Daniel heard it too.

"Is your mom right there? Put her on, let me talk to her."

I didn't move.

He tried again. "Nanette, let's not let this get out of hand."

I looked up at my father.

He stood at the edge of the red carpet, the red umbrella already folded down at his side.

The relatives had gone quiet, their eyes settling on the gift envelope in my mother's hands. A few of them glanced at the empty driveway and the empty carpet.

Another message came from the wedding planner.

【Miss Fox, are we confirming the bridal pickup is on hold? The hotel needs to be kept in the loop.】

The relatives downstairs all turned to look at my mother. No one pushed about the car anymore.

In front of all of them, I typed two words back.

【On hold.】

Daniel called again almost at once.

"Nanette, I'm already driving over to your place."

"Just have the planners wait a minute, okay?"

I looked at the tea-ceremony envelope in my mother's hands, then at the red umbrella my father had folded away.

This time, I didn't smooth it over for him.

"There's no need to wait."

The line went silent.

I hung up and slipped the phone into my pocket.

Yuki came to my side and asked under her breath, "So what do we do now?"

I took my mother's arm.

"Let's go up."

"Don't stand here waiting."

As I was helping my mother up the stairs, another message popped into the family chat.

It was from Nora.

【Nanette, are you mad at me? Maybe I should just get out of the car now, so I'm not holding up your pickup.】

The chat went still all at once.

The relatives who'd just been asking where the motorcade was said nothing more.

My mother stopped at the top of the stairs, head bent over her phone.

She typed a few words, then deleted them.

She still hadn't put the tea-ceremony envelope down, and one corner of the red paper had crumpled under her fingers.

A long moment passed before she said softly, "Let's wait for him to come first."

But my father leaned the red umbrella against the wall and said only, "Don't bother answering."

My mother looked up at him.

His voice wasn't raised. "His wedding car went to pick up someone else. What are you still defending him for?"

No one in the stairwell answered.

Yuki's eyes were red with anger. She bit down on her voice and muttered, "He's not even here yet, and already he's got you fending off the relatives for him."

I said nothing.

The phone buzzed again.

Daniel had sent two messages.

【Nanette, stop posting in the group for now.】

【The hotel's already asking me. Tell your mom and dad not to come downstairs. I'll be there any minute.】

I stared at those two lines for a long time.

The wedding planner called again, her voice even more careful than before.

"Miss Fox, the hotel's asking whether we're still filming the pickup."

"If the pickup is cancelled, the videographer will switch to shooting exterior footage at the hotel instead."

My mother asked first. "If we don't film it, will that hurt the rest of it?"

"There'll be a gap. The groom bringing the bride out, the handoff from her parents, and the tea ceremony for the parents—there'd be no footage of any of it."

The moment she said tea ceremony, my mother's hand pressed down over the mouth of her bag again.

That little red envelope shell was something she'd spent half the night before picking out.

Afraid it was too flashy, then afraid it wasn't festive enough.

Now, with the groom still nowhere in sight, she tucked the envelope a little deeper into the bag.

My father took the phone from her and told the planner, "Skip the pickup segment for now."

The line went blank for a second. "Sir, are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

He glanced at me, his tone level.

"The groom hasn't even shown his face. What is there to film?"

After the call ended, my mother turned her face away, her eyes going red all at once.

Daniel's call came right on its heels.

I didn't pick up.

He sent three voice messages in a row. Yuki went ahead and opened the last one for me.

Daniel's voice came through the phone.

"Nan, don't let your mom and dad come down yet."

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes, tops. Just message the planners for me and tell them we're keeping to the schedule."

Every relative in the stairwell heard it.

Aunt Margaret, halfway down with one hand on the rail, pulled her foot back up a step.

The little niece gave the bag of wedding candy in her hand a small shake, but nobody reached to open it.

Someone slid the confetti poppers they'd just taken out back into the cardboard box and left them there.

My mother went paler.

My father's fingers tightened around the red umbrella.

I picked up my phone and typed only two lines.

【You don't need to report her business to me.】

【You'd better start thinking about how you're going to face my parents.】

Daniel didn't answer right away.

It was Nora who posted again in the group chat.

【I'm so sorry, really. This is all my fault for causing trouble at the last minute.】

【I can ride in one of the back cars, honestly. Don't make Mr. and Mrs. Fox wait so long.】

My father flipped his phone face-down on the table.

"Sitting pretty in that car, and she's the one talking like she has manners."

My mother said quietly, "Don't."

She turned her own phone face-down on top of the gift envelope.

A long while passed before she spoke again. "Tell the relatives not to come down yet."

I walked over, took the cash envelope for the in-laws out of her bag, and set it on the table.

"Mom, put this away for now."

She looked at the envelope for a long moment before she nodded.

"All right."

She tucked it back into her bag.

Halfway in, she pulled it out again.

One corner of the red paper had creased, and she bent her head and smoothed it for a long time.

The "double happiness" decal was still up on the wall, and the red carpet at the door hadn't been pulled away.

