He Let My Best Friend Steal My Wedding

At my pre-wedding bachelorette party, my fianc casually took the juice in front of me and handed it to my best friend, then put her glass of hard liquor in front of me instead.

Your period's got two more days to go, and you're allergic to milk, so drink the juice first.

Ada Wiley pouted.

You even remember exactly when my period is. You're such a shameless flirt. Careful, or Harper won't want you anymore.

Nathan leaned back into the couch and teased her offhandedly.

"If you weren't Harper best friend, I wouldn't bother with you at all."

"Please. You're the one who has to stick his nose in everything!"

The two of them started bickering like no one else was in the room.

I sat in an unremarkable corner, the words "I'm allergic to alcohol" jammed hard in my throat.

Seven years dating Nathan, and he remembered his best friend's period, remembered she was allergic to milk.

But he'd forgotten I was allergic to alcohol.

Just then, a server came in carrying a gift box.

"Congratulations to Mr. James and Miss Stephens on completing our restaurant's '999 Couples Check-In' achievement."

"This is a commemorative gift from us. May the two of you last forever."

Inside the box was a pair of solid gold wine bottles.

One engraved with "Golden Boy," the other with "Perfect Match."

Ada bumped Nathan's shoulder and giggled behind her hand.

"See, I told you this one would be easy to hit. Perfect timing, I'll give it to you and Harper. Consider it my wedding gift to you two!"

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"You use the two of us checking in to win the prize, then hand it to me for my wedding, and you still want it for free?"

"Well, who told you to come with me every time?"

"Only because I was afraid you'd get drunk alone and lose your mind."

The two of them fell right back into bickering, oblivious to everyone else.

Anyone could see it. The "Mr. James and Miss Stephens" the server had named looked far more like the couple about to get married.

I took out my phone and typed into my notes:

"The hundredth thing I won't forgive Nathan for"

When I finished, I stood and left.

One concession after another had only fed Nathan's nerve to push further.

If that was how it was, then I was walking away.

......

For the three hours after I left the private room, I didn't get a single message.

Not until I'd finished writing my resignation letter and was about to tap "submit" did the special ringtone sound.

It was Nathan calling.

The second the call connected, his voice, thick with drink, crackled through the line into my ear: "Harper, come open the door. You left me out here."

Every time Nathan got drunk he clung to me, needed me to take care of every little thing myself.

I used to think it meant he depended on me, that he loved me deeply.

Until an anniversary a month ago, when I got off work early and heard him at our door, telling his buddy: "You mean Harper? She really is like a proper live-in nanny, smart and dutiful too, perfect wife material to bring home."

"Besides, she's been with me ten years. How many ten-year stretches does a life get? I owe her that much, don't I? Marrying her was only a matter of time."

Ten years of a long-distance-love marathon, and all it came down to was "I owe her that much."

As if I were dead weight.

And he, out of duty, couldn't bring himself to cast me off.

The busy tone after the call cut out pulled my thoughts back to reality.

Staring at the dark screen, I remembered how Nathan always waited for the other person to hang up first whenever he was on the phone with Ada, even though his bill ran over every month. He still insisted on letting her hang up first.

But me, his actual girlfriend, he'd always cut off the second he'd said what mattered, not wasting a single breath.

I'd questioned it before, but he always said: "Ada's your best friend of many years, practically half a mother-in-law to me. Of course I have to respect her, in case she gets upset and trips us up when we get married."

But he never once considered whether I might be upset.

As if that just wasn't on his radar.

The moment I opened the door, a shadow dropped over me, half of Nathan's weight slumping against me.

A heavy wave of liquor hit my face.

"Harper, look what I brought you."

He held up a box of Black Forest cake, eyes shining as he angled for praise: "I got it specially for you. Do you like it?"

That bakery was one Nathan and I used to go to all the time back when we were head over heels, and it was a long way from the party.

"Why?" I couldn't help asking.

"You left so early, barely ate anything. Don't go hungry."

Nathan's words were so gentle.

