Candies Trampled Our Wedding Vows

At our wedding rehearsal dinner, the moment I walked into the banquet hall, I saw my grandma, who suffers from dementia, crawling on the floor like a dog.

Hailey Brooks, Ethan Vances student intern, was tossing candies onto the floor, laughing as she shouted at her.

Crawl around the table once and bark twice, and Ill give you a treat.

"No hands allowed. You have to pick it up with your teeth."

My grandmas knees were shaking violently from the pain, but she still obeyed.

She lay flat on the floor, picking up a candy with her mouth like a dog, which made Hailey burst into hysterical laughter.

It wasn't until she saw me that she frantically started picking up the candies from the floor with her hands.

She forgot she could even stand up. She just crawled to me on her knees and held out her hands like she was showing off a treasure.

"Coco..."

"Eat the candy. It's sweet!"

Trembling with rage, I rushed forward and slapped Hailey hard across the face.

Ethan instantly pulled her behind him, frowning as he snapped at me.

"Hailey is studying physical rehab. She was just helping your grandma with behavioral response training."

"Besides, your grandma doesn't remember anything anyway. Shell forget it in a few minutes."

"Do you really have to throw a tantrum at our rehearsal dinner and embarrass everyone?"

My grandma didnt understand what was happening.

She just nudged the candy closer to my lips, repeating in a pleading voice:

"Eat, Coco."

"Eat it, and don't cry."

She had already forgotten why she was kneeling on the floor, but she still remembered that when I was a little girl, a single candy could stop my tears.

I swallowed the dust-covered candy, choosing not to argue with Ethan anymore.

Instead, as I helped my grandma out of the hall, I pulled out my phone and texted our wedding planner.

[Cancel the wedding in three days. Keep the deposit.]

The planner replied almost instantly, asking if I had sent the message to the wrong person.

I looked back.

Ethan was still leaning down to comfort Hailey, completely oblivious to the fact that I had already left.

I replied calmly: [I didn't send it to the wrong person.]

This wedding, which I had spent a whole year planning.

There was no longer any point in going through with it.

When we got home, it took me a long time to soothe my grandma before she finally fell asleep.

At eleven that night, Ethan came back.

He placed a tube of ointment on the nightstand and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"Your grandmas knees only have some scrapes. The ointment will clear it up in a few days."

"Hailey went a bit too far today."

"Ive already lectured her. And I won't hold it against you that you slapped her."

Ethan stroked my back gently, just like he used to.

Every time we fought, he would coax me this way.

When Hailey was giving me an IV and "accidentally" missed my vein over a dozen times, he held me just like this and explained it away.

On my birthday, Hailey lied about being suicidal over a breakup and kept Ethan away for the entire night. When he came back, he just held me and whispered that there wouldn't be a next time.

But after every "next time," there was always another.

Ethan probably thought that as long as he bowed his head and said a few sweet words, I would eventually forgive him, no matter how angry I was.

He kissed my forehead, just like he always did.

"Alright, let's put this behind us."

"I know you won't hold a grudge against an immature young girl."

He waited for me to hug him back like I used to.

But I just lowered my eyes and said calmly, "Okay."

Ethan let out a visible sigh of relief.

Before he could say anything else, his phone suddenly rang.

Haileys crying voice came through the speaker.

"Professor Vance, my mom suddenly got dizzy, and I don't know what to do."

Ethan immediately let go of me.

"Don't cry."

"Take her to the hospital first. I'm on my way."

Once the phone hung up, he grabbed the coat he had just taken off.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to turn back and remind me:

"Get some sleep."

"It won't look good if you have dark circles under your eyes on our wedding day."

I didn't remind him.

The wedding in three days had already been cancelled by me.

Less than half an hour after Ethan left, my grandma started shivering violently in her sleep.

I quickly dressed her and carried her downstairs on my back.

She was so thin, nothing but skin and bones.

Yet, carrying her on my back made me sweat profusely.

At the hospital, I lined up alone to register, pay, and get the lab slips.

By the time I got the test results, my back was completely soaked with sweat.

