His Wedding My Exit Chapter 01
A month before the wedding, Cole thought the wedding photos I picked were too tacky, so he called a bunch of his fraternity brothers over to rate them.
My favorite candid shot, a four.
The hair and makeup I spent three hours on, a five.
The rare eights were either because my hairstyle looked like Sienna’s, or my makeup did.
Finally, Trent projected a photo of Sienna next to mine on the big screen. “On the left is your girlfriend. On the right is the girl every guy in the fraternity wanted—the one you chased for two years and never won over. If you had to choose again, who would you pick?”
The whole room erupted in laughter.
Cole only laughed and cursed at him. “Screw off.”
Sienna sat in the very back, taking a slow sip of her drink. “Stop messing around. Nora will get upset.”
His brothers laughed even louder. “Why would she be upset? She’s the one marrying Cole in the end, isn’t she?”
I didn’t argue. I just looked down and sent a message to my wedding planner.
“I signed all the contracts, and I paid for everything with my card. If I cancel now, can I cut my losses?”
Less than a minute later, a reply came through.
“Nora, if you cancel before ten tomorrow morning, you’ll only lose the deposits.”
***
The photos stayed on the big screen for over ten seconds. On the left was me; on the right was an old photo of Sienna from college.
I was wearing a heavily embellished wedding dress, and my hair and makeup had taken three hours. She was just wearing a white slip dress, her short hair barely past her ears, standing by the edge of the track and smiling.
Trent stared at it for a few seconds. “Nora looks pretty enough on her own, but putting her next to Sienna makes her pale in comparison.”
Someone next to him immediately chimed in. “They’re not the same type. Nora is the kind of girl who makes a guy want to settle down.”
“Sienna can’t settle down?”
“How is that the same? Sienna was the undisputed goddess of our fraternity back then. The guys chasing her lined up from our apartment all the way off campus. Cole chased her for two years and still couldn’t win her over.” The group of men started laughing.
I instinctively looked at Cole.
He wasn’t angry. He just lifted his foot and kicked Trent. “Get out of here.” There was even a smile in his voice.
Trent clutched his leg. “What, I can’t even talk about it? If Sienna had nodded yes back then, who knows who would be standing on the left in these wedding photos now.” Someone let out a whistle.
Cole finally frowned. “That’s enough.” But he didn’t deny it.
And he didn’t turn off the big screen.
Sienna finally set her glass down. “Alright, today is about helping Nora pick photos. Stop joking about our college days.” She said to drop it.
But she specifically emphasized “our college days”—a past I had never been a part of.
The screen paused for a moment before Cole reached out and clicked to the next photo. “Shall we continue, then?”
I nodded. “Continue.” The next one was my absolute favorite.
When the screen switched, it caught me looking back over my shoulder just as the wind lifted my veil slightly. I wasn’t looking at the camera, and my smile was completely natural.
Trent only glanced at it. “I’ll give this one a four. It’s too plain. Cole standing next to her makes it look like he brought an assistant.” A few guys next to him laughed out loud.
I asked Cole, “What do you think?”
He looked at it for two seconds. “There’s really no need to keep it.”
“But I really like it.”
“The display photo is for everyone else to look at. What’s the point if you’re the only one who likes it?” I didn’t say anything.
Underneath this photo in the gallery, the studio had added a note: *Natural candid, client favorite.* Cole waved his hand. “Delete it.” He didn’t actually delete it; he just unchecked it from the selections.
In the next photo, I had my long hair pinned up, with only two loose strands framing my face.
Trent said, “Eight.” It was the highest score of the day so far.
Someone next to him stared at it for two seconds. “No wonder Cole likes it. Isn’t that the hairstyle Sienna wore all the time in college?” Cole’s hand paused.
But Sienna laughed. “How many years ago was that? You guys still remember?”
Trent said, “It doesn’t matter if we remember, as long as someone does.” Sienna didn’t reply. She just tilted her head and glanced at Cole.
Next photo.
Someone said, “These earrings are nice. Nora doesn’t look so plain wearing them.”
Sienna said softly, “Didn’t I have a pair just like those back then?” Next photo.
“This veil is a seven.”
Sienna laughed again. “Wasn’t the one I wore in my graduation photos similar to that?” Another photo.
Photo after photo of my wedding shoot felt like it had suddenly turned into a game of spot-the-difference. They weren’t looking to see if I looked beautiful.
They were looking to see where I looked like Sienna.
Until someone said, “This wedding dress is nice. It finally has a bit of high-end elegance.”
Sienna had been looking down, replying to a message, but when she heard that, she suddenly looked up and stared at the camellia on my waist. She looked at it for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.
“Cole, you still kept this design?” The living room instantly fell silent.
I turned to look at her. “What do you mean?”
Sienna acted like she just realized she had misspoken. She raised a hand to cover her mouth. “Nothing. I made a mistake.”
But Trent’s interest was already piqued. “You mean that drawing from college?”
Sienna frowned. “Trent.”
“Why can’t we talk about it?”
He pointed at the camellia on my waist. “Didn’t Cole draw a dress for you during junior year? It had this exact same flower on the waist.” A buzzing sound echoed in my ears.
