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."