No Bride At The Altar

I called off our wedding exactly one week before we were supposed to walk down the aisle.

When I broke the news, Leo was hunched over his laptop, editing his junior lab partner Linda's master's thesis.

His voice carried a mild, practiced irritation. And what's your reason this time?

I placed a tube of lipstickthe one Id found wedged beside the passenger seat of his caron the sleek wooden desk. Then, I laid down two glossy photographs right next to it.

The lipstick belonged to Linda.

The photos showed the two of them on a weekend getaway.

I looked at him. "Are these two reasons enough?"

Leo knitted his brows, tossing out a casual, defensive explanation. "The lipstick must have slipped out of her bag. And the photos? Shes been under an insane amount of pressure with her research lately. I just took her out of town for a weekend to help her clear her head."

I nodded slowly. "Right. So were calling off the wedding."

He stared at me for a long, quiet beat, as if trying to gauge my resolve, before turning his eyes back to his monitor.

"Whatever you want, Gina."

I knew he didn't take me seriously. He didn't believe for a second that I would actually walk away. After all, every time he had threatened to break off our engagement during our past arguments, I was always the one who swallowed my pride, begged for forgiveness, and coaxed him back. He assumed this was just another one of those times.

But he was wrong. This time, I was truly done.

...

Leo didnt spare me another glance. His focus was entirely consumed by Linda's draft.

"Go get some rest," he said, his fingers already flying across the keyboard. "I'll give her back the lipstick tomorrow."

I didn't say a word. My gaze drifted back to the photos.

In them, Linda had her arm draped casually over his shoulder, their cheeks pressed close together. She was sticking her tongue out playfully at the camera. They looked exactly like a happy young couple.

The photos had been taken two weeks ago, during the weekend Leo told me he had to travel out of state for an academic conference. It turned out his "conference" was a getaway to help Linda unwind.

I remembered bringing up the idea of a short trip myself just last week.

He had frowned, sighing heavily. "The lab is absolutely swamped right now, Gina. I physically don't have the hours. Let's do it another time."

Though disappointed, I hadnt pushed. I had quietly waited, holding onto the hope that he would eventually carve out some time for me.

Only now did I realize it wasn't a matter of time. He had plenty of it. He just didn't want to spend it on me.

After a long silence, I finally asked, "Why did you lie to me?"

His fingers paused over the keyboard. He looked up, his expression a mix of confusion and irritation, as if my question were entirely absurd.

I held his gaze and repeated myself, my voice barely a whisper. "You took Linda to the coast to clear her head. Why did you tell me you were traveling for work?"

Leo was always too busy. He was so busy that I had to plan every single detail of our wedding by myself. From the guest list and the catering to the floral arrangements and venue design, I had handled it all. I had even gone to the jeweler to pick out our wedding bands alone.

Yet, this incredibly busy man had somehow found the hours to whisk Linda away because she was feeling stressed. A bitter, suffocating ache bloomed in my chest.

A shadow of annoyance crossed Leo's face. "If I had told you the truth, you would have started a fight. Gina, were about to get married. Do you really not have even a shred of trust in me? Linda has been crying in the lab because of her research. She was on the verge of a breakdown. I just took her out of the city to help her decompress."

I stared at him.

Linda was stressed, so he took her on a trip. Linda struggled with her thesis, so he stayed up late rewriting it for her. He gave all of his precious time to Linda, while leaving me with only one word: "busy".

I nodded, my voice dropping to a faint, hollow tone. "Okay. I understand. Ill explain things to my parents. You should tell yours. The sooner, the better."

Leo opened his mouth to say something, but his phone buzzed on the desk. He picked it up, and I caught a glimpse of the contact name on the screen: "Linda".

I quietly turned around and walked out of the study, giving him space. Behind me, I heard him play her voice note.

"Hey, Leo! Hows my draft looking? Im so, so nervousplease tell me you don't think it's total garbage!"

As I stepped out into the hallway, Leo's gentle reply drifted through the open door. "Of course not. It's actually really good, there are just a few sections we need to polish..."

I didn't listen to the rest. I closed the door behind me, and a single tear slipped down my cheek, splashing onto the hardwood floor.