Like the perfect boyfriend, attentive down to the last detail.

But if I hadn't seen Ada's post before I went downstairs, I might have believed him.

Two minutes earlier, I'd felt my phone buzz, and opened it to Ada's latest post.

The caption read: Ada wants it! Ada gets it!

The photo was Ada holding a six-figure cake, flashing a peace sign at the camera.

Beside her sat a Black Forest cake bagged in clear plastic, the bag marked with the word "Freebie."

This wasn't the first time Nathan had given me a giveaway.

I'd screamed about it, made scenes, argued.

But he always told me, unnervingly calm: "Sure, these gifts are cheap, but I gave them to you with my own hands, some of them I even made myself. Aren't they worth more than the ones with a price tag?"

I came back to myself and helped Nathan back to the bedroom, got him settled.

The Black Forest cake on the coffee table, I threw into the trash.

The resignation letter on my phone, I'd already tapped submit.

Nathan, your love is too scattered and thin.

I don't want it anymore.

The next morning, I was eating breakfast while scrolling through flights.

Nathan appeared behind me out of nowhere, puzzled. "Why are you looking at plane tickets? The honeymoon has to wait until Ada gets time off, doesn't it? She doesn't have any days this month, so it'll have to be next month. Don't get the dates mixed up."

My fingers stilled, gripping the phone a little tighter.

"Nathan, I'm not going to marry you"

Before I could finish, Nathan's custom ringtone went off. It was recorded in Ada's voice.

Under "the nineteenth reason I won't forgive Nathan," after I found out about that ringtone, I'd once asked him to change it.

But he said, "Ada's a marriage-refuser, she's no threat to you. And I'm still in her probation period right now, I have to keep my word, or what happens if she won't agree to let me marry you?"

Only after the call ended did Nathan remember to ask me, "Harper, what were you saying just now?"

"I said" I was about to repeat it.

Nathan cut me off. "Mm, okay, whatever you decide is fine."

He brushed me off while changing his shoes. "Ada's wiring is acting up, I'm going over to take a look. She's a marriage-refuser, and a woman living alone. Who knows what could happen to her."

Nathan had already boxed off every road for me. There was no way to get the refusal out.

Under "the fifty-second reason I won't forgive Nathan": when we went to the amusement park, because I was too timid, they rode the extreme thrill attractions and I was always the one left behind.

When the outing was over and I brought up how I felt about it,

Nathan said, his whole face full of reluctance, "Harper, be reasonable. Ada's a marriage-refuser, there's no way she'd have feelings for me."

"And I only forced myself to go along for her sake, because she's your best friend. Otherwise, a girl riding all those rides on her ownwhat if some creep took advantage of her?"

"Marriage-refuser" was like a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Nearly every time, Nathan left me with nothing to say.

The sound of the door closing pulled me back.

I looked at my breakfast, gone cold, and my heart went cold right through.

Just as I'd settled on going to Norway to clear my head, an unknown number called.

I was about to reject it, but my finger slipped and hit answer.

On the other end, a man's rich voice came through. "Is this Harper Dudley?"

"Yes." I was confused. "Who is this?"

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Thaddeus Dudley. I'm your adoptive brother, the one you haven't seen in twenty years. Our adoptive mother entrusted me to find you when you turned thirty and hand over the trust fund she left for you."

The man wasted almost no words, asking directly, "I'm currently settled in Norway. When are you free?"

Norway. It was one of the destinations Nathan and I had promised to visit on our honeymoon after we married.

And it was the first stop on this trip of mine.

I answered without hesitation. "The ten a.m. flight the day after tomorrow."

Once he had my definite answer, the man gave a soft "Mm," and said, "See you the day after tomorrow. I'll come pick you up."

The call ended, and I got up to pack my things.

A handmade clay figurine, a ring made from soda can tabs that he'd never gotten around to trading in for a real one, a three-thousand-word love letter he'd printed out, and so on.

Only in that moment did I realize how cheap the things Nathan had given me were.