It was just that no one told me to touch up my makeup anymore, and no one said the groom was almost here.

10:18 was the auspicious time we'd set to leave.

Twenty-two minutes left.

In the wedding chat, the emcee posted first.

【The welcome screen's already up at the hotel. How long until the groom's car procession gets here?】

The photographer asked too.

【If we're not filming the departure ceremony, we need to reset our camera positions over here.】

Then the planning lead forwarded me a screenshot from the drivers' chat.

The lead car's location was still on the access road outside Nora's complex.

The wedding cars behind it were parked along the curb, no one sure whether they should follow.

Someone was asking:

【Are we changing the route or not? Are we still going to the bride's place?】

My mother sat on the sofa, still clutching that emptied envelope.

My father stood at the window, looking down.

A few relatives were still downstairs, the red umbrella leaning against the base of the wall, no one picking it up again.

Daniel's call finally came through again.

This time I answered.

On his end there was the sound of a car door closing, and Nora's voice, very soft.

"Maybe I really should just get out, before this holds everything up."

Daniel didn't let her.

He said my name first.

"Nan, I'm already on my way."

"Get the pickup back on schedule, would you? Everyone's waiting at the hotel. Don't let this blow up any worse."

I asked, "Who's in the car with you right now?"

He was quiet for a second.

"Nora's with me."

He added quickly, "Her heel broke and there was no one at home to drive her. I just made a quick detour. I didn't think it'd hold things up this long."

I looked at my mother.

She couldn't hear all of what was being said on the phone, but she kept her eyes on me, the empty envelope crushed tight in her hand.

I said, "While you were making your quick detour, my parents were downstairs waiting for you."

Daniel's voice softened.

"I know, that's why I'm rushing over now, isn't it?"

"Nan, there are so many people here today. Just give me a little face for now. Once the wedding's over, you can be as angry as you want."

I suddenly remembered the day we test-drove the wedding cars.

He'd been sitting in the back seat of the lead car, smiling as he asked me, "When the day comes and I bring you out of your house, are you going to cry?"

I said I wouldn't.

My mother laughed beside us and said no bride ever made it out the door without crying.

Back then I thought the first time this car parked downstairs would be the day he came to pick me up.

But today, the lead car's location stopped at Nora's place first.

The wedding coordinator sent another message.

【Miss Fox, fifteen minutes until the auspicious hour. If we're resuming the pickup, we need confirmation now.】

Daniel saw it on his end too.

"Just let them go ahead as planned."

"I'll be there in ten minutes at most. Have your parents come down first. Don't give the relatives something to laugh about."

I held the phone and said nothing.

He called my name again.

"Nanette, be good."

"I'm almost there. If you cancel the pickup now, your parents will lose face."

My mother finally stood up.

She walked to the bedroom doorway, took the red veil down from where it hung on the door handle, folded it, and put it away in a drawer.

My father saw, and didn't stop her.

I said into the phone, "What you think looks bad is the pickup being called off."

"When my parents were standing downstairs waiting for you, you didn't think that looked bad?"

Daniel went quiet.

Nora spoke up again, softly. "Danny, maybe I should move to the other car. Don't fight with Nanette over this."

His voice shot up.

"Nanette, let's just finish the ceremony. Don't hold up our wedding over something this small."

In the wedding group chat, the coordinator sent another line.

【The groom's car is expected downstairs in five minutes. Please have the bride get ready to come down.】

I looked at that line and took the phone away from my ear.

Daniel was still calling for me inside it.

"Nanette?"

I didn't answer.

I only opened the wedding chat and watched the text box light up.

As the text box lit up, a horn blared downstairs.

Yuki ran to the window and looked down, and her face changed at once.

"The car's here."

My mother stood in the bedroom doorway, still holding the red veil she'd just folded.

My father didn't go to the window. He only asked, "Who's in the car?"

Yuki stared through the glass for a long moment before she said, anger held down low, "Nora's in it too."

The phone rang again. Daniel was calling.

This time I picked up.

"Nanette, I'm downstairs."

He didn't wait for me to speak. He kept going.

"Stop this, all right?"

"If your parents are still angry, I'll come up and apologize to them. Just come down first. The auspicious hour is almost gone."

I walked to the window.

The red lead car was parked below, the doors still shut.

Nora sat in the back by the window, holding a spare bouquet in her arms.

When she saw me looking down, she immediately shifted the flowers off to one side.

Daniel stood beside the car, one button of his suit undone, looking up at our window.

The lead car my parents had waited for all morning, with Nora sitting in the back seat.

Daniel spoke again. "Nanette, get your parents to come down first."

"If they won't get in the car, it'll look bad at the hotel later too."

I asked, "You still think I'm the one who needs to come down and explain?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Your parents are still upstairs, and the relatives have all arrived. Just come down first. Don't make everyone look bad."

When my mother heard that, a corner of the red veil slipped from her hand.

She took one step toward the door without thinking, then stopped.

I stopped her.

"Mom, there's no need to go down."