Thirty Days to End Our Doomed Love

Jasper Eaton decides to ditch me at the altar just so he can meet up with Wendy Klein, his ex-girlfriend who abandoned him when he almost got crippled five years ago.

All the guests are stunned, to say the least. I can only tug at Jasper's hem of his shirt while trying very hard to keep my expression intact.

"Can you please stay with me now?"

Mixed feelings cross his eyes, but he soon wrenches my hand off him, finger by finger. At the same time, he shakes his head.

"I'm sorry, but I must go now. I need to ask Wendy why she was so heartless to me back then."

Amid the crowd's shocked gasps and murmurs, Jasper leaves without even looking back.

My dad, who has a bad heart, trembles violently out of fury. I can only stare in a shocked daze as he collapses to the floor shortly after.

"Dad!"

I break down on the spot. Still, I manage to send him to the hospital.

There, I slump outside the emergency room. At that moment, my phone buzzes for a short while. Two new text messages have shown up on my screen.

The first message comes from Wendy. "I told you that as long as I'm back, Jasper will never choose you. You lost again, Celeste."

The second message comes from Jasper. "Give me 30 days. We'll break up for the time being. Once the period is over, I'll definitely love you and you only."

My gaze is already hollow at that point. The smile curving on my lips is one of mockery and bitterness.

This time, I will never lose ever again.

The red light outside the emergency room had been on for three hours with no sign of change.

Dad had heart bypass surgery the year before last. He had told me clearly that Jasper Eaton wasn't a good man, but I had stubbornly insisted on believing that Jasper loved me.

Now, that certainty felt like a slap to the face—so hard it left me suffocating with pain.

My mother, Dolores Norton, was crying beside me.

"What do we do? If your father doesn't make it, I—"

"He will." I cut her off, trying to convince myself as much as her. "Dad will be fine."

But my voice was trembling. I had never been this scared in my life.

Just then, my phone buzzed again. This time, it was a video sent by Wendy Klein.

In the video, a disheveled Jasper rushed into a hotel room and confronted her.

"Why did you come back?"

Wendy said nothing, but Jasper was the first to lose control, his eyes reddening.

"You left without a second thought back then, so what gives you the right to show up now and turn my life upside down? Wendy, how can you be so selfish?"

I walked into the quiet stairwell and watched the video in silence. The man losing control on the screen felt like a complete stranger.

My best