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."

My father looked at her too.

"The envelope's put away, the umbrella's put away. What's left to go down for?"

Someone shouted up from below again.

"The groom's here! Why isn't the bride coming down?"

The chat for friends and family started filling up too.

*Has the wedding party arrived?*

*Are we still doing the bridal pickup?*

*The hotel's already pushing us.*

Privately, the wedding coordinator sent another line.

*Miss Fox, the groom is downstairs. If we go ahead, we'll have to squeeze the time for the parents' handoff and the tea ceremony.*

My mother saw the words "tea ceremony," reached a hand into her bag, then pulled it back.

Daniel's voice dropped lower.

"Nanette, just come down, okay?"

"If your parents won't get in the car, all those people downstairs will be watching. Don't make it hard on them too."

My mother's tears spilled over.

She didn't make a sound. She just turned her face away.

My father had been up since five this morning, polishing the "happiness" decal on the car door.

My mother had set the wedding envelope in the outermost pocket of her bag, afraid she'd fumble for it later.

What they were waiting for was the doorbell ringing, for him standing at the door calling them Mom and Dad.

Not for me to bring them downstairs and supply a missing shot for a wedding car that had already carried Nora.

Daniel was still calling my name on the phone.

"Nanette, listen to me."

"Nora's right here in the car. I can't just throw her out now. Come down first. Don't keep a whole car waiting."

Down below, the lead car sat at the end of the red carpet.

The door stayed shut. Nora was still inside.

But the videographer's lens was still trained on our building's door.

The coordinator held up a walkie-talkie, the other end still pressing for the bride to come out.

The moment I went down, everyone would treat that car as if it had simply arrived late.

My mother pressed her hand over the envelope in her bag, her knuckles going white one by one.

I didn't answer Daniel again.

In both chats, at the same time, I posted one line.

*Wedding cancelled.*

*This car picked up someone else first. My parents won't see me into it.*

After the message went out, the horn downstairs stopped.