Six years of my life, gone just like that.

The next morning, Leo acted as if nothing had happened. He grabbed his coat, slipping it on as he spoke.

"Theres a department dinner tonight, so Ill probably be home late. Go ahead and sleep, dont wait up for me."

He didn't wait for my response before heading out the door.

I stared down at my cold bowl of oatmeal, barely tasting it. I sat on the couch for a long time, watching the morning light slowly shift across the living room, before finally forcing myself to go upstairs.

After living together for three years, I had accumulated a lot of things. Packing them up was going to be a monumental task.

I lost track of time. By the time Leo came home, the bedroom was a chaotic mess of half-filled boxes, and two large suitcases sat open on the floor.

He knitted his brows, looking genuinely perplexed. "Where are you going?"

My hands froze over a stack of sweaters. I felt a sudden, bitter urge to laugh.

Of course. He hadn't registered a single word of our conversation last night. He probably asked where I was going out of pure, mindless habit. Compared to his hyper-awareness of Linda's emotions, his concern for me didn't even amount to a fraction of a percent.

I folded a blouse and placed it neatly into the suitcase. "I'm moving out," I said evenly.

Leo fell silent for a moment, as if the memories of the previous night were slowly clicking into place. Then, he let out a soft, dismissive chuckle. "Gina, are you actually serious? Look, if youre that desperate for a vacation, I'll carve out some time for us right after the wedding, okay?"

I didn't answer. I just kept packing.

His expression softened into one of weary indulgence. "Lindas lipstick really did just fall out of her bag when I drove her home the other night. I gave it back to her today. She promised me shed be more careful with her things from now on."

My hands didn't falter. "Good to know," I murmured.

Seeing my indifference, Leo yanked at his tie, his patience finally snapping. "Are you really going to throw a tantrum over something this trivial?" he snapped, his voice sharp with irritation. "Calling off the wedding? Gina, we are six days away from our rehearsal dinner. Do you have any idea what calling it off right now actually means? Youre an adult. Stop being so incredibly childish."

Of course I knew what it meant. It meant my parents would have to face the pitying whispers of our relatives and friends. It meant severing the six-year thread that bound my life to his.

But I couldn't live like this anymore. I couldn't spend the rest of my life playing second fiddle to Linda in my own marriage.

"It is," I said.

Leo blinked. "What?"

I looked him dead in the eye and repeated it, slower this time. "It is worth it, Leo. I'm not throwing a tantrum. I'm calling off the wedding. I don't want to marry you anymore."

Leo stared at me, a cold, scoffing laugh escaping his lips. "Gina, theres a limit to how far you can push a drama. You're seriously going to throw away six years of our lives over a stray lipstick and a couple of vacation photos?"

To him, it was always just a drama. He had never once stopped to consider the concept of boundaries when it came to Linda.

I remembered a night last year when I had too much to drink at a corporate networking dinner. When I called his number, Linda answered. She told me Leo was driving and couldn't talk. After a heavy pause, I asked if he could come pick me up. He took the phone from her and rejected me without a second thought. "I'm driving Linda home right now. Just call an Uber."

I ended up taking that rideshare home alone, and we had a massive screaming match. But then he coldly uttered, "Maybe we shouldn't get married after all," and those words felt like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head, freezing the anger right out of me. In the end, I was the one who crawled back, swallowing my pride to appease him.

He was so protective of Linda that he had threatened to call off our wedding dozens of times because of her. But now, when I was the one pulling the plug, he refused to believe it.

I looked away, too exhausted to argue. "Fine. Think what you want."

"Gina, can you stop with this toxic jealousy?" Leo pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling a frustrated breath. "Linda is my junior colleague. Shes struggling. What is so wrong with me helping her navigate her research? It's literally my job as her mentor."

I remained silent. I zipped up my final suitcase and pulled it off the bed.

Leo threw his hands up in defeat. "Whatever. Maybe its good for you to get out of the house and clear your head. At least then you'll stop overanalyzing everything."

He turned on his heel and slammed the study door behind him.

I quietly stood the suitcase up in the corner of the room. Looking down at the diamond engagement ring on my left hand, I slipped it off my finger and set it on the nightstand.

