Chapter 2

My mom stopped mid-sentence when she saw the look on my and Eloise's faces. "What's wrong?"

I looked at my mom and told her the truth. "Simon's not coming."

My mom froze. "What do you mean he's not coming?"

"Just what it sounds like," I replied calmly. "He went to find Kiara. He said he wants to follow his heart."

My mom's face went pale.

She grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself.

She spat, "That bastard.

"Is he out of his mind? Does he know what day it is today?"

Tears welled up in her eyes as soon as she finished speaking.

My mom said, "What are we supposed to do now? There are so many people here already. Your dad is still talking to the guests.

"How do we explain this to the Fergusons? And to the hotel staff? What will everyone think of you?"

Her words became more frantic, and finally she covered her mouth, sobbing.

Under normal circumstances, I would have comforted her first.

But today, I really didn't have time.

I glanced at the time. There were seven minutes left until the wedding was supposed to start.

"Mom," I cut her off. "Don't cry right now. I need you to go out there and keep Dad calm.

"Tell him the wedding schedule has a last-minute change, and ask him not to lose his temper or go storming off to find Simon."

My mom was still crying, her face full of disbelief.

"Jenna, you're really still doing this?" she asked.

"Of course," I replied. "We've already paid for everything."

I continued, "The groom can run, but the reception can't go to waste."

My mom was speechless.

Eloise gave me a silent applause from the side.

"Classic you," she said.

My mom was still lost, struggling to keep up with my way of thinking.

"But without a groom, what are you going to do?" she asked.

I gathered up my wedding dress, stood up, and shot her a quick smile.

I said, "No groom? Then I'll kick things off myself.

"Who says we have to stick to the script for today's wedding?"

As I stepped onto the stage, the whole crowd was starting to buzz with anxiety.

The groom had failed to show up at the scheduled time.

The emcee stood at the side of the stage, sweat beading on his forehead. He looked like he had seen a lifeline when he spotted me.

"Ms. Wright, d-do we keep going with the ceremony?" he asked.

I grabbed the mic from him and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. "Sure.

"From here on out, we do things my way."

The emcee looked totally lost. "Huh?"

I gestured to the crew backstage.

The lights flooded the stage again.

The crowd slowly fell silent.

Everyone at twenty tables turned their eyes to the center stage, all at once.

I stood center stage in my wedding dress, holding up my skirt, mic in hand, all alone in front of the flower arch.

There was no groom, no music, no father to walk me down the aisle, no vows.

This scene should've been an absolute mess.

But when I actually stood there, I found I wasn't scared anymore.

The worst had already happened.

He bailed.

Everyone had shown up.

The whole world was waiting to see me make a fool of myself.

Since that was the case, I might as well take control first.

I lifted the microphone and smiled at the room. "Good evening, everyone."

The room was dead silent.

"Let me start by telling you all something," I said calmly. "The groom ditched at the last minute."

The whole place erupted.

Someone said, "What?"

Another echoed, "He bailed?"

A third chimed in, "Is that for real?"

Someone else said, "I knew something was up today."

Someone said, "This is insane."

I could see the barely contained shock and nosy excitement in the eyes of several relatives in the front row.

They had come for a wedding reception, and now they had a front-row seat to a real drama.

Their expressions were priceless.

I kept smiling. "And the reason? It's pretty simple.

"He ran off to pursue his true love."

The moment those words left my mouth, even folks in the back row were gasping.

I even caught one of the guests muttering, "What a jerk."

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

Some chuckles escaped from the crowd.

The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.

It should have been a catastrophic runaway groom scene, but I was so calm, so polite about it all, that no one knew how to pity me anymore.

I looked out over the room and spoke slowly. "Under normal circumstances, I would be crying right now.

"I would break down, throw my bouquet, and turn this 100 thousand dollar wedding into a total sunk cost.

"But I just thought about it.

"The flowers are already bought, the tables are already set, and everyone is already here.

"Crying won't change the fact that the groom bailed."

"So, here's what we're going to do." I paused, then gestured for the emcee to come over.

"Can you bring up the prize box for me?" I said.

The emcee was completely baffled. "Th-The prize box?"