Chapter 1

A week before the wedding, the hotel suddenly notified me that the reception I booked had been canceled.

I quickly opened the wedding booking app and scrolled to the order page. The status showed "Canceled," and the transaction time was three days ago.

To prepare for this wedding, my fiancée, Chloe Vance, and I had stayed up for three consecutive nights, comparing venues one by one and tasting every single dish on the menu.

How could it be canceled? The hotel must have made a mistake.

I dialed the hotel’s number, and they picked up quickly.

"Hi, I’m the coordinator for the wedding booked for June 15th."

"I just received a notification saying the reception was canceled. Is there an issue with your system?"

The customer service agent paused for a second.

"Sir, our records show that a Ms. Vance came to the front desk in person three days ago to cancel the reservation. She signed the confirmation paperwork."

"Maybe you should double-check with her?"

The agent’s voice was still echoing in my ear, and my fingers holding the phone felt ice-cold.

Canceled three days ago?

But three days ago, Chloe was still discussing the invitation designs with me.

She was still asking me if I had picked out the color for the groomsmen’s suits.

I hung up, standing in the middle of the living room, staring at the wedding itinerary spread out on the coffee table.

The door lock clicked.

I heard the sound of Chloe kicking off her shoes at the entryway.

"Lucas, I bought those cinnamon rolls from the bakery you love."

Her voice drifted in from the hallway.

"I stood in line for half an hour. I grabbed the very last box!"

I stood still and didn’t move.

She walked in carrying the bag, a bright smile on her face. When she looked up and saw me, her smile faltered.

"What’s wrong? Why are you just standing there like a statue?"

I watched her place the bag on the coffee table and pull out the cardboard box.

Just like always, she opened the lid and handed me a fork.

"Taste it. It’s fresh out of the oven."

I didn’t take it.

"Chloe."

"Is there something you need to tell me?"

Her hand froze in mid-air.

Then, she slowly lowered the fork onto the box, looked up at me, and forced that same smile back onto her face.

"Tell you what? Oh, about my mom coming over? She just Snapchat-ed me saying—"

"About the hotel."

She fell completely silent.

The living room went dead quiet.

She stood on one side of the coffee table, and I stood on the other. Between us was a table piled high with wedding brochures.

"The hotel coordinator called me today. She said three days ago, you went to the front desk and canceled the booking."

Chloe looked down, staring at the papers on the table.

"Lucas," she said, her voice barely a whisper, "I was actually planning to talk to you about this."

"Talk about what?"

"About the wedding."

She looked up at me.

"I just think all of this is so unnecessary. It's a complete waste of money. Look at this catering bill.”

“Each plate is $150. For over a hundred guests, that’s fifteen thousand dollars just for a few hours of eating!"

"And then there's the decorator, the DJ, the videographer... that’s another ten grand. If we save this money, think of all the better things we could do with it."

I stared at her, watching her lips move.

"Didn't we already agree on this?"

"You said a wedding only happens once in a lifetime, so it was fine to have a higher budget."

"You said we needed a top-tier videographer with a two-camera setup so we wouldn’t regret it when we watched the tape years later."

"I thought about it later, and I realized it's just not worth it."

"Most young couples don't even do big weddings anymore, right? An elopement is so much better.”

“It saves money and hassle. We could go to Miami, or California—you’ve always wanted to go there."