Chapter 3

I looked at him and slowly pulled my hand away.

"Okay."

Ethan visibly relaxed and turned back into the apartment.

I stood there, pulling out my phone to open the WhatsApp wedding planning group.

I suddenly remembered when Ethan first started out as an independent wedding planner.

He had worked through the night, revising the itinerary over and over again.

I had asked him, "It's just one wedding. Why are you working so hard?"

He had looked down and smiled.

"Because every bride is trusting us with a once-in-a-lifetime dream."

"A wedding planner's most important job is to never let the bride down."

Later, for our own wedding, he spent over three months tweaking the design.

Chloe had also volunteered to be our wedding coordinator.

I stared at the chat box, and finally sent out a single message:

[The wedding is canceled.]

In the back of the Uber, my phone buzzed continuously.

This time, it was Chloe.

I picked up.

"Hazel, please don't be reckless, okay?"

Soon, the voice on the other end changed to Ethan's.

"I was wrong tonight."

"But you can't throw away everyone's hard work just because you're mad at me."

I stared out the window and said softly, "Ethan."

"Do you remember what you told me when you planned your first wedding?"

"Well, you've completely let your bride down."

With that, I hung up.

My fingers clenched tightly around my phone.

I couldn't understand.

Why did it have to be them?

The two people closest to me had personally destroyed the future I had looked forward to for so long.

I lowered my head, finally breaking down into tears.

I didn't go back to our shared apartment.

All the wedding decorations were still there, along with everything we had prepared.

But after tonight, I never wanted to step foot in that place again.

By the time I made it to my flower studio, the sky was already turning gray.

The next morning, Ethan's call woke me up.

"Hazel, Chloe lost the bridal bouquet you dropped off yesterday while she was doing inventory."

"Can you put together a replacement? I'll come pick it up."

I held the phone, not answering immediately.

If this had happened yesterday, I would have panicked.

But now, I felt entirely numb.

The contract was still active, and the final payment hadn't been settled yet.

"Okay," I replied.

I opened the walk-in cooler.

Since my own wedding was supposed to be tomorrow, I hadn't ordered any new inventory.

The only flowers left inside were the ones I had saved for myself.

Ethan had helped me pick them out, stem by stem.

I pulled them out, trimming the stems, removing the thorns, and wrapping them with ribbon.

With every cut of the shears, it felt like I was snipping away a piece of our past.

Just as the bouquet was nearly finished, the doorbell rang.

Ethan had arrived, with Chloe trailing right behind him.

When Ethan saw the flowers on the table, his face fell.

"Hazel, aren't these..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

I bent my head to tie the final ribbon.

"Yeah, they were meant for my wedding tomorrow."

Ethan frowned.

I handed the completed bouquet to him.

"I don't have anything else."

After a pause, I smiled faintly.

"No more flowers, and no more wedding."

Just as he was about to speak, Chloe tugged at his sleeve.

"Ethan, we're going to be late."

Ultimately, he took the bouquet.

"Hazel, wait for me to get back."

After watching them walk away, I opened my email on my phone.

At the very top of my inbox was an admission letter from a prestigious floral design school in Paris, received three days ago.

Honestly, I had waited for this opportunity for a long time.

But Ethan had told me that once we were married, I shouldn't go running off to other countries.

I tapped the confirmation link again.

And booked a one-way ticket leaving tonight.

I began canceling everything related to the wedding.

With every vendor chat I closed, it felt like I was tearing out a piece of my own soul from the last eight years.

In the end, only the venue setup remained, which I didn't have the authorization to cancel.

By the time I arrived at the hotel to find Ethan, the bride's reception was already underway.

On stage, the bride held my bouquet, her face glowing with happiness.

The bride choked up as she spoke into the mic:

"The person I want to thank the most today is Chloe."

"My original bouquet was lost by the florist."

"But Chloe put this one together at the last minute so I wouldn't have any regrets."