Then someone turned the conversation toward Ryan:
"Claire’s about to get married. Aren’t you going to do anything special?"
Ryan chuckled. "Special? I’ve already stayed in Claire’s condo plenty of times. Every corner is full of our memories. And even if she marries Ethan, I can still drop by whenever I want. After all, Ethan’s my good buddy."
The more they said, the more revolting it became.
I suddenly shot to my feet, startling everyone.
They all turned to look at me as I kept a cold, hard face.
"I’m going to check if the ceremony is ready."
As I walked out, my thoughts swirled with memories of the years Claire and I had spent together.
Back then, she was the one who had pursued me.
She’d seemed gentle, understanding, rarely losing her temper. I’d thought she loved me wholeheartedly.
Over time, I let myself fall deeper and deeper.
I’d originally only come to New York on a short business trip.
But once I fell for Claire, I couldn’t bear to leave—so I stayed.
My family had called me several times, asking me to come back. I refused every time.
They didn’t approve of Claire, even threatening to cut ties with me, but I chose her anyway.
Years of devotion—turns out, it was all a joke.
Just then, the wedding planner approached me to go over the program one last time.
This wedding had been in the works for months, but I suddenly felt no joy at all.
"Simplify the whole program," I told him.
As I said it, it felt like something inside me had been lifted away.
I let out a long breath of relief.
I decided I’d let Claire go gracefully.
If she liked Ryan so much, I would give them my blessing.
Just as I was about to call Claire, one of the giant decorative posters nearby came loose and crashed down on me.
The call connected at that exact moment.
Hearing my cry of pain, Claire’s voice immediately grew anxious.
"Ethan, what happened? Are you hurt?"
I touched the spot where I’d been hit and felt the blood on my forehead.
"Nothing serious. Just a loose decoration that fell."
"Claire, can you come over right now? I need to talk to you about something."
I wanted to tell her face to face, end things cleanly. There were so many guests here today—it would give her some dignity.
"Okay. Where are you? I’ll come right away."
But before she could hang up, I heard a soft, breathy moan on the other end.
Then Ryan’s voice came through, the two of them switching to French so I wouldn’t understand.