The nurse, however, told me:

"The Chief of Neurologys schedule is completely full today."

"You can only wait in the general urgent care lobby. There are twenty-something people ahead of you."

I pleaded in a low voice, "Shes suddenly very confused and shivering. Could you please ask the specialist to just take a quick look?"

The nurse shook her head helplessly. Just then, a familiar voice came from behind me.

"Please add a priority slot for Dr. Harrison."

Ethan walked over with Hailey and her mother.

He spoke politely to the nurse.

"This is my student's mother."

"Ive already cleared it with Dr. Harrison. Just let her go straight in."

The nurse immediately opened the clinic door for them.

Standing there, I suddenly remembered the year my grandma was first diagnosed with dementia.

Back then, I couldn't get a specialist appointment for days, so I called Ethan for help.

Even though he was very close with that specialist, he refused to help me.

"Just because you're my girlfriend, I need to avoid any conflict of interest."

"The hospital has rules."

"If everyone uses personal connections to skip the line, what about the ordinary patients?"

Though disappointed, I had felt proud of his integrity.

Later, I arrived at the hospital at 4:00 AM to queue up, waiting for two whole days before finally getting that appointment for my grandma.

But now I understood. His so-called principles were never unbreakable.

I just wasn't worth making an exception for.

Hailey spotted me.

Holding her mother's arm, she feigned a look of conflict.

"Chloe, did you bring your grandma here too?"

"Why don't we give this slot to your grandma?"

"My mom is just a little dizzy. It's fine if we wait a bit."

Ethan, however, frowned.

"Stop messing around."

"This is the first time your mom has had these symptoms. We must rule out any immediate danger."

Only then did he look at me, his tone still calm and dismissive.

"Your grandma has had this disease for years. Waiting a little longer won't make a difference."

"Just wait out here. Once Haileys mom is done, Ill see if I can squeeze your grandma in."

I looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Okay."

Ethans expression softened slightly. "I'm glad you can prioritize what's important."

It turned out that in his vocabulary, "important" never depended on who was sicker. It only depended on whether the person suffering was Hailey.

He guided Haileys mother into the clinic.

Hailey followed close beside him, casting a glance back at me.

Her eyes were filled with triumph she couldn't hide.

The clinic door shut right in front of me.

My grandma looked up dizzily.

"Coco, let's go home..."

I squeezed her cold hand.

"Grandma, just a little longer."

"We're going to a new home soon."

Two weeks ago, my company had invited me to relocate to our UK branch to lead a new project.

There happened to be a world-class care facility specializing in dementia patients near the office.

I had been hesitant to leave my seven-year relationship with Ethan, so I hadn't replied.

In this very moment, I opened my email and hit "Accept."

Then, I booked two one-way tickets to London for three days later.

One for me.

One for my grandma.

We had seventy-two hours left before our departure.

Three days from now was supposed to be the day I married him. Now, it would be the day he lost me forever.

After spending half the day at the hospital, it was late at night by the time we got home.

Just as I tucked my grandma in, she suddenly called out my name with complete clarity.

"Chloe."

I froze.

It had been a very long time since my grandma had looked at me with such lucid eyes.

She looked down at the bandage on her knee, silent for a long time, before asking in a trembling voice:

"Was today your rehearsal dinner?"

"Did Grandma... crawl on the floor and act like a dog?"

My nose stung instantly.

"No."

"Grandma was just sick. You did nothing wrong."

But her eyes slowly welled with tears.

"I remember."

"So many people were laughing. Someone was taking videos."

"You were wearing such a beautiful dress. You were supposed to be happy, but Grandma embarrassed you again."

She reached out to touch my face.

Those hands were thin and rough, her joints heavily deformed from years of hard work.

When I had a high fever as a child, it was those hands that carried me miles down a mountain road.

When I couldn't afford tuition, it was my grandma who woke up at dawn every day to sell vegetables, collecting crumpled dollar bills to pay for my school.

Back then, she always said that as long as her Coco was doing well, any exhaustion was worth it.

Now, she looked at her shaking hands and kept apologizing to me.

"Grandma is old and senile."

"You have to take care of me, and you get laughed at because of me."

