My Wedding, My Goodbye

My heart completely shattered the moment Patrick pushed me aside for another woman.

This was the man who had spent ten years relentlessly pursuing me, swearing I was the only woman he would ever love. Yet, on the night before our wedding, he admitted to his friends that I was nothing more than a placeholder.

He casually mentioned that if his secret little girlfriend could just behave herself, hed keep her around. He was absolutely certain that I, his official, broad-minded wife, would eventually forgive him.

But on the day of the wedding, his little girlfriend caused a massive scene.

She held a jagged piece of shattered glass to her own throat, screaming hysterically, demanding Patrick choose between us.

When she violently shoved me off the wedding dais, Patrick didn't even glance in my direction. He threw himself forward to shield the woman threatening him.

As I lay on the floor with a fractured leg, Patrick roared at me to "get the hell away." He was desperate to rush her to the hospital, screaming that if I delayed her treatment, he would make me pay with my life.

That very night, I bought the earliest ticket out of the country. I left, and I never looked back.

"Ana, are you incapable of signing your own damn consent forms? Is that why you've called me twenty times?"

"Just because Kate got hurt, you have to throw a tantrum and fake a broken leg? I am emotionally exhausted! Stop causing trouble for me!"

Patrick's voice dripped with irritation and barely contained rage through the phone.

Ever since Kate crashed the wedding, he had vanished with her for a solid twelve hours.

This was the twentieth time I had called him.

The previous nineteen had been sent straight to voicemail.

His freezing tone made me pause. I pleaded, "Kate pushed me."

"The surgeon says a family member has to sign the consent form. Since you're already at the hospital, can't you just walk over for two minutes and sign it?"

Patrick's response was to violently hang up the phone.

Expecting exactly this, I sighed heavily. "Nurse, just bring me the consent forms. I'll sign them myself."

The attending surgeon looked hesitant. "Ma'am, maybe you should try calling Mr. Kensington again? Perhaps he just misunderstood?"

"Yesterday, he had the entire surgical team on standby. He told us that if Kate tried to crash the wedding and you got so much as a scratch, we were to treat you immediately."

"In the past, you couldn't even catch a cold without Mr. Kensington calling for a board consultation and sitting by your bed for three days straight."

"If he finds out you actually fractured your leg, and that Kate caused it, hell lose his mind. You're clearly the most important person to him."

I let out a bitter, hollow laugh. I used to think I was the most important person to him, too.

Clearly, that wasn't the case anymore.

At my insistence, the surgeon finally handed over the clipboard, allowing me to sign my own surgical release.

Right up until the anesthesia hit, I gave Patrick one last chance. I waited for him to just come check on me.

All I got was an Instagram update from Kate.

It was a boomerang of Patrick blowing on a steaming bowl of oatmeal, carefully feeding it to her, then gently tucking the blankets around her shoulders.

The caption read: "Three years by your side was the greatest luck of my life. Now, you're using the rest of your life to prove your love to me."

Kates smile in the video was sickeningly sweet.

It was hard to believe that just a few days ago, she was getting blackout drunk because Patrick had abruptly dumped her.

She had shown up at my apartment, reeking of alcohol, pointing her finger in my face and sobbing hysterically.

"I was Patrick's shadow for three years! I gave him everything! But he never touched me. He always said you, Ana, were the only woman he would ever marry. What makes you so special?!"

"I tried cooking his favorite meals just like you do. And you know what he did? He slapped me! He told me I was nothing compared to you. He said I wasn't as pretty as you, I wasn't as gentle as you, and told me to stop embarrassing myself by trying to be a cheap imitation."

She had screamed, her voice cracking, "He told me I was just a distraction to kill time until you moved back to the States! He said the second you landed, I was out! Why did you have to come back, Ana? Why couldn't you just die over there?!"

Patrick had walked in, furious that she had insulted me. He slapped her across the face and dragged her out the door without a second thought.

