She Said Yes At The Wrong Venue

The next day, Julian and I drove to the bridal shop to pick out my wedding dress. We drove in suffocating silence.

At a red light, Julian tapped his fingers restlessly on the steering wheel. He glanced at me, then quickly looked away.

I kept my gaze fixed on the passing scenery outside my window.

Finally, he broke the silence. "They say the snow in Aspen is especially beautiful this year. A real winter wonderland."

When I didn't respond, he pressed on. "And they say a wedding on a mountaintop receives the most unique blessings."

"Is that so," I said, my voice flat.

The awkward silence thickened. He tried again. "A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Don't you want to choose a more… meaningful place?"

I frowned.

The place where we first met, the place where he had proposed after I nearly died for him—that was somehow less meaningful in his mind than a ski resort Scarlett had casually mentioned.

"I can't think of any place more meaningful than the cliffside villa," I said evenly.

He nodded stiffly. "You're right."

I turned to face him fully. "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

It was the last door I would ever open for him. His final chance to come clean.

His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. "No. I trust your taste."

A chill shot through my heart. He still wasn't going to tell me.

From that moment on, nothing he could say would ever matter again.

At the bridal shop, I walked straight to the racks of gowns.

Julian hovered nearby, chattering nervously. "Audrey, look at this one. Can you imagine it against the white snow? It would be stunning!"

Just then, a familiar, saccharine voice cut through the air. "Julian, are you helping Audrey pick out a dress?"

Scarlett glided into view, her eyes wide with feigned surprise. "What a coincidence! Audrey, you're here too."

A shop assistant hurried over with a practiced smile. "Hello, are you here to choose a gown?"

Scarlett lifted her chin smugly. "Oh, no. Julian already hired a top designer to custom-make a gown for me. It's one-of-a-kind, with the Vanderbilt Blue Sapphire as the centerpiece."

Julian cleared his throat, a sharp, warning sound.

I pretended not to hear. I pulled a simple, elegant dress from the rack and handed it to the assistant.

"This one. Please wrap it up for me."

"Would you like to try it on, miss?" she asked.

"No. I have another appointment."

Scarlett immediately put on a wounded expression. "Oh, Audrey. Are you unhappy because I'm here? I can leave if you want."

Julian grabbed her wrist. "No! Don't go."

Then, he whirled on me, his face contorted with frustration. "Can you stop being so petty for one second? You're about to be my wife. Stop throwing these childish tantrums!"

He draped his arm around Scarlett's shoulders, a clear declaration of where his loyalties lay.

"I'm swamped with company affairs all day, and then I have to come home to your moods. You are not the sun! The world doesn't revolve around you!"

Scarlett murmured, "Julian, calm down. Audrey is still recovering from her injuries."

He didn't even hesitate.

"She brought that damn car accident on herself!"

That one sentence hurt more than the crash ever did.