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have fought with Ethan today."

"I shouldn't have gone to the dinner."

I hugged her tightly.

"It wasn't because of you."

"Grandma, you are never a burden to me."

I told her that in three days, we were moving to London.

There were better care centers there, and no one who knew us.

My grandma listened for a long time, then finally nodded gently.

"As long as my Coco doesn't find me annoying."

I thought I had comforted her.

But in the middle of the night, after finishing up some work, I pushed open her bedroom door only to find her lying quietly on the bed.

She was wearing her cleanest clothes, and her gray hair was combed perfectly neat.

A row of empty pill bottles sat on her nightstand.

Her blood pressure pills, painkillers, and daily chronic disease medicationsshe had swallowed them all.

She had even folded the empty blister packs neatly and put them in a plastic bag.

It was as if she was terrified of making a mess of the room and causing me more trouble.

Beside her, the tablet on her desk was playing the rehearsal dinner video on a loop.

When Hailey posted the video on TikTok, she had proudly captioned it:

[Some people act so high and mighty, but who knew her grandma would crawl like a dog for me? ~]

In the video, my grandma was on all fours like a dog.

In the comments section, some called her an old nuisance, while others mocked me, saying that marrying a girl with a grandma like this would surely bring shame to the groom's family.

She had watched that video seventeen times.

My heart felt as if it were being violently carved out with a knife.

On the table, a piece of paper was held down by a glass.

The handwriting on it was shaky and uneven.

[Coco, Grandma won't embarrass you anymore.]

[Go live a good life.]

I rushed to the bedside, calling her name repeatedly.

There was no response.

Her body was already cold, but her hand was still tightly clutching that last piece of candy.

It was as if, until her very last breath, she remembered to save it for me.

When the paramedics arrived, the doctor took one look and shook his head with regret.

I knelt by the bed, crying my heart out, calling for my grandma over and over.

But the old woman who, no matter how many times she forgot everything else, would always remember to save a candy for me, never opened her eyes again.

Ethan had said she would forget the humiliation and mockery in a few minutes.

But that night, my grandma didn't wait for her next lapse of memory.

She took all her medication, forever trapped in the most lucid, yet most painful night of her life.

During the two days I spent handling her funeral arrangements, Ethan never showed up.

From getting the death certificate, to contacting the crematorium, to picking out the urnI did it all alone.

Meanwhile, Haileys Instagram Stories never stopped.

In her photos, she was wearing the wedding dress that was meant for me. Ethan was half-kneeling on the floor, adjusting her hemline.

The caption read: [Chloe is throwing another tantrum and refused to come, so I had to help Professor Vance try on the dress. Gold star for his taste! This dress feels like it was custom-made for me.]

Someone commented below: [If I didn't know better, Id think you two were the ones getting married tomorrow.]

Hailey quickly replied: [Shh, don't let the old lady see this, she gets jealous so easily.]

While waiting to collect my grandmas ashes at the crematorium, Ethan finally called.

"Chloe, where are you?"

"The bridal shop scheduled our final fitting today. Everyone is waiting for you."

I stared at the urn in the staff member's hands and spoke softly:

"My grandma passed away."

Silence fell over the other end of the line for a few seconds.

I thought he would at least ask how she died.

But when Ethan spoke again, his voice held nothing but impatience.

"Chloe, I know you're still mad about Hailey."

"But no matter how angry you are, you shouldn't lie about your grandma's death."

"She was perfectly fine two days ago. How could she suddenly pass away?"

"Since when did you become so petty?"

I parted my lips, but I didn't know how to explain.

Haileys sweet, whiny voice drifted through the receiver.

"Professor Vance, is Chloe still mad at me?"

"Maybe I shouldn't help her try on the dress anymore."

Ethans tone immediately softened.

"Don't worry about her."

"She's just being petty, trying to scare me with her grandma."

"You two are about the same size. Try it on for her first."

"If anything doesn't fit, they can alter it now."

Hailey giggled softly.

"But won't Chloe find it gross to wear it after me?"

Ethan replied nonchalantly:

"She's not that dramatic."

