Left At The Altar For His Ex

The day my fiancé, Caleb Dalton, and I went to get our marriage license was the day his ex-girlfriend—the one who’d vanished years ago—walked back into his life.

For her, Caleb left me standing alone at City Hall. That very night, he brought her back to our penthouse on Puget Sound.

Forced out of my own home, I was attacked by a mugger in a desolate industrial district late one night. It was an ordeal that nearly cost me my life.

After surviving, I finally resolved to leave him. But instead, he was the one who came back, crying and begging me not to go. The whole thing was absurd. Laughable.

A spineless bastard like that? Did he really think I'd still want him?

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1

Sienna Pierce came back. And of course, she had to pick the very day Caleb and I were at Seattle City Hall to get our marriage license.

Funny how things work out, isn't it?

It happened the moment we finished signing our names, just as we were about to hand the application to the officiant.

Caleb's phone rang.

He was a man who prided himself on his composure, but for the first time, a flicker of panic crossed his face. The hand holding his pen trembled.

He answered the phone, his tone instantly shifting to a breathless excitement and tenderness I’d never heard before.

Dazed, I stared at him, feeling like I was looking at a complete stranger.

"Don't cry, I'm on my way..."

"Just wait for me at Sea-Tac. I'm coming to get you."

After hanging up, he immediately turned to the clerk. "Excuse me," he said, "can I get those documents back? We need to hold off on this for a moment."

From beginning to end, he never once glanced at me.

Under the weight of everyone's knowing stares, I grabbed his hand. "Caleb, let's just finish this, okay?"

Only then did he seem to register my presence, his back instantly stiffening.

Perhaps the desperation in my eyes was too intense, because he hesitated for a long, silent moment.

I forced a tight smile, about to signal the officiant to proceed.

But he suddenly stood, snatched the documents from the counter, and strode out without a backward glance.

The room erupted in a low murmur. On impulse, I caught up to him on the steps outside City Hall, just as he was getting into his car.

"She's back."

The accusation that was about to leave my lips died in my throat.

He said the words so lightly, yet it felt like the ground beneath me had opened into a bottomless abyss.

"Sienna Pierce?"

He remained silent, but the tenderness in his downcast eyes was impossible to hide.

I laughed bitterly. "You're going to abandon me for a woman who abandoned you years ago?"

"If you could never let her go, why did you propose to me in the first place?"

"Do you have any idea how long I've been with you? Five years! Do those five years mean nothing?"

The more hysterical I became, the more obvious the impatience on his face grew.

The love I felt for him turned to ice in my veins.

But I still couldn't accept it.

I lowered my head and said in a voice that was barely a whisper, "If you go to her, we're over."

Caleb, however, grew calm. He bent down and lifted my chin.

The smile on his lips held no warmth, his eyes filled with a chilling cruelty as he forcefully pried my hand from the car door.

"Over? Who do you think you are to say something like that to me?"

"Juliet, don't ever think we were equals. You've always been the one who needs this relationship more!"

The dust kicked up by the black Tesla settled over me. I only snapped out of my stupor when its taillights had completely vanished.

I had forgotten. Threats only work on people who care about you.

And Caleb had never cared about me.

I looked up at Seattle's gloomy sky, hot tears streaming down my cheeks.

I didn't understand. It was summer. Why did it feel so cold?