So cheap they cost him not a shred of thought, and they could keep me happy for a whole day.

After I'd sorted everything into three big boxes, my eyes fell on the wall covered in photos.

Every photo had three people in it. The only two-person shot had my boyfriend and my best friend as its subjects.

All because a rainbow happened to appear that day, and Ada dragged Nathan off to take a picture, with the promise that once they were done they'd take one of me.

But when I got ready to join for a shot, the rainbow was gone, and my heart sank right along with it.

I gave a self-mocking laugh.

I got up, took down all those group photos, and threw them into the fire basin to burn.

If I was going to leave, I might as well leave cleanly.

Not until I'd wiped away the last trace of myself from the house did Nathan finally come home.

But he didn't come back alone.

Ada was right behind him, and he carried two suitcases in through the door.

"Harper, the wiring at Ada's rental is acting up and needs a full day to fix. She's staying at our place tonight. I already said yes for you."

"You two are best friends anywayyou'll have plenty to talk about all night."

With that, Nathan carried the suitcases into the guest bedroom and made the bed and folded the covers with practiced ease, as if he'd done it more than a thousand times.

Yet in front of me, he'd never once done a chore like that.

Ada said, her voice full of envy, "Harper, I'm so jealous of you. You found yourself such a hardworking boyfriend!"

"Ugh, if I were half as lucky, I wouldn't have sworn off marriage."

Nathan finished making the bed, then turned around and grabbed the mop to give the whole side of the room another pass.

He still found a spare moment to fire back at Ada. "With a job like yours, you probably think every man on earth is worthless."

"Like you're not in the exact same field I am!" Ada shot back, all claws.

The two of them went back and forth, trading legal jargon like darts. I just stood there. I'd seen this scene play out too many times to count.

But this time I didn't feel like putting up with it.

"Are you two done?"

That one line killed the noise from both of them.

Ada tugged at the hem of my shirt, treading carefully. "Harper, are you upset? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you out. It's just... our fields are so different, there's nothing for the three of us to talk about together."

Nathan chimed in right on cue. "Exactly. You studied fashion design. How could you possibly understand the law? Talking with you is like comparing apples to oranges."

Once, my dream had been to study law. Law had been my first choice too.

Then, back when I was filling out my college applications, I happened to overhear Nathan say, "Obviously you don't date someone in your own field. The legal profession is grueling as it is. One of us would always be pulling late nights. A relationship like that just can't survive."

So I changed my major.

And Ada, who scraped in at the very bottom of the rankings, snagged the last open spot and landed in the law program instead. Same major as Nathan. Same class.

Since we were in different programs, I rarely got to see Nathan.

Ada, on the other hand, always kept me posted on his whereabouts. What he'd done, who he'd met, everything he'd been up to.

She'd once thrown an arm around my shoulders and thumped her chest in a solemn promise. "Harper, don't you worry. A late-stage chauvinist like Nathan is not my type. I'll keep an eye on him for you, make sure nobody sweeps him off. He belongs to you and only you!"

Nathan had comforted me once too, his voice gentle. "Even if we're not in the same field, we've got the commitment. That means we'll never run out of things to talk about. You can share your day with me, talk about the future, all of it."

To this day, those words still echo in my ears.

And the two people who spoke them forgot them long ago.

Or maybe they never cared about me at all.

I said nothing, went back to my room to pack.

One day left before I left the country, and I planned to move out and stay at a hotel for two nights.

A knock came at the bedroom door. Ada stood in the doorway, hesitating.

"Harper, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to upset you. If it bothers you, I'll go stay at a hotel for the night."

I closed my suitcase, my expression calm. "You stay. It doesn't matter to me if this whole place ends up being yours."

I didn't care anymore. Either way.

Not about the house. Not about Nathan.

I didn't want any of it.

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?" Nathan blocked the doorway, his face darkening. "There's a limit to throwing a tantrum. You'd better think hard about what's worth saying and what isn't."

As a lawyer, Nathan held himself to strict standards in everything he said and did. And he held me to the same.