"She can just wear it directly tomorrow at the wedding."

The call was disconnected.

The staff member happened to walk over to me.

"Ms. Bennett, please sign here to collect the ashes."

"My deepest condolences."

I took the urn.

It was very light.

The grandma who had carried me for miles on her back, sold vegetables to pay for my school, and stayed by my side for over twenty years was now nothing more than a handful of light ashes.

I lowered my head, pressing my face against the cold lid of the urn.

Tears fell uncontrollably.

I went home and began packing my bags.

My grandma didn't have many belongings.

A few old clothes, a wooden comb, and the candies she had hidden under her pillow, too precious to eat.

I packed them one by one.

As I passed the study, I noticed Ethans computer was still on.

On the screen was Haileys graduation thesis.

[A Study on Reward-Based Directive Training for Alzheimer's Patients.]

The folder contained dozens of videos of patients.

Some elderly people were asked to repeatedly kneel, while others were lured with food to perform ridiculous actions.

The consent forms beside the videos were all stamped with the hospital's official seal.

But the shaky signatures of the family members were clearly written by the exact same hand.

On his Snapchat, there were chat logs between Ethan and Hailey.

Hailey had asked: [Professor, what if the patients' families refuse to sign the consent forms?]

Ethan replied:

[Take the videos first. I'll help you falsify the authorization forms and ethical approval later.]

[Your thesis defense is the most important thing. Don't let these procedures slow you down.]

It turned out my grandma wasn't just a toy Hailey had picked out on a whim.

She had already humiliated many helpless elderly patients in the exact same way.

And Ethan had known all along.

He had even personally covered up everything for her.

I copied all the forged authorization forms, video files, and chat logs.

Along with my grandmas medical records, death certificate, and the video circulating online, I packed them all into an envelope.

I addressed it to the hospital's ethics committee and the universitys board of directors.

After mailing the report, I placed my engagement ring and house keys on the dining table.

Then, holding my grandmas urn, I dragged my suitcase to the airport.

I had bought two tickets.

One for me.

One for my grandma.

Now, she was still flying to London with me.

She just couldn't sit in the seat I had booked for her.

As the plane took off, the city lights slowly disappeared beneath the clouds.

Tomorrow was supposed to be my wedding day.

Ethan probably still thought that as long as he stood at the altar, I would definitely show up.

After a twelve-hour flight and layover, I finally arrived.

The moment I turned on my phone, missed calls flooded in.

The bridal shop, the wedding planner, the hospital's disciplinary board.

And Ethan.

Ninety-nine missed calls in total.

The last message was sent by him ten minutes ago.

[Chloe, the ceremony is about to start.]

[Where on earth are you?]

I stared at that message for a long time before finally picking up his next call.

Ethans voice immediately blasted through the receiver.

"Chloe, you finally picked up."

"The wedding starts in fifteen minutes. Where the hell are you?"

His voice was anxious, but there was no genuine worry in it.

It wasn't until the airport PA announcement echoed behind me that he suddenly fell silent.

His breath hitched.

"You went abroad?"

"Book the next flight back right now."

"I won't hold it against you that you tried to cancel the wedding. As long as you come back now, we still have time to rearrange the schedule."

He was still the same.

With just a casual "I won't hold it against you," he assumed I would gratefully crawl back to him.

I looked down and touched the urn in my lap.

"My grandma is dead. I'm not coming back."

Ethans tone turned ice-cold.

"Are you trying to use your grandma to lie to me again?"

"Chloe, this joke isn't funny at all."

I didn't bother to explain. I just took a photo of my grandmas death certificate and her suicide note, and sent them to him.

After the photos were successfully sent, only heavy, ragged breathing remained on the other end of the line.

It took a long time before Ethan asked in a cracked voice:

"What... what is this?"

"Haven't you already seen it?"

"I don't believe it."

"She was fine just a few days ago."

"She only scraped her knee. How could she suddenly..."

I cut him off.

"She saw the video Hailey posted online."

"She saw herself crawling on the floor like a dog, and she saw everyone mocking her."

"She swallowed every single pill we had in the house."