Forced to Save Her Childhood Sweetheart

On our wedding day, my fiancée humiliated me in front of everyone.

She postponed the ceremony, not for an emergency, but to throw a lavish wedding for her childhood friend's pet hamster.

Dressed in my tailored suit, I got shoved off the stage and was laughed at by everyone.

My mom couldn't take the humiliation. Her heart gave out, and no ambulance could save her.

Days after we buried her, my fiancée reappeared, demanding that I donate a kidney to that friend.

The surgery nearly killed me, leaving me broken and betrayed.

It prompted me to end things with her. She spiraled into regret, tormenting herself to win me back.

Outside the emergency room, I stood in my suit, clutching a velvet ring box.

The red light above pulsed like a warning, mocking me as my heart pounded in my chest. My hands trembled as the events of the day replayed in my mind.

Eleanor Hamm, my fiancée, had been glued to her childhood friend ever since he was ill.

On my birthday, she was too busy simmering soup for him to even wish me well. For our wedding, I planned every detail with my mom, from booking the venue to picking out the mints for the favor bags.

Eleanor didn't lift a finger. Her only focus was on Adrian Fuller's condition.

We'd been engaged for a year, but she wouldn't spare half a day to get our marriage certificate. I never complained, convincing myself she was just being a loyal friend. But today, she crossed a line I never imagined.

She had stridden up to the mic and announced the wedding was postponed because Adrian wanted to throw a wedding for his pet hamster.

She insisted the hamsters deserved our carefully planned venue and shoved me off the stage. The crowd's gasps, snickers, and pitying looks branded me a fool.

As I stumbled down, Adrian tripped me, sending me face-first into the dirt. Humiliation burned through me, but the worst was yet to come.

My mother, Cora Ingram, collapsed from a heart attack, overwhelmed by the spectacle. An ambulance rushed her away, and now she was fighting for her life in the ER.

Eleanor never showed up, still fussing over hamster vows. I called her, my anger barely contained. It took twelve tries before she answered.

"Eleanor, my mom is..."

"Oh, please. Your mom is just overreacting, like you. Adrian has been my best friend forever, and he's got kidney failure. He wanted to do something sweet for his hamster, which was a big deal. So, I pushed our wedding back a bit. Why do you guys have to make it a federal case?"

Ever since Adrian's diagnosis, she'd been more and more impatient with me, but my mom and I had only each other.

Now, with her life hanging in the balance, I had no one else to turn to.

"Eleanor, please, show some respect," I said, struggling to keep my voice steady.

"Eleanor, focus. The hamsters are