I expected to lie awake all night, but instead, I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. I didn't wake up until mid-morning, roused by soft, giggling voices floating up from the living room.

"Leo, are you sure Gina won't be mad that you brought me over without asking her first? You guys are literally getting married next week. Id feel terrible if you two got into a fight because of me."

I had heard that voice countless times through Leo's speakerphone. But I never imagined he would actually bring Linda into our home.

"She won't mind," Leo replied, his voice warm and comforting. "Gina isn't unreasonable. Besides, youre only here so we can finish editing your thesis drafts."

When I carried my suitcase down the stairs, I saw Linda sitting beside him on the sofa. Their heads were huddled close together over a laptop. Neither of them noticed me standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Oh my gosh, Leo, youre literally a lifesaver," Linda squealed, gazing at him with open admiration. "If I had submitted my original draft, my advisor would have absolutely shredded me."

"Don't worry," Leo said softly. "I've got you. We'll fix it together."

My heart gave a painful little squeeze. I had never seen him display that kind of gentleness.

Just last month, I had asked him to look over a marketing proposal I was working on for a promotion. He had barely glanced at the paper before looking back down at his phone. "Gina, this isn't my field. I don't have time for this."

He had no patience for me. But for Linda, he was willing to explain things line by line, hour by hour.

I let go of the handle, and my suitcase clicked against the floorboard. Both of them snapped their heads in my direction.

Leo stood up and walked toward me, his tone defensive yet carefully even. "Linda needed help with the final edits. I figured it would be easier and faster if she just came over here to work."

"How convenient," I murmured.

Linda scampered over behind him, her eyes dropping to the suitcase at my feet. She let out a soft gasp. "Gina... are you going somewhere?"

I ignored her. Reaching into my coat pocket, I pulled out a platinum credit card and handed it to Leo. "This is the card your mother gave me for the wedding expenses," I said, my voice steady and devoid of emotion. "I haven't spent a single penny of it. Ill speak to my parents tonight. You should do the same with yours. Let's not drag this out."

Leo stared at the card, a look of genuine shock crossing his face before it hardened into a bitter, mocking smirk. "Gina, what is this dramatic little performance supposed to prove?"

"Nothing," I said, pressing the card into his palm. "Since the engagement is off, its only right that I return what isn't mine."

"Calling off the engagement?!" Linda gasped, her hand flying to her mouth before Leo could speak. "Gina, youre calling off the wedding? Why?"

I turned my gaze to her, looking her straight in the eye. "I think you know exactly why."

Linda froze, the color draining from her face.

Leo immediately stepped in front of her, shielding her from my gaze. His brow furrowed in anger. "Gina, that is enough. This is your own insecurity talking. Don't drag Linda into your issues."

Watching the outrage burn in his eyes, I paused, and a small, sad smile touched my lips. To him, I was just insecure and petty. He completely ignored his own failure to set boundaries, choosing instead to paint me as the irrational, jealous fiance.

"You're right," I said quietly. "I am petty."

I wheeled my suitcase around them and walked out the front door.

As I crossed the threshold, Lindas whimpering voice drifted out from the entryway. "Leo... is she calling off the wedding because of me? I swear the lipstick was just an accident, I didn't mean to leave it in your car... I'm so sorry..."

"It has nothing to do with you," Leo interrupted, his voice dropping into that familiar, reassuring register. "I know her. She's just trying to scare me. Shes not going to call off the wedding."

I didn't look back. I pulled the door shut behind me, letting the heavy click of the deadbolt swallow their voices whole.

I took a taxi to my parents' house in the suburbs. When I walked through the door dragging my heavy luggage, my mother stopped dead in her tracks. "Gina? Sweetie, what are you doing here?"

Her eyes fell to the suitcases, and her face softened with immediate concern. She asked, her voice cautious, "Did you and Leo have a fight?"

My hand tightened around the handle of my suitcase. I swallowed the lump in my throat and shook my head. "No. It wasn't a fight. I called off the wedding."

My father walked out of the kitchen just in time to hear me. He stood frozen in the hallway. "Gina, what did you just say? You called off the wedding?"