His eyes were cold and full of absolute disgust as he glared at her. "We are done. Stop stalking me. Did you just curse Ana? Are you insane? If you want to die, go do it somewhere else."

"Ana is my one and only. I will never look at anyone else."

Yet, today, at our own wedding, he ran straight to Kate without a second thought.

He held her like she was the most precious thing in the world, panicked and desperate as he rushed her into the ER.

My surgery was brief. I woke up as the nerve block wore off.

Suddenly, the door to my private room burst open. Patrick stormed in.

I thought his conscience had finally kicked in. I thought he was coming to apologize. Instead, the very first thing he did was grab my armthe one with the IV lineyanking it out from under the blankets and aggressively inspecting my hand.

When he didn't see what he was looking for, he glared at me.

"Ana, where is your engagement ring?"

"Give it to me right now!"

His violent pull yanked the IV needle deep into my vein, sending a sharp spike of pain up my arm.

I didn't answer his question. I just looked at him. "Why do you want my ring?"

I had designed that ring myself. I spent months working with a master jeweler to hand-cut the stones. It was the physical proof of our promise.

"Kate likes it. She said she wants us to wear matching rings."

"Just give it to her to play with. It's just a piece of metal. It's not even a big diamond, it's basically worthless!"

While talking, he spotted the ring sitting on the corner of the nightstand. He snatched it up without hesitation and turned to leave.

I lunged forward to grab it, forgetting my leg was in a cast.

I barely caught the edge of the ring, refusing to let go. "Give it back!"

Patrick looked down at me, his eyes full of profound disappointment. "Ana, I thought you were a mature, forgiving woman. When did you become so petty? You're going to fight over a cheap piece of jewelry?"

I stared at him. "If you take that ring, we are done."

Patrick froze.

He dropped to his knees, staring at me in absolute disbelief. "What did you just say?"

His voice trembled. "Ten years. Ten years of history, and you're just going to throw it away over nothing?"

"Don't you know I can't survive without you?"

"I forbid you from leaving me!"

I looked at him with dead eyes. "But Patrick, you threw me away first. For Kate."

Patrick buried his face in my chest, hugging me desperately. "No, no, you don't understand. I just pity Kate! She was having a mental breakdown, she was going to kill herself! I had no choice but to calm her down."

"Once she's stable, we will re-do the wedding. I promise you! Just trust me!"

Looking at his frantic, panicked face, I slowly nodded. "Okay."

He let out a massive sigh of relief and stood up.

But he didn't give the ring back. He walked out the door with it in his pocket.

I rubbed my bare ring finger, then picked up my phone and dialed a number in London.

"Hey, it's Ana. Could you ask Professor Sterling if there's still an opening at the lab? I want to come back and finish my research."

My former colleague sounded thrilled. "Are you serious? Professor Sterling was devastated when you left! Hell be ecstatic. I'll go talk to him right now."

"Wait, didn't you just get married? Won't the long-distance thing be hard on your husband?"

Instinctively, I almost made an excuse for Patrick. Then I realized how pathetic that was.

"He passed away," I said flatly. "He won't be interfering with my career anymore."

After hanging up, I booked a red-eye flight to London.

I checked myself out of the hospital and went home to pack.

Over the next few days, Kate was incredibly active on social media.

I watched Patrick buy her haute couture gowns and bid on million-dollar necklaces at auctions.

I saw photos of their hands intertwined, Kate proudly wearing the diamond ring Patrick had ripped from my hospital room.

I saw the professional engagement photos they took. Kate's caption read:

"Three years in the shadows. Finally stepping into the light to claim my love."

Patrick even shared the post on his own page, though he deleted it two minutes later, terrified I would see it.

Instead, he tried to cover his tracks by forwarding me an invitation to his mother's 60th birthday gala.

Before the wedding fell apart, Patrick had stressed how important this gala was. He made me promise to attend as his wife to wish his mother well.

His mother, Martha, had even held my hand and personally invited me.

