4: 4

Southport, two thousand kilometers from here.

But Dad and my grandparents were all there.

When I hit confirm, something in my chest finally eased.

Over the next few days, I made the calls one by one and canceled everything for the wedding.

Otto never sent me a single message, and he never came home.

He was always like this.

After a fight, he'd leave me alone to stew until I came to him first and apologized.

Only this time, he'd be waiting forever.

The morning my flight was set to leave, I got a call.

“Ms. Brady, good morning. The wedding gown you ordered has been delivered to your door. Please come sign for it as soon as possible.”

I was so anxious I bolted out of the hotel.

The gown had been made from the design my mother left behind. It couldn't be returned.

The lead time was supposed to be a month. I hadn't expected it early.

But when I grabbed a cab and rushed back to that apartment,

the delivery that should have been at the door was gone, leaving only a pile of wrapping paper.

A bad feeling rose in me.

I pushed the door open. Otto was zipping up the back of Lois's dress.

Lois was smiling, pleased with herself.

“What do you think, Otto? Pretty clever with my hands, aren't I?”

“Take off those two bows at the waist, trim down the hem a little, and it fits just right.”

I stood frozen in the doorway.

Not until a scrap of cut fabric drifted down in front of my eyes did I finally come back to myself.

My eyes flooded red, and I couldn't stop myself from shouting,

“What are you two doing!”

The air went quiet for two seconds.

Maybe he hadn't expected me to come back so suddenly.

Otto pulled the startled Lois behind him, his voice dropping.

“Why are you yelling? You scared Lo.”

“Forgot to mention it. Lo has a photo shoot next week and wanted to borrow your gown.”

“You'll only wear this thing once anyway. Let Lo use it first, get the most out of it.”

I stared hard at the two of them.

“Why didn't you tell me first?”

Otto looked like he couldn't care less.

“You know now.”

Behind him, Lois seemed to find her nerve and quietly pulled a face at me.

I looked at all of it, unable to believe my eyes.

Behind Otto's self-righteous face, I couldn't help remembering how it used to be.

Back then, whenever I missed my mother, I'd hide myself away and take out the designs she left behind, going over them again and again.

Every time, Otto was the only one who could find me.

He'd point at that gown.

“Don't be sad. Someday I'll have all these dresses made for you, so you can walk toward happiness wearing your mother's love.”

And now, just to make Lois fit,

my mother's love had been cut to pieces.

“Snap——”

The string in my mind called reason broke clean through.

I threw myself at Lois like I'd lost my mind.

“Take it off. Take it off……”

“Take off the dress my mother left me!”

Lois was frightened by the sight of me, dodging and screaming.

“Otto, pull her off me!”

A huge force came from behind me.

The next second I was yanked back and slammed hard to the floor.

“Margery, what do you think you're doing!”

Otto kept Lois firmly shielded behind him.

Looking at him, for a moment I saw the boy from more than ten years ago, the way he'd looked when he protected me.

Only this time, his edge was turned on me.

“It's just a dress. You and Lo have more than ten years between you. Do you really have to be like this?”

I sat where I'd fallen, not moving.

Lois watched, and her eyes flicked.

“Otto, didn't you say Margie was talking about canceling the engagement a few days ago?”

“Looks like she was just saying it. She can't wait to marry you, or why would she be this worked up?”

At her words, Otto let out a cold snort.

He wrapped an arm around Lois and stepped past me in a few long strides.

“Enough. Lo wears the dress first. It won't hold anything up.”

“Keep making a scene, and the wedding's off.”

With the sound of the door closing, I was alone in the apartment again.

After a long while, I opened my phone.

I typed a line into both families' group chats and hit send.

【For everyone's information: my wedding to Otto is officially canceled.】