She Abandoned Me on Our Wedding Day,So I Wed the CEO

My fiance loved playing hide-and-seek. Every time we went on a date, she liked to hide and make me find her.

And every time I found her, she'd kiss me softly on the lips and say the same thing.

Baby, you're the best.

I thought it was our little game, something just between us.

Until our wedding day, when my wedding car and its whole procession waited and waited, and the bride never came.

Then a message from Christine Gilbert came through:"Baby, I'm hidden away. Come find me, hurry. We can only get married once you find me."

I checked her location on my phone. She was at the airport.

At that same moment, Jasper Sanders, her first love, posted something new on his feed.

"I asked her just one question. Come away with me? And she took my hand without a second thought. A love like that, you only need it once in a lifetime."

The photo was a pair of hands, fingers tightly laced.

And all at once, it just felt pointless.

Seven years of playing hide-and-seek with Christine.

This time, I wasn't going to look for her.

Beside me, my best friend and best man, Simon Head, glanced at my phone and caught the message.

He went off instantly.

"Is Christine out of her mind? Today's your wedding day. If you miss the ceremony hour, then what? Does she think this is some game?"

"Call her right now. Tell her to cut this nonsense and get here to finish the wedding procession!"

His voice seemed to drift farther and farther away as I sank into memory.

Christine loved playing hide-and-seek.

In the seven years we were together, every time we went out, she'd hide and make me find her.

Sometimes she just tucked herself behind a tree. Sometimes she'd slip into some little shop.

I could always find her fast.

Sometimes she'd jump out at me and make me flinch.

But later she started hiding deeper, and often I couldn't find her at all.

Only after I got frantic and called her, asking where she was, would she finally show up, taking her sweet time.

I couldn't help asking her:"You just show up late, don't you, and then pretend you were hiding so I run around like a headless chicken looking for you."

She laughed and said:"Baby, I'm just playing hide-and-seek with you. You used to be able to find me. Now you can't, so you must be getting slow."

Then one time, I couldn't find her again.

She wouldn't pick up her phone either. I waited in the same spot for two hours and she never showed.

I was sick with worry, sure something had happened to her, and I ran straight to the police station to report it.

In the end the police reached her and found her at home, watching movies with a friend.

That friend was Jasper.

I rushed over to her place and confronted her, crying.

"Why didn't you come to our date, and why didn't you tell me? You didn't answer your phone either! Do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought something happened to you!"

I couldn't stop the tears from falling. Christine only smiled.

"Baby, sorry, I didn't hear it. I was watching movies with Jasper today and lost track of time. I thought it was only three o'clock."

I looked at Jasper, sitting next to her in pajamas, and my mind went blank.

"He's living with you?"

"Jasper's family sold their place back here, so he's staying a while when he comes home to visit. He'll go back after a bit."

Jasper was Christine's childhood sweetheart, and her first love.

The year Christine turned eighteen, Jasper's whole family emigrated abroad, and after that they could only keep in touch by phone.

Christine always kept a photo in her wallet, one of Jasper in his high school uniform.

I stumbled onto it once by accident, and I made a fuss about it for a long time, but she wouldn't take it out.

She said:

"I'm already all yours. Why are you fighting with a photo?"

Jasper had been gone for seven years. It never once crossed my mind that he'd come back.

And now he was living in Christine's house.

It came out of my mouth before I could stop it. "When are you leaving?"

Jasper paused, then said in a joking tone,

"Christine, looks like your boyfriend isn't too happy to have me around."

Christine was furious.

"Ethan, Jasper and I grew up together, we're like family! My home is his home. He can stay as long as he wants!"

I laughed. "I just asked a simple question. Why are you both getting so worked up?"

Only then did Christine's voice soften. She put both hands on my shoulders.

"Ethan, Jasper is like a little brother to me. Don't read into it."

Jasper stepped up in front of me. "I hear you and Christine are getting married. Congratulations."

"I probably won't be able to make it to your wedding, though. The day you two get married just happens to be the day I fly back to France."

I remember quietly congratulating myself back then, thinking Jasper was leaving after all, so Christine would still be mine.