Item sixty-seven on the list of things I couldn't forgive Nathan for: all because Ada had sent me a video of some guy, Nathan got angry and wouldn't come home.

I texted apologies, bought him gifts, ran myself ragged coaxing him for three whole days, and he stayed stone-faced the entire time, snapping at me with that hard set to his jaw.

But one line from Ada, "You look so scary like this, I'm not really used to it," and the very next second Nathan's brow smoothed out, the corners of his mouth lifted, and he was chatting away with her, all warmth.

Then Ada added, "Just forgive Harper already. I'm the one who sent the video. I won't do it again." And just like that, Nathan dropped the whole thing.

The man I couldn't win over with three days of apologies, Ada handled with a single sentence.

I met Nathan's eyes and pulled my lips into a faint curve. "Nathan, let's break up. I'm not getting married."

"Oh my God! Harper, don't throw a tantrum! The wedding's the day after tomorrow, and haven't you dreamed about it forever? Why are you saying these awful things now!"

Ada rushed forward, trying to stop me from letting the words stand. She turned to Nathan with an apologetic little smile. "Nate, don't take it to heart, okay? I swear Harper only says these things when she's upset. You two get along, don't fight."

"I'll just go find somewhere to stay on my own. There's no reason for the two of you to hurt what you have because of me."

With that, Ada turned and walked off.

Nathan's voice came out low and heavy. "You drove her away, and now you're happy? She's your best friend. What are you even jealous about?"

"Harper, sometimes I really think you're impossible. Your mother's gone, and Ada's stood by you for fifteen years, practically a mother figure to you. If I'm good to her, it's because I want things between the two of you to be better."

"How can you be so childish about this?"

"I'm not throwing a tantrum. I mean it."

My voice was steady. "Nathan, we're done."

"Fine, fine, fine, whatever you want." Nathan said it like it made no difference to him. "Just don't come crying and begging me to take you back in the end."

"I'm going to check on Ada. She's a girl with no one to lean on, and a hotel by herself isn't safe."

With that, Nathan turned and left.

As though certain I couldn't live without him.

Every time we'd fought before, I was always the one to back down first.

I'd always told myself we were lovers, not enemies, so it didn't matter who caved first, as long as we loved each other, that was enough.

But I saw now that I'd been wrong.

All my patience, all my giving in, never brought the same effort from Nathan in return. It only fed his sense of superiority.

Calmly, I picked up my suitcase and left the home I'd lived in for nine years.

Passing the second bedroom, I caught the faint, broken sound of crying inside, and Nathan's voice, low and soothing.

Words that gentle, he hadn't said to me in a long time.

I don't know when it started, but Nathan had always carried himself over me with his chin up, as if I were his servant, born to wait on him.

And he accepted everything I gave with a clear conscience.

Through the crack in the door, out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed the room, all soft pink and white, decorated entirely to Ada's taste.

I remembered the first time Ada came to stay, how she'd griped that everything about that bedroom was wrong.

So the next day, Nathan redid it exactly how she liked, even swapped in a five-figure mattress, right down to the sheets and comforter.

The master bedroom he and I shared didn't add up to eight thousand, all of it together.

I'd questioned him about it too. "Why would you do that?"

Nathan's answer didn't surprise me in the least. "Ada doesn't have anyone. As your boyfriend, being good to your best friend, shouldn't that make you happy?"

"Besides, everybody online says if you offend the mother-in-law figure, your love life gets rocky. I don't want to lose you over a single word from her."

After that, Ada came to stay all the time, and Nathan was always making my decisions for me.

I closed the door and walked away with my suitcase.

Nine years ago, when I moved into that apartment, I was so excited I didn't sleep the whole night.

Because I finally had a little home of my own.

But now that little home was too crowded. There was no room left in it for me.

Once I'd checked into the hotel and was unpacking, I realized the last painting my mother ever made, I hadn't brought it with me.

Nathan and I had been together only six months back then when my mother was suddenly in a car crash and died before they could save her.

