The Wedding Bet: You Changed The Venue I Changed The Groom Chapter 04
The Medical Bill
The next day, I go to the private care facility to visit my mother. Along the way, I consider how to tell her about the wedding.
To my surprise, Serena is already in her room.
I don’t know what she said, but my mother is struggling to sit upright in bed.
“You… you have no shame…” my mother wheezes.
Serena just smiles dismissively.
“Didn’t your husband leave you for another woman? You should know better than anyone how this feels.”
My mother’s eyes widen in shock. Her hand falls to her side, and she collapses back onto the bed.
“Mom! Mom, what’s wrong?!”
I ignore Serena, rushing forward to catch my mother and frantically pressing the emergency call button.
My mother is quickly rushed out of the room on a gurney. I turn to follow, but Serena grabs my arm.
She stammers an explanation.
“I… I didn’t mean to. I—”
Before she can finish her sentence, I raise my hand and swing at her.
But before my fingertips can even touch her, my wrist is caught in a viselike grip by Julian, who just arrived.
“Enough! If you’re angry, take it out on me. Serena was only trying to help your mom. Why are you bullying her?”
I jerk my hand back. The emotions I have kept buried for so long finally break loose.
“I’m bullying her?!”
My eyes burn as I point at Serena. “She put my mother in the ER, and you say I’m bullying her?”
But the next second, Serena tugs at his sleeve, crying.
“Aria, I know you’re still mad at me. Just hit me. As long as it makes you feel better, you can hit me all you want…”
Before I can even argue, Julian’s face darkens.
He shields Serena behind him.
“Apologize to Serena!”
It is always like this.
As long as Serena sheds a tear, I am the one who has to apologize.
But this time, I don’t give in.
Julian lets out a humorless laugh. He pulls out his phone and opens my mother’s billing account.
“Aria, don’t forget who pays your mother’s medical bills!”
I stare at him in disbelief. My heart, which I thought was already dead, still manages to hurt.
Back then, to pay for my mother’s medical care, I worked myself to the bone, taking every overtime shift I could get.
When Julian found out, he had my mother transferred to this expensive private facility. To keep me from feeling guilty, he even lied and said a charitable foundation was covering the cost.
But now, he uses those medical bills to threaten me.
A wave of exhaustion washes over me. Suddenly, I don’t even have the energy to argue anymore.
I close my eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Julian relaxes, thinking he has won.
“You ruined Serena’s mood. I’m taking her to Iceland early so she can unwind. You can stay here and cool off.”
“I’ll see you at the wedding in a week.”
I give him a faint smile.
I don’t tell him that I will never attend his wedding.
The sound of their footsteps fades away. I don’t look back. I just stare at the ER doors, praying for my mother to be safe.
Fortunately, my mother pulls through.
I breathe a sigh of relief and stay by her side for the rest of the week.
Over the next few days, Julian takes Serena to all the famous tourist spots in Iceland, sending me messages every day.
I don’t reply to a single one.
On the day I am supposed to fly to Ireland, I receive one last text from Julian.
“Aria, stop being mad. I promise you’ll be the most beautiful bride there tomorrow.”
Expressionless, I eject my SIM card, snap it in half, and help my mother onto the plane.