On the Wedding Day, He Abandoned Me For His First Love

The next day, I looked in the mirror, satisfied that the cold compress had finally reduced the bags under my eyes, and I left the house feeling refreshed.

Today was going to be a good day.

At the office, I could feel the curious stares from my coworkers. As the Vice President of the company, everyone knew about my wedding, so they were all aware of what had happened.

“Ms. Murray, are you okay?” my assistant asked, handing me some documents while carefully gauging my mood.

“I’m fine. It’s just a trivial matter,” I replied without even looking up, knowing exactly what she was referring to.

It was time to find a new business partner.

How did I meet Chad?

Two years ago, he was a low-level employee from a small company, sent to negotiate a contract with me.

Normally, I wouldn’t bother with such small firms – they were always demanding and had too many conditions.

But Chad had been persistent, following up with me for a month straight. I was intrigued by his tenacity and agreed to give him a chance.

His business skills weren’t bad either, and eventually, we started dating.

Money wasn’t a big deal to me; what mattered was his ambition.

Over the past two years, his career had taken off, and my parents had finally approved of him.

I thought we were solid – until he brought me to a party, and I found out he still had feelings for his first love.

At the time, I didn’t think much of it. It’s normal to have an ex, right?

But everything changed when Fiona returned from abroad six months ago.

“Ms. Murray?” My assistant’s voice brought me back to the present.

“When is our new partner arriving?” I asked, handing her the signed documents.

“He’s already here.”

…

In the meeting room, I sat across from our potential new partner, both of us staring at each other in silence.

The atmosphere was tense.

“Liam the Rascal, you’ve done well for yourself over the years, climbing your way to the top,” I said, breaking the ice.

“And you, little Tessa, you’ve come a long way too. From that scrappy girl to a Vice President,” he replied.

We both burst into laughter, much to the confusion of our assistants who had been waiting outside.

About half an hour later, I shook Liam’s hand, sealing our partnership. “Looking forward to work with you.”

His hands were as attractive as ever, and he mirrored my words: “Looking forward to work with you, too.”

“How about grabbing some lunch?” he asked, glancing at his watch. It was already lunchtime.

“Sure, my treat,” I agreed readily, gesturing for him to lead the way.

Liam walked ahead of me, and I couldn’t help but notice how his six-foot-one frame reminded me of the goofy high school classmate he used to be – except back then, he wasn’t quite as tall.

I never expected that after six years, we’d meet again like this.

“What are you standing there for? Still daydreaming like you did in high school? Just like that scrappy girl I used to know,” Liam teased as he turned back to grab my hand and pull me along.

I looked down at our joined hands. In high school, he used to do this too, but back then it was to drag me out of class. Later, he had to leave for college abroad due to his parents.

Wait a minute, who are you calling a scrappy girl?

I decided to let it slide, given that he was both my old classmate and now my business partner.

But just as we were getting comfortable at the restaurant, Chad and Fiona walked in.

Fiona clung to Chad’s arm, looking as delicate as ever – just seeing them was enough to ruin my appetite.

“Chad, isn’t that Tessa over there?” Fiona’s feigned innocence made me want to gag.

Could she not pretend she didn’t see me?

Wasn’t she supposed to be dealing with depression? What was she doing out in public?

“Tessa, is this why you canceled our wedding?” Chad finally noticed me and started walking over.

I finished chewing my steak calmly, wiped my mouth, and then looked up at him.

How dare he try to turn the tables on me?

Before I could say anything, Liam spoke up. “Little Tessa, it seems your taste in men has worsened over the years. How did you end up with this country bumpkin?” he said with a look of disdain aimed at Chad.

“Who the hell are you? And who are you calling a country bumpkin?” Chad snapped, clearly offended.

“Whoever gets mad is who I’m talking about,” Liam replied nonchalantly, popping a piece of steak into his mouth.

I glanced at Chad. I was embarrassed for him.

He was like a male version of a shrew.

Liam handled the situation with the grace of a gentleman, whereas Chad acted like a common brawler.

No wonder – Liam and I both grew up in affluent families and attended a prestigious high school.

His demeanor made sense.

Chad stormed out, dragging Fiona behind him, clearly flustered.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Go ahead and laugh; don’t hold it in,” Liam said with a slight hint of affection in his tone.

Or was I just imagining it?

Two days later, Chad showed up at my office.

The whole company had heard about our falling out, so they stopped him from coming straight to my office as he used to.

“Tessa, what’s the meaning of this? You can’t just cut off our company’s contract over personal issues,” Chad barked at me as soon as I stepped out of the office building, ready to head home.

“Your company’s funds dried up weeks ago. I gave you time to sort it out, but I’m not going to keep throwing good money after bad,” I replied coldly. “Besides, do you really think you’re important enough to have a ‘personal issue’ with me anymore?”

Chad grabbed my arm as I tried to walk past him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I shook him off, feeling a wave of disgust wash over me.

All I could think about was that nauseating scene of him with Fiona on the rooftop.

“Tessa, you know there’s a penalty for terminating a contract abruptly. Don’t you care that I’ll be out of a job?” His tone softened, playing the sympathy card.

“Penalty? Your company’s CEO still owes me for the funds I covered. Tell him he has one week to pay me back, or I’ll take legal action.”

It was laughable – people talk about women being doormats for their brothers or partners, but here I was, unknowingly being one for a jerk.

“And why should I care if you lose your job?” I added, my voice laced with disdain. We were done the moment he left me at that wedding.

“Do you really have to be so ruthless? I know what I did was wrong, and I’m sorry.” Chad tried to apologize, but his expression didn’t match his words.

Did he really think I would forgive him just because he was being slightly contrite?

“If you’re going to apologize, at least look like you mean it, Mr. Miller,” I heard a familiar voice say.

Turning around, I saw Liam approaching, a smirk on his face that made my heart skip a beat.

God, when did he become so good at this?

“What are you doing here?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Your mom asked me to pick you up for dinner. Who would’ve thought I’d arrive just in time to hear a mad dog barking at you? Be careful, you wouldn’t want to get bitten,” Liam quipped.

Seriously, how can you say things like that with such a straight face?