The Twisted Wedding Night

The orchestra had stopped playing a while ago, and now, the only thing that accompanied me where I stood was the gaping silence.

Too loud. Too deafening.

Why were things different for me today?

"Where is he?" They whispered, their eyes moving around the room. But it wasn't from concern. I heard the amusement etched in their tones, the haughtiness in their eyes. The thrill of being right.

I moved my weight from one foot to the other, standing at the other end of the aisle, all alone. I had been here for an hour now. My cousin, Sophie, was supposed to walk me down the aisle as the only living member of my family, but she was nowhere to be found.

Yet, that wasn't what bothered me.

It was Zane's absence.

My gaze met the door for the thousandth time. It stood empty, the garlands wrapped around it, mocking me and the situation I found myself in. A knot worked its way to my throat, and I tried to push it down.

The crowd had moved on around me, their whispers audible, like I wasn't in the same room as them.

"Men usually do not develop cold feet during their weddings," one muttered, stacking unsolicited comments, one above the other. "So maybe he is just not interested in getting married to an emotional wreck like her."

"Did you guys hear she lost both her parents in a car crash on the same day?" I could see their ears perk up at that. The way their eyes found me, still waiting in front of the room, a thin line of sweat dripping down my tight corset.

"Call that a sympathy generator, but for me, I just see it as plain bad luck. What if Zane gets married to her and the same thing happens to him? What then? This is him trying to save himself, and if you ask me, I think he is making the right decision."

There was nothing around me to hurl across the room, colliding with the head of the woman who had just finished spewing nonsense, and even if there was, I wouldn't have been able to do a thing.

I reached for the lace of my corset and tried to loosen it. I chose this dress for Zane, and he wasn't even here to see it. He loved me in the modern styles, so I changed my wardrobe, purchasing a lot of corsets, reversible tops, and halter necks.

He said it made his friends see him the right way. I did it because I wanted to see Zane happy.

So, where the hell was he?

"Hi," I whispered to the planner, bent over a bouquet of roses that didn't need any further fiddling with. "Can I please get my phone?"

She had refused to hand it over for the past hour because, in her opinion, it would get me agitated. She'd said I had nothing to worry about, that she was sure Zane was