The Altar of Regret Chapter 2

I entered the story right at the climax of the wedding.

The priest was just getting to the good part: "Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer..."

I looked at Harrison, then at the crowd, and calmly shook my head.

"I don't."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Harrison leaned in, his voice a frantic whisper. "Natalie, what are you doing? Everyone is watching."

I glanced pointedly at his pocket, where his phone had been vibrating non-stop.

"You have a call," I said helpfully.

Harrison pulled out his phone and looked at the screen.

He recognized the number. His brow furrowed instinctively, and he moved to silence it.

I reached out and stopped his hand. "Don't hang up. You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you do."

In the original plot, Brianna regretted her decision after cutting her wrists and hit the speed-dial for Harrison, begging him to save her.

But Harrison, in the middle of his wedding, ignored the calls.

Brianna nearly died because she missed that window for help.

Those dozen missed calls became a major "angst point" in their future romance.

But this time, I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of a tragic misunderstanding.

After all, saving a life is a noble deed.

Seeing my persistence, Harrison answered.

A second later, his face turned ghost-white.

He shoved me back and bolted out of the chapel.

The guests erupted. Confusion, shock, and a few smug smiles from my rivals hit me all at once.

My parents and Caleb rushed to my side, their faces a mix of worry and rage.

Before they could speak, I let the words spill out:

"Mom, Dad... Harrison just got a call from Brianna.

"I think I heard her say she... she did something to herself. She begged him to come save her."

My mother’s face went pale.

You don't just stop loving a child you raised for two decades.

She swayed on her feet, her voice trembling. "She... she tried to kill herself? Where is she? Is she at a hospital?"

Even my stoic father clenched his fists in visible distress.

I forced a weak, pale smile. "I don't know. The reception was bad..."

"It doesn't matter. Robert, find out where she is! I have to see her!"

My mother stopped mid-sentence, looking at me with a sudden, guilty start.

She realized her other daughter—her biological one—had just been abandoned at the altar because of Brianna, and was currently the laughingstock of the city.

I did my best to look like I was holding it together.

"Go," I said softly. "It’s okay. You guys should go. I can handle things here.

"Brianna might be in critical condition. If anything happens to her while you're here..."

I looked down, playing the martyr. "I understand. You lived together for twenty years. You can't just flip a switch on those feelings."

In the original book, the original Natalie threw a massive tantrum, screaming and forbidding her parents from seeing Brianna.

That only made her look like a monster and made her parents feel even more guilty toward the "victim."

This time, I was the one pushing them to go.

As they left, they kept looking back at me with eyes full of sorrow and shame.

"Caleb, you should go too," I said, my voice cracking perfectly.

Caleb shook his head. "There are enough people there already," he said quietly. "I’ll stay here with you."