Chapter 2
On the day we were supposed to sign the final wedding contract, Edward showed up half an hour early.
He'd ordered my favorite coffee, and the contract was tagged exactly how I like.
When I walked in, he pulled out my chair for me, switched his phone to silent, and set it face down on the table.
Edward said, "No matter who calls, I'm not leaving today."
The planner flipped the contract to the date page.
I saw it written there: [November twenty-third.]
I blinked, thinking I'd read it wrong.
"Wasn't it supposed to be October sixteenth?" I asked.
"Mr. Grant asked us to change it last night," the planner replied.
Edward always handled the hotel contract. Last night, he confirmed the new date without a word.
"The October slot's been freed, and the hotel and team have already rescheduled everything," the planner added.
I turned to look at him.
Edward was quiet for a couple of seconds.
"Charlotte's due date is October eighteenth," he said. "The doctor said she's been having a lot of contractions lately, and the sixteenth is too close."
I asked, "So you changed our wedding date without asking me?"
"It's just a one-month delay," he said. "If something really happens to her on our wedding day, I can't ignore it.
"It's better to reschedule now than to have to leave at the last minute."
Strangely, I didn't even feel angry.
It seemed it wasn't always Charlotte suddenly needing him.
Sometimes, before anything even happened, he'd already made room for her, by moving me out of the way.
The planner quietly reminded us, "This rescheduling will cost 50 thousand dollars."
Edward didn't even blink.
"I'll cover it," he said.
Out of the original deposit for the October slot, 30 thousand dollars was my mom's wedding gift to me.
I asked, "Charlotte has a husband and parents. Why does her labor have to take priority over my wedding?
"Vivian, ever since Charlotte was little, the first thing she does when something happens is come to me.
"I can't just tell her on my wedding day, 'Sorry, I'm getting married, so you can't come to me anymore,'" he said.
"What about November?" I asked. "What about her recovery after giving birth, the baby's sip-and-see party, and what if she and David fight again?"
The warmth faded from his face. "Vivian, don't hold me accountable for things that haven't happened yet."
I gave a small laugh. "Isn't everything that's happened these past four years enough?"
I closed the contract. "I'm not signing for November."
Edward frowned. "Vivian, it's just a one-month delay."
"You're the one who gave up the October slot. I'll decide the new date when I'm ready," I replied.
On the way home, my dad called to ask about the hotel reservation.
I told him we'd canceled the October booking.
He went silent for a while.
"It's changed again?" he asked.
I replied, "Yeah."
He said, "The money your mom left you wasn't meant for you to keep wasting it on wedding delays."
*****
At ten that night, Edward came home with honey cake.
He bent down in front of me and gently brushed the corner of my eye.
"I'll transfer 50 thousand dollars to you," he said. "We won't change the November wedding."
I asked, "What makes you so sure?"
He finally snapped. "Vivian, can you stop dragging this out?
"You used to be the most sensible."
Just then, my phone lit up.
Charlotte sent a message. [Vivian, Edward said the wedding's been moved to November.
[That way, I can have the baby and you two can get married too. Everyone can relax.]
A few seconds later, she added: [See? I told you he'd take care of it.]
I didn't reply.
I didn't sign.
But to them, they'd already decided everything for me.
*****
The next afternoon, Charlotte showed up at the studio.
She came in carrying a bag of fruit and explained, "Vivian, don't blame Edward for the wedding date.
"I simply mentioned that the sixteenth is way too close to my due date. If something happens, he'll be torn between the two of us."
I was working on the first wax mold for the Baylor City Couture Project brooch.
She spotted it and immediately reached for it.
I looked up. "Don't touch it."
She was already holding it between her fingers.
"Relax, I'm just taking a look. It's not like I'm going to break it," she said.
I set my tools down. "Charlotte, put it down."
Her smile faded. "Vivian, do you really think I'm always competing with you for everything?"
"Isn't that exactly what you're doing?"
"It's not like I wanted to be with Edward.
"But ever since I got married, everyone keeps telling me I should rely on David now.