Even though the wedding never happened, I bought an expensive gift and took a cab to the Kensington estate.

When I pushed the mahogany doors open, I froze.

The banquet had already started. The entire extended family was seated.

Patrick and his mother were sitting together at the head table. Sitting directly between them was Kate.

Martha placed a piece of lobster on Kate's plate. "Kate, dear, you've lost weight. You need to eat more."

Patrick gave his mother a playful look. "Mom, she's so high maintenance. She refuses to crack her own lobster. I have to peel it for her."

Despite his complaint, Patrick cracked the shell, pulled the meat out, and fed it to Kate by hand.

I stood alone in the grand entranceway, leaning on a crutch, feeling completely exposed and humiliated.

Suddenly, one of his aunts noticed me and gasped. "Ana?"

Patrick's head snapped up. His face immediately turned dark. "What are you doing here? My mother didn't invite you today."

Before I could say a word, he marched over, grabbed my arm, and started dragging me back out the door.

With my broken leg and crutch, I almost lost my balance. I violently yanked my arm free. "Don't touch me. I can walk."

Patrick's tone was ice-cold. "Ana, I don't know what game you're playing, but nobody invited you to my mother's birthday."

"If you came here to mark your territory and try to steal Kate's spotlight, you can leave. You are not welcome here!"

I stared at him, genuinely shocked. "What are you talking about? You specifically texted me to come."

Patrick opened his mouth, a flash of pure guilt crossing his eyes.

"I don't remember that. You're probably just lying."

Martha hurried out into the foyer. "Ana, Kate has been very depressed lately. I told Patrick to bring her so she could get out of the house. Could you please just leave? I don't want her getting triggered by seeing you."

It seemed everyone had conveniently suffered amnesia regarding all the promises they made to me.

Fine. If I wasn't welcome, I had no reason to stay.

I nodded and turned to leave. Just then, Kate walked out of the dining room.

She put on a sickeningly sweet display of pity. "Mom, Patrick, don't be so mean. I'm not that petty."

"Ana is injured. It must have been so hard for her to limp all the way over here. Let her stay! We can all eat together!"

I ignored the triumphant smirk in her eyes. "No thanks. I'm leaving."

But Patrick stepped in front of me, blocking the door. "You are staying."

"Kate was gracious enough to overlook your trespassing and offer you a seat at the table. Are you really going to disrespect her like that?"

"If you walk out that door, the wedding is permanently canceled. Don't forget, you threw away your entire career in London for me. If you lose me too, you'll have absolutely nothing!"

I froze.

Patrick had spent ten years chasing me. I never intended to date him.

But one day, a truck ran a red light. Patrick didn't hesitate; he tackled me out of the way, taking the brunt of the impact.

As they loaded him into the ambulance, bleeding from his head, he gripped my hand. "If it means saving you, I would gladly die. I just hope that in the next life, you'll finally give me a chance."

That was the moment my walls broke. I dropped my prestigious research position in London and flew back to marry him.

And now, he was using the very sacrifice I made out of love as a weapon to control me.

I took a deep breath. "Do whatever you want. Cancel it."

I walked out the door without a backward glance.

I didn't see the brief look of total panic that flashed across Patrick's face.

That night, I packed my final two suitcases. My flight was at 6 AM.

I didn't expect Patrick to actually come back to the apartment in the middle of the night.

He walked in and stared at the empty living room, stunned. "Where is our photo wall? Where did all our vacation pictures go?"

"They fell and the glass shattered," I lied smoothly. "I threw them in the trash."

Patrick walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Why won't you even look at me? Are you mad?"

He sighed deeply. "You're so stubborn. Why can't you just compromise? All my relatives were there today. I had already introduced Kate to them. When you showed up, it made everyone uncomfortable."

"If you had just dropped the gift off and left quietly, none of this would have happened."

I suddenly felt his fingers grabbing my left hand, slipping a ring onto my finger.

It was a generic diamond ring. It wasn't mine.