He left his own wedding to pursue his long-lost love.

The wedding day arrived, and a call came in saying Jason’s “one true love,” Amelia, had been in a car accident. Jason’s eyes went red, and he bolted for the door. I begged him to stay, pleading with him not to ruin the wedding, not to disappoint my terminally ill father. He shoved me aside, snarling, "Amelia's life is on the line! Don't you have a heart? You're ice cold!" Tears streamed down my face as I forced a smile. "If you walk out that door, this wedding is over. It has nothing to do with you anymore." Jason scoffed, "As if you weren't the one begging me to marry you. Don't worry, you could get down on your knees and I still wouldn't come back!" Later, when he finally remembered to call, another, all-too-familiar male voice answered. "Shh, she's asleep. Don't wake her."

Backstage, I stood in my wedding dress, a pristine white that starkly contrasted with the utter lack of joy on my face. "Jason," I pleaded, "I'm asking you one last time. Do you have to go see Amelia? You don't care about ruining our wedding?" My voice cracked. "What if I don't want you to go? Amelia just texted me. There's no accident. But my dad… he…"

My father was dying of stomach cancer. The doctors had given him weeks, maybe days. His last wish was to see me settled, to know someone would be there for me after he was gone. I’d moved the wedding up to grant him that peace.

And now, ten minutes before the ceremony, the groom was leaving.

Amelia's taunting text messages were still on my phone screen. I desperately tried to show Jason, but he swatted my hand away. My phone clattered to the floor, and I stumbled after it.

"Enough, Chloe! Amelia's supposedly fighting for her life and just wants to see me. Don't you have any compassion?!" He spat the words at me. "How could I have fallen for such a heartless woman?!"

He was going. Nothing I said would stop him.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. I was so stupid. People had warned me about Jason and Amelia, told me their relationship wasn't what it seemed. I'd chosen to ignore them, to trust him blindly. And now, reality had slapped me hard across the face.

"Jason," I said, tears blurring my vision, "if you leave now, this wedding is off. It’s over."

His response was a dismissive snort. "Don't you remember who was begging who to get married? Trust me, even if you crawled back to me, I wouldn’t take you. Imagine, a wedding with no groom. How embarrassing. But you deserve it."

With that final, cruel jab, he turned and walked away.

I stared at the floor for what felt like an eternity, his words echoing in my mind. Then, another voice surfaced: “I know I shouldn’t be thinking this about my buddy’s girl, but I have to tell you, Chloe… I want to marry you. Like, crazy want to. I’m not kidding.”

Slowly, I got to my feet, smoothing down my dress. I picked up my phone and dialed a number.

"Remember what you said?" I asked. "About marrying me. I'm taking you up on it. Are you in… or are you out?"

A brief silence. Then, "I'll b...