I sat them down in the living room and explained everything, my voice growing softer and more exhausted with every sentence. By the time I finished, my mothers eyes were glistening with unshed tears. My father remained silent, his jaw clenched in quiet anger.

"Mom, Dad... I'm so sorry," I whispered, looking down at my hands.

My mother immediately reached across the table and took my hands in hers. Her voice trembled, but she forced herself to stay strong for me. "Gina, look at me. Your father and I will support whatever you decide. If you don't want to marry him, we aren't going to make you. Don't worry about the guests or the relatives. We will handle them."

A sudden wave of emotion hit me, threatening to shatter the fragile calm Id kept all morning. I blinked rapidly, fighting back the tears, refusing to let them fall.

Upstairs in my old childhood bedroom, I collapsed onto the mattress, utterly drained. My phone buzzed on the nightstand. It was a text from my best friend, Becca.

"Gina, is it true? Did you actually call off the wedding with Leo? Tell me you're joking."

I stared at the ceiling and typed out a brief reply: "It's true. His business trip last month? He took Linda on a weekend getaway."

Within three seconds, Becca was calling me. She didn't even say hello before launching into a furious tirade.

"Is he out of his mind?! Youve been working yourself to the bone coordinating with vendors and florists, and hes out of town playing boyfriend to his assistant?! You spent six years of your life building a future with this man. How could he do this to you? Hes an absolute prick!"

By the end of her rant, her voice was shaking with anger and tears. She was crying for me, feeling the injustice of it all more loudly than I could.

I forced a small, tired smile. "It's okay, Becca. Honestly, it's better this way. I don't want to marry him anymore."

Before, I had been holding onto the hope that things would change. But now, my heart was entirely numb. The love had simply bled out of it.

The night before our scheduled wedding, Leo called me.

"Tomorrow is the big day," he said, his voice casual, as if he were checking in on a grocery list. "What time are you coming back to the apartment tonight?"

I stared out the window into the dark suburbia, a quiet, humorless laugh escaping my throat. He still believed this was a game. He still thought I was just throwing a tantrum to teach him a lesson.

"I'm not coming back," I said.

There was a brief pause on the line. "Fine," he sighed. "Your parents' place is closer to the venue anyway. You can just head straight to the hotel tomorrow morning."

"Leo," I interrupted, closing my eyes. "I am not going to the venue. I am not getting married tomorrow. I wasn't throwing a tantrum. I am done."

A long, heavy silence stretched over the phone. When he finally spoke, his tone was clipped, laced with disbelief. "What do you mean you're not going? Gina, do you hear yourself right now? Is this about Linda again?"

He exhaled a long, dramatic sigh, the epitome of a martyr. "Linda and I are colleagues. We work in the same lab. There is absolutely nothing going on between us. I explained the trip to you. Can you please stop making a scene?"

A scene. In Leos eyes, every boundary I tried to set, every ounce of pain I expressed, was just me "making a scene."

When Linda called him at midnight because her apartment's kitchen light broke, he had rushed over without a second thought. When I cried about it, he told me I was overreacting. When he chose to drive her across town instead of picking me up from a bar in the rain, he told me I was being dramatic.

And now, when I was trying to save my own dignity by calling off a doomed marriage, he called it a scene.

I wanted to ask him: "What do I have to do for you to actually hear me?"

I took a deep breath. "Leo, I am not"

"Leo!"

A feminine voice suddenly chimed in from his end of the line, cutting me off. It was Linda.

I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It was past eleven. She was still at his apartment.

Leo muffled the microphone on his phone, but his voice still leaked through as he whispered to her, "What's wrong?"

"Leo, are you sure its okay for me to crash on your couch tonight? I don't want to make things weird," Linda asked, her voice dripping with sweet innocence.

I pressed the red button and hung up.

A few minutes later, a text message popped up on my screen.

"Linda ran into some massive errors with her dataset. We worked late into the night trying to resolve them, so I told her she could stay in the guest room. Get some sleep, Gina. I'll see you at the altar tomorrow."

He was still entirely convinced I would show up.

My thumb hovered over his contact card. With a few quick taps, I blocked his number. Since he was so absolutely certain of my compliance, I decided to let him experience his perfect wedding day all by himself.