The Runaway Bridegroom: A Text on the Night Before Chapter 2

I shook my head, forcing the sickening thoughts away.

I casually typed the word 'Okay' and hit send.

A red exclamation mark bounced back at me.

He had already blocked me to appease his new bride.

Good.

It did not bother me. I opened Instagram, crafted a brief post announcing the cancellation of my wedding, and hit publish.

My phone immediately blew up. My notifications were a flood of shocked questions.

Not wanting to drag out the drama, I stuck to Lucas's script. I replied to a few close friends saying I simply felt it was too early to settle down.

My friends flooded my inbox, calling me an absolute fool.

"Valerie, Lucas is not that broke college kid who lived in a basement anymore. He is a successful tech founder now. Women are throwing themselves at him! If you cancel the wedding, you are basically wrapping your man up in a bow and handing him to someone else!"

I did not reply to any of them.

Because Lucas was already someone else's man.

Shortly after I posted my announcement, Sophie sent me a picture of their freshly signed marriage license via a direct message.

Her tone was dripping with smug victory, disguised as gratitude.

[Thank you so much for the assist, Valerie! Lucas and I were originally going to the courthouse tomorrow, but he wanted to cheer me up, so he pulled some strings and got it done tonight!]

I did not dignify her with a response. I deleted the message and blocked her instantly.

My phone vibrated violently. It was my mother.

"Are you out of your mind?!" she screamed into the receiver. "You helped plant the tree, and now you are letting someone else eat the fruit? What are you trying to prove? When you finally decide you want to marry him, he might not even want you!"

I let out a soft, hollow laugh.

"What if he is the one who does not want to get married, Mom?"

She paused for a second before her voice grew even more furious.

"Then it means you are not doing your job right! Swallow your pride, go to him, and talk sweetly. Do not throw away eight years of your youth just to walk away with absolutely nothing!"

Eight years. I had loved Lucas for eight years. He always told me a man needed to establish his empire before starting a family.

But when he finally built his empire, bought the penthouse, and got the luxury cars, giving me a home was no longer his priority.

It was not that I had not fought for us. Fighting was just useless.

For eight years, I built his tech startup with him from the ground up. I lived in a damp basement, ate instant noodles, and swallowed my pride to tell him a million times that my only dream was to be his wife, whether we were rich or poor.

I had even terminated three pregnancies for him.

All because he claimed the timing was wrong and he could not bear the thought of his children living in poverty.

I loved him, so no matter how much it shattered my soul, I obeyed his wishes.

Just like tonight. When he said he wanted to marry his childhood friend.

In that moment, alongside the agonizing heartbreak, I actually felt a profound sense of relief.

Not getting married meant I no longer had to wait in the dirt for him to throw me a crumb of commitment.

My mother was still rambling on about how women who knew how to act fragile got the best lives. The suffocating weight in my chest suddenly vanished. I no longer felt the need to explain my pain.

"Mom, the wedding is off. I am never marrying him."

I ended the call and dialed the wedding planner to cancel everything for tomorrow.

The planner went dead silent before speaking hesitantly.

"Mr. Mercer already called to discuss this. But he told us to carefully store all the custom backdrops, the floral arrangements, and the personalized posters for three years. That is going to be incredibly difficult. Those materials are meant for one-time use."

Clarity hit me like a physical blow.

It was not that Lucas lacked the time to notify our guests. He just did not want to deal with their questions.

And he truly believed that I, much like those cheap, artificial decorations, would just sit in a dark room and wait for him for three years.

"Throw it all in the dumpster," I said coldly. "Even if it could be saved, it will all be rotten in three years."

Just like his love for me. It would rot away with time.

I hung up and stared at Lucas's mother's contact name. My head throbbed.

She absolutely despised Sophie. If she found out her son had legally married that girl, she would likely have a stroke.

Taking a deep breath, I opened my banking app and wired the entire one hundred and fifty thousand dollar wedding fund she had gifted me straight back into her account.

I counted to three in my head. My phone rang.

"Valerie, why did the money bounce back to my account?"

"Mrs. Mercer, Lucas and I are calling off the wedding for now. I am moving abroad for three years."

Even though I was technically following Lucas's script, his highly perceptive mother instantly smelled blood.

"Did Lucas do something to betray you? I am going to his apartment right now! The wedding is happening tomorrow, no matter what!"

"Mrs. Mercer, the wedding really cannot happen."

But she had already hung up.

Well, Lucas would just have to figure out how to handle his own mother.

It was time for me to pack my bags and leave.