I shut myself in my rented apartment for half a month. It was Nathan who kicked the door open, rushed in, scooped me up, and carried me to the hospital, where they worked on me for forty-eight hours before I finally pulled through.

He'd held me and cried. "I thought I almost lost you. Silly Harper, don't ever do that again. I know losing your mom hurts, but you still have me. I'll give you a home, a little home that belongs to just the two of us."

Sure enough, six months later he bought an apartment.

While we were moving things in, he made a point of hanging my mother's last painting in the living room. Gently, he told me, "This is the one thing I fought hardest to save. Let it hang here, so it's like your mom is always right beside you."

When I hurried home and keyed in the code, I got the error tone instead.

That same code I'd punched in tens of thousands of times now shrieked back a harsh little warning.

The blood froze in my veins. Refusing to accept it, I entered the code I knew by heart all over again.

Still wrong.

Every time we'd fought before, whenever I threw a fit and stormed out, Nathan would change the code as a way of warning me.

This time was no different from all the others.

Just as I was thinking about texting Nathan, the door opened.

Ada stood there in the latest-season pajamas, breezy as anything. "Harper, I knew you were just sulking. Come in and eat, dinner's ready. Nate made braised shrimp, lucky you."

The way she carried herself, you'd think she was the lady of this house and I was the outsider.

I walked in without a word and headed straight for the living room.

Only to find the wall completely bare.

Right then Nathan came out of the kitchen in an apron, and when he saw me, something knowing flickered in his eyes.

"All right, you've thrown your tantrum, now come eat. And next time don't say hurtful things like that just to get out of cooking."

In his eyes, my solemnly asking to break up was nothing more than dodging chores and cooking.

"I"

I'd barely started when Ada cut in. "Harper, what a great boyfriend you've got. He even knows to look after me, his little mother-in-law! You're so lucky!"

As she said it, she made a point of gesturing at the pajamas she wore, and at the jewelry on her.

Count it all up, and nearly everything on Ada's body was bought by Nathan.

My own clothes hadn't been replaced in two or three years, and my jewelry was mostly hand-me-downs Ada hadn't wanted or leftover freebies.

I used to think that as long as Nathan loved me, none of these surface things mattered at all.

Later I realized how badly I'd been wrong.

Where a man's money goes, that's where his love goes.

That saying didn't come from nowhere.

Seeing me go quiet, Nathan assumed I was upset, and he ruffled my hair, coaxing softly. "Don't be upset. You studied fashion design, didn't you? You can just design your own."

"Ada's a lawyer. Sometimes she needs to show up looking presentable, so she can put her clients at ease."

My face blank, I shot back, "So you bought her pajamas while you were at it? Or does she wear pajamas to meet clients?"

"Harper, our work is legitimate, it's not that kind of adult venue." Ada defended herself on reflex.

Nathan's face tightened, and he dropped his voice. "Stop it. I think you've genuinely lost your grip, spouting whatever nonsense comes to mind. Apologize to Ada right now, this whole thing"

"Apologize for what?"

I cut him off, staring him dead in the eyes. "Nathan, shouldn't you be explaining where the painting on that wall went?"

Following the direction of my finger, guilt flickered in Nathan's eyes and he looked away. "I think I put it in the storage room. That painting's pretty valuable, after all. I was worried it'd get damaged."

"Nathan, lying doesn't suit you."

My face cold, I turned and headed for the storage room.

I knew Nathan was lying, but unless I threw the proof in his face, he'd never admit it.

Just like the way he played favorites with Ada. As long as I didn't have hard evidence to nail him with, he could always talk his way out of it with that silver tongue.

Nathan rushed to block me, frantic. "II remember now. I left the painting at the office. I'll bring it back to you tomorrow, all right?"

"Which painting? It wouldn't happen to be the one you handed me and had me give to Silas Chavez, would it?"

Ada clapped a hand over her mouth in shock, stricken. "II didn't know that painting was your late mother's work. Harper, I'm so sorry. I'll go to Silas's place right now and get it back."

