives.

Ethan posted in it:

[There was a small misunderstanding at the dress fitting today. Natalie got a bit emotional, but the wedding is still on. Everyone, don't worry.]

I stared at that line for three seconds.

Maya swore out loud. "He's getting ahead of the narrative."

I nodded.

Not surprising.

Ethan had always been best at packaging embarrassing situations as harmless misunderstandings.

He was never afraid of hurting me.

He was afraid of people finding out that ten days before his wedding, he'd given his fiance's wedding dress to his white moonlight.

Soon, people started responding to smooth things over.

[Couples always get anxious before the wedding. Don't let it hurt your relationship.]

[Ethan, just be patient with her.]

[Natalie's probably just stressed.]

Then there was Ethan's mother's message:

[You're this close to the wedding. Don't give outsiders something to laugh about.]

Almost simultaneously, my mom's private message popped up.

[Nat, don't be afraid. Take care of yourself. Your dad and I are here.]

Looking at those two messages, I suddenly smiled.

So even at a time like this, some people worried about losing face, while others only worried about me getting hurt.

Who cared about appearances and who cared about meit was crystal clear.

I placed my phone on my lap and took a deep breath.

"Maya."

"Yeah?"

"At the bridal shopdid you record a video?"

Maya froze for a moment, then nodded quickly. "I was originally trying to film you coming out, but I accidentally caught Ethan adjusting Chloe's back clasp. I didn't film long, but that moment's in there."

I held out my hand. "Send it to me."

She immediately transferred the original video.

I opened it. The footage was a bit shaky, but clear enough.

Ethan stood behind Chloe, his fingers on the wedding dress clasp, his movements painfully practiced.

And that dressthe waistline, the hoop skirt, the trainall exactly as I'd confirmed just two days ago.

This wasn't a misunderstanding.

This was evidence.

I dragged the bridal shop payment records, wedding expense spreadsheet, and corresponding transaction records all into one folder.

"He said I was being emotional?" I looked up at Maya.

"Then I'll show everyone whether I'm throwing a tantrum or cutting my losses."

I picked up my phone again and opened the wedding planning group.

[Since Ethan says it's a misunderstanding, let's clear up the misunderstanding.]

The moment I sent the message, the group went silent.

I knew the real second round was just beginning.