I secretly took Christine's phone and turned on location sharing with me.

That way, even if I couldn't find her in person again, I'd always know exactly where she was.

Over the next few dates, Christine kept showing up very late.

Every time I called to ask where she was, she'd say,

"I'm already here, I've hidden. Hurry up and come find me."

But when I checked her location on the phone, she was still at home.

I knew Jasper was holding her back.

She was lying to me.

But I was willing to play along.

Once Jasper was gone, we could go back to the way things used to be.

What I never imagined was that Christine would abandon me on our wedding day and leave with Jasper.

"Ethan, what are you spacing out for? Call Christine, quick!"

Simon's urging pulled me back to reality.

"She's not coming."

Simon froze for a second, then blew up. "Tell me where she is. I'll drag her here by force if I have to!"

"No. This time, I'm the one who doesn't want her."

Simon stood there stunned for a full minute.

"Then what about the wedding? Are you calling it off?"

"No."

I pulled out my phone and called Yvonne Winfield.

"The Regency Hotel, ten fifty-eight. Marry me. Are you coming?"

Three seconds of silence on the other end. Then two words.

"Wait for me!"

I stood up and headed for the door. "To the hotel."

Simon followed behind me, waving the family and friends toward their cars to head to the hotel.

In the car, Simon couldn't hold it in. "Ethan, who did you just call?"

"Yvonne. If Christine won't marry me, plenty of others will."

Simon got worked up. "Yvonne, isn't she your boss?"

"Mm. She chased me for three years. I turned her down. She said if I ever regretted it, I could come to her anytime, and she'd still marry me."

"God, that lady really carries a torch, huh? You should've dumped Christine ages ago! What a piece of work, ugh."

The car reached the hotel. Yvonne hadn't arrived yet.

Christine's mother, Charlotte Finch, was already waiting at the hotel entrance.

"Ethan, you finally made it. Where's Christine?"

"Your daughter's playing hide-and-seek with me on her own wedding day. She's hidden herself away."

The look on Charlotte's face said she'd known all along.

"Then hurry up and go find her. If you can't find her, there's no wedding, and we can't have all these guests waiting around for nothing."

I gave a cold laugh.

"Don't worry. The bride will be here any minute."

Just then a Porsche pulled up smoothly behind me.

"See? Here she is."

Charlotte frowned.

"That isn't my daughter's car."

Yvonne stepped out of the car, and I pulled her against me, an arm around her shoulders.

"Who says the bride has to be Christine? She loves her hide-and-seek so much, let her hide for the rest of her life."

Charlotte came after me. "What is this supposed to mean? Why did you bring some stranger here, and why do you have your arm around her?"

"Ethan, what exactly are you playing at?"

"Charlotte, today is my wedding day with Yvonne. If you want to stay and toast us with a glass at the reception, go find a table and sit down."

"Are you joking? This is your wedding with my daughter!"

"It was. It isn't anymore."

Charlotte grabbed hold of me. "You wait right there!"

"You're actually going to hold a wedding with this woman?"

"Yes."

"I don't agree! Everyone here today is my close family and friends, and my family paid for this banquet. Why should some outsider get the benefit of it?"

"Did you pay for the reception?"

That one line shut Charlotte's mouth.

The fight went out of her voice.

"Still, you can't. Do you want to make us a laughingstock in front of all these relatives and friends?"

"A laughingstock for who? I don't care what your family looks like."

Charlotte planted herself right in front of me. "No. There is no way this wedding is happening today without my daughter!"

Frantic, she dug out her phone and started dialing. The call connected fast.

"Christine, get over here right now. If you don't come, Ethan is going to marry someone else!"

Christine's voice came through, light and unbothered.

"Impossible. Ethan won't marry anyone but me."

Charlotte was beside herself. "It's real! He's already brought his new wife here. The two of them are about to get married! Come back right now, I'll talk Ethan around."

Christine laughed.

"Mom, did Ethan put you up to this little act? I already told you, I'm just seeing Jasper off. The second his flight lands, I'll come straight back."

"We can just redo the ceremony another day, it makes no difference. It's not like I'm calling off the marriage."