"Edward's always been the one I could call anytime, and he'd show up. Now that he's getting married, do I seriously need to book time with him?"
She wasn't scared of losing a friend. She was scared of losing her spot at the top.
"So you want a backup family member who'll always be there for you, no matter if you've got a husband or not," I said.
"I simply don't want to suddenly become a nobody in his life just because he's getting married," she said.
"But if you always have to be first, someone else always gets pushed to the back."
She went quiet for a second. "But Edward doesn't mind."
The person who really disappointed me was never just her.
The wax brooch slipped from her fingers and rolled under the display stand.
I bent down to pick it up.
As Charlotte stepped back, she bumped into a glass panel that hadn't been secured.
The glass came crashing down.
I didn't have time to react. My body moved on instinct. I pushed her aside.
My right hand was sliced open from the palm to the wrist, blood pouring out in an instant.
Charlotte only scraped her calf, but she immediately grabbed her belly.
Ten minutes later, Edward burst in.
He spotted Charlotte first, then his eyes landed on me. My hand was drenched in blood.
Charlotte barely managed to say her stomach hurt before Edward was already picking her up.
My voice shook from the pain. "Edward, take me to the hospital."
He turned around, his eyes wide with panic.
"Vivian, I'll have my assistant—" he started.
Charlotte gasped again.
He immediately looked away from me. "I'll take her first. My assistant will be here for you."
In the end, it was the shop owner next door who called the ambulance for me.
At the ER, I got eleven stitches, with partial tendon damage.
The doctor said it would affect the fine movements of my hand.
I stared at my right hand, all wrapped up in bandages.
Yesterday, it was my drafts that got ruined.
Today, it might be the hand I need to create them.
That night, Edward finally showed up.
He crouched by my hospital bed, staring at my bandaged right hand. He reached out, but pulled back, afraid to touch.
"Does it still hurt?" he asked.
Before I could answer, his phone rang.
Charlotte's in-laws had already heard about what happened at the studio. They were convinced she'd gotten stressed because of a fight between me and Edward, and now they wanted to come to the hospital for an explanation.
Edward was gone for a long time. When he came back, he set his phone up in front of me.
"Vivian, can you record something for them?" he said.
On the screen was a scripted message.
The first line read: [Today, because the wedding got postponed, I lost it and blamed Charlotte.]
I looked up. "That's not true."
"Charlotte's in-laws won't listen to anything right now," Edward said. "You can get them to calm down first. We'll show them the security footage later."
"So you want me to take the blame first?"
He was quiet for a moment. "It's just to keep things from blowing up."
I pushed the phone back to him. "I'm only going to say what really happened."
Edward stared at me for a long time, then finally nodded.
I turned on the camera.
"What happened today was an accident. Edward only came to the studio after he got the call. Charlotte was scared, and I got hurt too. It's all on the security cameras," I said.
Charlotte was wheeled to the door by a nurse, her eyes red.
"Vivian, can you promise you'll never take it out on me because of Edward?" she asked.
I looked at Edward.
He didn't say no for me.
Suddenly, I remembered the night of the proposal.
"Sign it, and I'll get down on one knee," he'd said.
His so-called kindness was never about asking me what I wanted.
He simply thought I'd always suck it up.
I looked back at the camera.
"From now on, I won't ever fight with Charlotte over Edward," I said.
Because now, there was no point.
The recording ended.
I asked, "What if I can't draw anymore?"
He leaned down.
"That won't happen. If we can't fix it here, we'll go abroad. I'll get you the best doctors, anywhere in the world," he said.
But just then, Charlotte grabbed her belly. "Edward, I think I'm having contractions again."
Edward shot to his feet.
He got to the door, then turned back and leaned down to kiss my forehead.
"Wait for me. I'll be back soon," he said.
After the door closed, my phone buzzed.
Michael shot me two texts.
They read: [Flight's at seven tomorrow morning.
[I'll be there right on time to pick you up.]
I slowly tapped out a single word with my left hand. [Okay.]