Chapter 4

As soon as I said those words, it felt like there was a hollow in my chest.

I really didn't know.

I had no parents to go back to.

My dad passed away early, and after my mom remarried, she moved out of town. Now, all we ever did was exchange a little money on holidays and send a few polite messages.

I'd been with Ethan for five years. Our friends, our work circles, even our futures were so intertwined that there was no line between us anymore.

He tore us apart, leaving nothing but a bleeding wound behind.

Maya sat down across from me. "What about the baby?"

I pressed my fingers against my stomach, but through my soaked clothes, I couldn't feel any difference. "I want to keep the baby."

She didn't try to persuade me otherwise.

She said, "Then keep it. If you need money, I've got you covered. You can stay here. If Ethan dares to show up, I'll take care of him, with my knife."

I smiled, my eyes stinging with tears.

My phone screen lit up.

It was an unknown number.

I answered, and Ethan's mother's voice came through the line. "Olivia, where are you?"

I gripped my cup tighter. "What do you want, Mrs. Pierce?"

"You're still calling me Mrs. Pierce?" she shot back, her voice rising. "The wedding invitations are already out, and now you've disappeared, how do you think the Pierce family looks now?"

Maya heard the shouting and reached for my phone, but I held her back.

"Your son is already married."

"I know," Lillian Pierce replied, not even a flicker of surprise in her voice. "Men make foolish mistakes. He got a marriage certificate with some girl, so he can divorce her. After all these years with him, you should know better."

Did I really hear that?

The hot cider boiled over, and Maya rushed to turn off the stove, the lid clanging against the counter with a loud bang.

Lillian kept going, "All the guests have already been invited, the hotel deposit's paid, come back and the wedding will go on as planned. As for that girl, I'll make sure she signs the divorce papers, no problem."

"And what exactly am I supposed to be at this wedding?" I asked.

"Obviously, you're the daughter-in-law our family picked."

"And is that even legal?"

She choked on her words.

A few seconds later, her voice turned icy. "Olivia, don't try to use the law against me. We've already told your mom's relatives. Do you really want all your family to become a laughingstock?"

My fingers slackened, and the bottom of my cup clattered against the table.

She knew how to get to me.

My mom's side of the family thrived on gossip, divorce, unemployment, breakups, they'd chew over it all at the holiday dinner table.

Ethan used to hold me close and say, "Don't worry, I'll always have your back."

Now his mother was using the very thing I used to lean on to beat me down.

I said, "Please tell Ethan the wedding's off. I'm not taking responsibility for any losses."

"Don't you dare," she warned.

"Watch me."

I hung up.

Maya came over with the hot cider, swearing like a sailor.

I gulped it down, one mouthful at a time. The heat of the ginger hit my nose, making my eyes sting with tears. I quickly wiped them away, head down.

That night, the wedding group chat exploded.

Ethan didn't respond, but his cousin posted a message. [The bride changed her mind at the last minute. The Pierce family is as helpless as everyone else, so please stop asking.]

Everyone started spamming question marks in the chat.

Some people started messaging me privately.

Someone: [Liv, what's going on?

[Was it about the wedding money?

[Don't make a fuss, Liv. Stirring things up right before the wedding never ends well.]

Reading those messages, my stomach twisted, and I rushed to the bathroom, dry heaving.

All I got was that sour burn in my throat, nothing else would come up.

Maya thumped my back. "Drop the marriage certificate screenshot in the group and shut them all up."

I leaned over the sink, the faucet still running, water splashing everywhere.

I wanted to blast it out.

I wanted to rip Ethan and Chloe's masks off and shove their mess right in everyone's face.

But when my finger hovered over the photo, I stopped.

I couldn't let myself get dragged into an ugly fight.

The baby was still inside me. I needed somewhere to live, a job, steady prenatal check-ups, and money.

Ethan had plenty of connections and resources. If he wanted to get back at me, he could easily make trouble for me at work.

I closed the photo album.

Maya got anxious. "Are you still protecting him?"

"I'm not," I said.

I opened my notes app and started making a list: apartment keys, the furniture we bought together, the wedding deposit, every dollar we exchanged.

"I'm taking back everything that's mine."

Maya looked at me and slowly lowered her hand.

I called the wedding planner, the hotel, and the photographer, one after another. "The wedding's off."

When they asked why, I told them, "The groom is already married to someone else, and the bride isn't me."

There was a moment of silence on the other end, then they quickly changed their tune. "Ms. Lane, we'll refund part of the deposit as per the contract. Please send us the documents."

I sent the screenshot to the wedding planner.

After sending it, my fingers trembled as I dropped my phone onto the table.

At two in the morning, Ethan called from a new number.

I picked up.

His voice was slurred with alcohol. "Olivia, did you really have to make such a mess?"

I leaned back in my chair, staring at the rain-streaked window. "Is it really messier than you sneaking off and marrying someone else behind my back?"

"We never even got a marriage certificate," Ethan snapped, biting off each word. "Don't twist it into something filthy."

"So you do know it's dirty."

His breathing grew heavier. "You messed up the hotel plans. My parents are pissed."

"Let them take it up with their real daughter-in-law."

"You never used to be like this, Olivia."

That was rich.

What was I like before?

When his stomach acted up, I'd make a midnight pharmacy run for him.

When he had late meetings, I'd keep the lights on so he could come home to a warm place.

When he left my texts on read, I'd come up with excuses for him.