"Go do what? You don't know what kind of designs Silas has on you?"

Nathan let go of me and turned, planting himself in front of Ada.

Ada looked ready to cry, her eyes reddening. "Butbut that painting was the thing Harper treasured most. I took it without knowing, and that alone is already wronging her."

"It's fine. Her mom left plenty of other things behind. No need to fret."

"If Harper really wants them that badly, I'll figure out a way to buy them back at auction."

Nathan said it so lightly, as if recovering my late mother's artwork was nothing more than a few easy words.

But seven years ago, when I'd spotted another one of my mother's surviving pieces at an auction and asked Nathan to bid on it for me

He'd said, "One painting at home is enough. There's no need to buy more. Besides, your mother certainly wouldn't want you wasting money."

Back then, recovering my mother's work was wasting money.

Yet now, just to put Ada's mind at ease, he waved a hand and said he could buy it back.

I drew in a slow breath and pressed down the bitterness rising in my chest.

"Nathan, all I want is that painting."

"You'll have it tomorrow morning. Just stop talking for now, all right?"

He growled the words at me, impatient, then turned back to keep coaxing Ada in a soft voice.

I slipped out of the apartment without a word, went back to my hotel, and didn't sleep all night.

My phone buzzed. A message from Nathan.

Send me your address. I'll have the painting delivered.

I sent him the hotel location and went downstairs to wait.

Nathan's car pulled up in front of me, the window rolling down. In the passenger seat, unsurprisingly, sat Ada.

Ever since graduation, because Nathan and I worked in different fields, most of the time we couldn't find anything to talk about.

Little by little, the passenger seat had become Ada's alone, and I was left in the back, watching the two of them laugh and joke the whole way.

Ada climbed out and went to the trunk, took out the framed painting, and carried it toward me, chattering as she came. "Don't be mad, Harper. I already gave Nathan a good scolding, told him he'd better never touch your things again!"

"Here, take it. It's a little heavyoh no."

In her high heels, Ada's ankle suddenly buckled, and she went down hard, the whole frame shattering across the ground, the canvas inside tearing.

"Ada!" I cried out her name, panic in my voice.

Nathan was at her side in an instant, bending to check her ankle.

I gathered the shards of the frame in my hands and demanded, my voice sharp, "Ada, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Enough. Now, of all times, and you're still trying to dodge the blame? If you'd come over sooner and lent a hand, would Ada have fallen at all?"

Nathan lashed out at once, calling me childish.

Then his eyes caught the blood the glass had drawn from my hand, and something flickered in them, a moment of hesitation.

"Harper, I"

"Ssss, it hurts... did I dislocate a bone?"

Ada whimpered.

Nathan scooped her up sideways in his arms at once. "I'll take you to the hospital and get it looked at."

Before he left, he glanced at me. "Have a little sense, Harper. It's just a painting. This one's gone, so I'll get you another."

"I'm taking my little bride-to-be to have her injury checked. Don't forget to show up at the wedding tomorrow. Looks like Ada won't be able to be your bridesmaid now."

With that, the car sped off and was gone.

I carried the painting back to the hotel with the greatest care, took out my phone, and asked around with the experts. Every answer came back the same: it couldn't be repaired.

Only when the sky went pale did I finally accept the truth.

I hadn't even been able to protect the last thing my mother left behind.

Thirty minutes to boarding, I rushed to make my flight.

Nathan's name lit up on my screen.

I hit answer, and he came at me the moment the line connected.

"Harper, today is our big day, and where are you? Where did you run off to? Is there no limit to your tantrums? No one is going to keep coaxing you forever."

Bitterness filled my throat, my voice gone hoarse. "That's right. No one stays by anyone forever. So, Nathan, let's break up."

The words were barely out when the boarding announcement rang through the terminal.

I hung up without a second's pause, then blocked and deleted every way of reaching Nathan and Ada.

Since not a single part of love or friendship had ever truly belonged to me, then I didn't want any of it.