"Mom, Jasper's thirsty, I'm going to buy him some water. I have to go."

Christine hung up.

Yvonne shoved Charlotte aside.

"A good dog doesn't block the road."

Charlotte went into a rage, chasing right at my heels.

"Ethan, you humiliate the Finch family like this, and when Christine gets back she is absolutely not going to let you off!"

"And if you ever want to hold a wedding with Christine again, I will never agree to it!"

I had the makeup artist start on Yvonne.

"Charlotte, keep squawking like this and I'll have someone show you out."

"This is my wedding, not a stage for your tantrum."

Charlotte picked up her phone again and started a video call to show Yvonne.

The moment it connected she blurted out, "Christine, look, Ethan has already put your wedding dress on another woman!"

She swung the camera onto Yvonne.

"See that? This is the new woman he's found!"

"She's obviously some actress he hired. Mom, give him the phone."

Charlotte thrust the phone at me right away. "Christine wants to talk to you."

I didn't take it.

"Let her talk. I can hear her fine."

"Ethan, stop the act. You just didn't manage to find me today, so I couldn't come."

"But I'll give you one more chance. Today, make sure the guests who showed up eat and drink well, and we'll hold the ceremony another day."

I let out a short laugh.

"Finished? The ceremony's about to start. I don't have time to listen to your nonsense."

I ended the video call.

My wife needs to change into her gown now. Please see yourself out.

Simon pushed Charlotte out the door.

Yvonne slipped out of what she was wearing and put on the trailing wedding gown she'd chosen for today.

It fit her perfectly, like it had been made for her.

By the time I opened the door and stepped out, Charlotte was still standing there.

Christine, look! Ethan really is marrying someone else!

For the first time, panic crossed Christine's face. But she still refused to back down.

No way. Ethan only has room in his heart for me. He'd never marry anyone else.

I walked into the banquet hall and took my place at the front of the stage, waiting for my bride.

The happiness written all over my face cut into Christine, and she couldn't sit still any longer.

Jasper, I have to go back for a bit. Wait for me.

Jasper panicked. : Christine, where are you going? The plane's about to take off!

The hotel where Ethan and I are getting married is close to the airport. I'll be right back!

I could hear Christine gasping for breath as she ran.

Mom, hold Ethan back. Don't let him make a scene! All our family and friends are there. He can't just hold a ceremony with someone else!

How am I supposed to stop him? He won't listen to a word I say!

Behind her, Jasper shouted. : Christine, there's no time. Don't go!

Christine couldn't hear Jasper at all. She was only screaming at me.

Ethan, you are not allowed to hold a wedding ceremony with another woman, or I'll never forgive you!

I acted like I didn't hear a thing.

The doors of the banquet hall swung open, and the wedding march began.

Yvonne lifted the hem of her gown and came toward me, graceful and unhurried.

Christine's hysterical voice was still going behind me.

Ethan, don't you take her hand. Stop right there! I'm already on my way back. Wait for me!

Mom, hurry up and stop him!

Charlotte rushed forward, only for Simon and a few of the other groomsmen to block her.

Simon had a firm grip on Charlotte. : Ma'am, you're welcome to livestream Ethan's wedding and witness him being happy. But if you're here to cause trouble, that's not happening.

Charlotte yelled. : Somebody stop the groom! My daughter isn't here yet!

All around me stood my family and friends, guarding the moment. The Finch relatives wanted to help Charlotte, but there was nothing they could do.

Charlotte slapped her own thigh in frustration, but she was out of options.

Christine, honey, I can't hold him back!

Christine urged the driver on like a woman possessed. : Driver, go faster, floor it, I'm in a hurry!

Up on the stage, Yvonne and I moved through the ceremony without a hitch. We exchanged rings.

The officiant announced, : You may now kiss your bride.

Yvonne didn't hesitate for a second. She took my face in her hands and kissed me deeply.

Christine's heart-wrenching screams poured out of Charlotte's phone.

No! Let go of my husband, you bitch!

Ethan, push her away!

Just as the officiant was about to pronounce us married, the doors of the banquet hall were shoved open.

Christine ran in, gasping for air, and screamed like a madwoman.

I object!