Chapter 1
"Cancel the wedding." My fiancé, Mateo Fields stood at the other end of the red carpet, dressed in a tailored suit. His tone sounded as calm as if he were commenting on the weather.
More than three hundred guests turned to look at me in unison.
I wore a custom-made wedding gown. I held a bouquet that cost 3 thousand dollars. My makeup had taken four hours. And now, I was publicly dumped.
I said, "Mateo, what did you say?" I thought I had misheard.
Mateo responded, "I said, the wedding is canceled."
Beside him, my best friend Velma Lehman walked up with a slightly rounded belly and hooked her arm through his.
Head down, she said in a soft and fragile tone, "Susan, I'm sorry. I'm three months pregnant. Mateo said he must take responsibility."
I stared at her stomach, then at Mateo.
He did not even look at me, saying, "I will return the 250 thousand down payment in installments."
I suddenly laughed.
Behind me, the best man Shawn Bingham had walked to my side at some point. In a low voice, he said, "Do you want to make them regret it?"
I took off my wedding ring and threw it onto the ground. "Sure."
*****
Five minutes ago, I was the happiest bride in the room.
The wedding was held at the most expensive estate hotel on the outskirts of the city, and the venue alone cost 50 thousand dollars.
My mom passed away when I was young, and my dad was always overseas, so I pretty much handled everything for this wedding myself.
From picking the venue to tasting the menu, from choosing the dress to writing the invitations, I'd been busy for six whole months.
Mateo only showed up twice in the last week, always saying he was swamped at work.
"Is the bride ready?" the makeup artist asked, giving my lipstick a final touch and smiling at me in the mirror.
"Mr. Fields really has great taste. You're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen," she said.
I looked at myself in the mirror. The misty blue contacts made my eyes look pure and bright, and the bold red lipstick was perfect for this occasion.
The wedding dress was my own design, handmade by the best tailor in Canning City. The labor alone cost 80 thousand dollars.
Everything was perfect.
It felt so perfect, I honestly thought this was the luckiest day I'd ever had in my twenty-six years.
"It's time for the bride to make her entrance," someone called out, knocking on the door to remind me.
I took a deep breath, gathered up my dress, and walked out.
At the end of the hallway, sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing everything in a golden glow.
I walked through the light, feeling like a princess straight out of a fairy tale.
But at the end of the aisle, Mateo didn't look at me.
He was turned to the side, talking to Shawn, looking all serious.
Shawn was Mateo's childhood buddy, the sole best man at our wedding.
Word was, they'd been thick as thieves since they were kids.
I'd only met Shawn a handful of times. He always showed up in dark clothes, wasn't much of a talker, but his gaze was piercing.
Every time we crossed paths, he'd look at me in a weird way.
It wasn't the kind of look a guy gave a pretty girl. It was more like he was scrutinizing me.
Moreover, there was a hint of pity in his eyes.
I never liked him much.
It always felt like he knew something I didn't.
"The bride is here," the emcee announced.
The whole room fell silent.
I walked down the aisle. With every step, I felt like I was stepping right into happiness.
Mateo and I had been dating for three years. Two and a half of those were spent apart, in a long-distance relationship.
He worked in the city, while I was in grad school in Sanon City.
We only got to see each other once a month, and every time, I was the one who took a four-hour high-speed train to be with him.
He always said he was too busy at work to come see me.
I understood.
He said his apartment was too small for me to stay over.
I understood too.
Our relationship felt like a marathon. I was always chasing him, while he was always ahead, moving at his own pace.
It wasn't until I graduated, landed a job, saved up enough for a down payment, and bought a place that he finally said, "Let's get married."
The house deed was in my name alone.
Mateo said it didn't matter. "What's yours is mine. We're married. No need to keep score."
Back then, I thought he was being really mature about it.
Looking back now, it seemed I was just the fool.
"Mateo Fields, will you marry Susan Fritz?" The emcee's question jolted me back to reality.
I looked up at Mateo, waiting for him to say, "I do."
But he didn't say a word.
"Mateo?" I called out softly.
He finally turned and looked at me.
His gaze made me shiver.
"The wedding's off," Mateo said.
The three words were tossed out casually, like they meant nothing.
It was like he was commenting on the weather, or saying the food was so-so.
The guests erupted in chaos.
"What's going on?"
"The groom's not willing?"
"No way. They're calling it off now?"
I stood there, my mind completely blank.
"Mateo, are you joking?" I forced a smile.
Joking around at a wedding wasn't exactly funny, but I'd rather believe he was kidding around.
But he stayed stone-faced.
He looked at me, with obvious irritation in his eyes.
"Susan, you know why," he said, his voice flat.