Jilted at the Altar, I Married His Best Friend

On the day of our engagement, Felix Heath vanished. No calls answered, no messages returned.

My parents and I nearly lost our minds. We were sure something had happened to him on the road, and we came close to calling the police.

After a lot of trouble, we got through to his driver, who hemmed and hawed on the other end.

"Mr. Heath is meeting with a client alongside Miss Simmons... He can't get away."

I swallowed my anger and was about to demand he put Felix on the line when Felix's own message came through.

*Our families have known each other for over twenty years. Don't get so hung up on these formalities.*

*It's her first time handling a deal on her own, and the other side is a slippery old hand. I have to make sure she's safe.*

*I'll add thirty thousand to the wedding fund. Don't be upset.*

My father's face darkened. He turned to the window and lit a cigarette, his hand shaking.

My mother's eyes went red. Her voice caught as she looked at me.

"Sweetheart, are you sure you want to marry him?"

"I watched him grow up, but that doesn't give him the right to take you for granted like this..."

Seeing them like that, my chest ached like a needle had gone through it.

I patted the back of my mother's hand, put on a smile, and turned to our guests.

"Everyone, please, eat. The engagement is off. Here's to me being single again!"

……

Through the whole meal, the private room buzzed with whispers.

My parents kept smiling through it, all the way until the last guest had gone.

I watched their backs, my eyes burning.

They'd worked hard and honestly their whole lives, waiting for a day like this, dressed in clothes they'd picked out with such care to host my engagement dinner. And it had come to this.

The guilt I'd been holding back finally gave way, and my voice broke as I lowered my head.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. I embarrassed you."

My mother turned, tucked the loose hair at my temple behind my ear, and smiled.

"Don't talk nonsense. You're the proudest thing your father and I have. Whatever you do, we're behind you."

My father, who was never good with words, nodded.

"Your mother's right. No matter what, we've got your back."

As he spoke, he took out his phone and sent Felix's wedding fund straight back.

Worried I hadn't eaten enough, my parents went to the store for the dishes I loved and came home to cook.

I'd just changed into something comfortable and sat down when Felix arrived.

Our families had been neighbors since we were small. Later his father died in an accident and his mother remarried, leaving him on his own.

My parents saw how young he was and felt for him, always calling him over to eat with us.

One thing led to another, and he learned the code to our door.

In all those years, we never changed it.

When he saw me sitting on the couch in my loungewear, his brow knotted.

He was about to speak, but then he caught sight of the two figures bustling in the kitchen, and he gripped my wrist and pulled me into my room.

He shut the door, his face full of anger.

"Bianca Hughes, what's the meaning of this?"

"Turning the engagement into some single-again celebration? How am I supposed to face all those relatives now?"

I looked at him quietly and let out a small laugh.

"Oh? So you do remember we have relatives?"

"You didn't show up to your own engagement and humiliated my parents in front of all those people. What was the meaning of that?"

"Felix, if you don't want this marriage, no one's holding a knife to your throat forcing you into it!"

Maybe it was the first time he'd ever heard me, the one who always went along with him, say something like that. He froze for a moment, a flicker of panic crossing his face.

He crouched down, took my hand, and softened his tone.

"Bee, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking it through."

"But have you forgotten what happened back when you first started working, when that business partner groped you?"

"You cried so hard that day, and instead of taking your side, your boss blamed you for losing the deal."