Life Goes On, Goodbye Chapter 1

On the morning of the wedding, the bridesmaids decided to play a quick trivia game with Grayson Cross before our first look. He had to get three questions right before he could see me.

I thought he would get them all easily. To my surprise, he got the very first one wrong.

“What shoe size does the bride wear?”

Without hesitation, he answered, “Size 6.”

“What’s the bride’s favorite color?”

“Blue.”

Everyone exchanged glances, and the atmosphere grew awkward. So they asked him an absurdly easy question.

“What year did the bride graduate from college?”

Everyone thought there was no way he could get that one wrong. After all, we had been classmates in college.

“2013. The year she graduated, I gave her a pair of crystal shoes I made myself. There's no way I could be wrong.”

That was the moment I panicked. My eyes slowly drifted toward my best friend, Iris Shea, who stood there in a blue bridesmaid dress and crystal heels.

She bit her lip and quietly reminded Grayson, “It was 2012. I’m the one who graduated late.”

And suddenly, I understood. The last bit of hesitation in my heart disappeared.

I gave a faint smile, lowered my head, and sent a message to my parents.

“Mom, Dad, please bring the car around. I’m changing into sneakers. I’m not marrying him.”

* * *

The room fell so quiet that you could hear everyone breathing.

“Oh, I remembered wrong. It was 2012.”

Grayson Cross corrected himself coldly, as if nothing had happened.

Iris Shea quickly stepped in with a smile to smooth things over.

“Charlotte Yates, Gray’s been under a lot of pressure these past few days. It’s normal for him to get something like that wrong. Don’t make a face over it. There are so many family members and friends watching.”

In an instant, everyone started trying to talk me down.

“It’s your wedding day. Why the long face? Smile a little.”

“So he got a question wrong. You can give him a hard time about it tonight. Don’t let this delay the wedding!”

Everyone thought I was making a big deal out of nothing, but only I knew that Grayson had really changed.

There was a time when the slightest change in my expression would make him immediately ask what was wrong. He would crack jokes and buy me gifts just to cheer me up.

Now, though, he couldn’t take his eyes off my best friend.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

I didn’t want to make the other friends who had come from far away uncomfortable, so I went along with the plan and let Grayson carry me bride-style for photos before we left for the venue.

He adjusted me on his arms and laughed.

“You’ve put on weight lately. You’ve got to be over 121 pounds now.”

One hundred and twenty-one pounds. The exact weight Iris had posted on social media.

“Have you carried someone who weighs 121 pounds before?” I asked casually.

Grayson’s body stiffened. Then he immediately shook his head and said, “Of course not. Don’t overthink it.”

At that moment, Iris jumped in to clear things up. “I’m 123 pounds now. It wasn’t me.”

I lowered my head and gave a quiet, mocking laugh. She was a little too eager to defend herself.

I didn’t call them out, though. I wanted to see how long they could keep this act going.

Inside the cramped sports car, Iris insisted on squeezing in and sitting between Grayson and me.

“Charlotte, you don’t mind, do you? There wasn’t enough room in the other car, so we’ll just squeeze in.”

I said nothing.

The whole way there, Iris chattered nonstop. She was more excited than I was, and I was the bride. Grayson responded to every single thing she said. It almost made me feel like I was the third wheel.

When we reached an intersection, Iris suddenly tapped Grayson on the back.

“Gray, I’m craving those little honey cakes from that bakery across town.”

“Okay. I’ll get you some.”

Just like that, Grayson made a U-turn and headed in the opposite direction from the wedding venue.

I frowned and quickly intervened, “Grayson, we don’t have time.

“That place is almost ten miles from here. The wedding starts in an hour. What if we’re late?”

He shot me an annoyed look.

“It’s on the way. How much time can it take to buy a few cakes? You’re just being petty because you’re still upset about me getting those questions wrong.”

I bit down hard on my lip and clenched my fists to keep myself from crying.

When he got the questions wrong and I didn’t immediately smile and let it go, I was supposedly risking delaying the wedding.

When Iris wanted to go across town for cake, however, suddenly it was on the way.

Fine, then I wasn’t in a hurry either.

I wasn’t planning to marry him anyway.

A new message popped up on my phone.

Mom and Dad had replied, [Sweetheart, the car is waiting outside the venue. We can leave whenever you’re ready.]