When I first went dress shopping last year, Cole only accompanied me for one afternoon. He called the first one tacky, the second one made me look fat, and when I walked out in the third, he frowned. “Why do you always like these flashy, complicated things?”
The bridal consultant tried to smooth things over. “Actually, Nora looks beautiful in this dress. It’s one of this year’s new arrivals.”
Cole looked down and played with his phone. “Even the new arrivals are tacky.” I didn’t pick a single dress that day.
That night, probably sensing I was upset, he did something rare. He sat down next to me with his tablet. “Stop looking. I’ll draw one for you.”
I had been stunned for a long time. “You know how?”
“I’ve seen enough to figure it out.” He stayed up drawing that design until two in the morning.
When he handed it to me the next day, I stared at that camellia on the waist for a long time.
My mom’s eyes welled up when she saw the finished dress for the first time. “Cole is so busy, but he still designed your wedding dress himself. You really matter to him.” I had thought the same thing.
And now, Sienna was sitting in front of me, saying so casually, “We were all young back then. He just drew it for fun. I had almost forgotten about it.”
I looked at Cole. “What about you?”
His expression had already turned somewhat ugly. “It’s from ten years ago. How could I possibly remember?”
Sienna suddenly laughed. “You don’t remember?” She looked at the camellia on my waist.
“But the position of the flower hasn’t changed at all.” The air instantly froze.
Cole shot a sharp look at her.
Sienna, acting as if she finally realized she had said too much, lowered her eyes. “Sorry. I just thought it was a coincidence.” She paused, then looked at me again.
“But it suits Nora.”
“Cole used to say that this design was only suited for people with narrow waists.”
Sienna smiled after she said that. “You probably look better in it than I would have back then.” It sounded like a compliment.
But every single word was telling me: *The thing you’re wearing is something I had ten years ago.*
Trent, never one to shy away from drama, added, “So Nora’s basically wearing the dress Sienna never got to wear.” The guys started laughing again.
I suddenly asked, “Is it funny?” The laughter stopped.
Trent waved a hand. “Nora, it’s just a joke. Don’t take it so seriously.”
I looked at him. “When you get married, if your wife puts your wedding photo on the big screen right next to her ex-boyfriend’s photo, has a whole room of people rate who is more handsome, and then tells you that the best things about you are the parts that look like her ex, would you find that funny too?” Trent’s face froze.
No one was laughing anymore.
Cole’s voice dropped. “Nora.”
I turned to him. “What?”
“That’s enough.” I looked at him and suddenly found the whole thing absurd.
“Are we picking out my wedding photos today, or are we picking out where I look like Sienna?”
Cole’s face darkened. “They were just making a joke. Why do you have to twist it into a personal attack?”
Sienna immediately stood up. “Nora, please don’t misunderstand. They’ve always been like this. Cole and I are truly in the past.” I hadn’t even said anything.
She added softly, “Besides, you’re the one he’s marrying in the end. There’s really no need for you to mind these things.” *You’re the one he’s marrying in the end.*
It sounded like an act of charity. Like she had stepped aside from a position she no longer wanted and given it to me, and I was expected to be grateful for it.
Cole frowned too. “Sienna already explained. What more do you want?” I looked at him.
Suddenly, I didn’t want to say a single word.
I handed the remote to Trent. “Continue.”
Trent didn’t take it. “Nora…”
“Weren’t we rating them? Don’t skip a single one.” For the next twenty or so photos, they really did go through and rate every single one.
Threes, fives, sixes. The rare sevens and eights were either because my makeup looked like Sienna’s or my hair did. The only photos that truly belonged to me got the lowest scores.
I suddenly remembered the note the studio had attached when they delivered the gallery—*Choose your absolute favorites.* But Cole had frowned. “Her taste has always been pretty bad. It’s better to let everyone help pick.”
I asked, “My taste is bad?”
“You didn’t know?” He acted like it was a hilarious question.
“It was the same when we were decorating the apartment. You insisted on warm-colored walls, a fabric sofa, and you even wanted to put a whole row of flower stands on the balcony. Would that even look good?”
Someone laughed. “Nora is that family-oriented?”
Trent chimed in too. “Like I said, the kind of vibe that makes a guy want to settle down.”
But Sienna smiled and said, “Warm colors are actually quite nice.”
Cole almost instinctively replied, “The warm colors you like are nice. What she picks is a completely different vibe.” The living room was quiet for a second.
Cole realized it himself, but he didn’t offer an explanation. Sienna looked down and took a sip of water, but I saw the corners of her lips curve up slightly. At that moment, I suddenly remembered our second year of dating. The first time I was going to meet this group of friends, I specifically bought a floral dress.
Right before we walked out the door, Cole frowned. “Can you change into something else? That’s too tacky.” I ended up changing into a white button-down shirt and jeans. When we got there, they were looking through college photos. In the pictures, Sienna was wearing the exact same white button-down and jeans.
Someone laughed and said, “Nora’s outfit actually looks a lot like what Sienna used to wear.” Back then, I had actually been a little happy.
I thought it meant I had finally dressed right for once. Over the next six years, I changed my clothing style. I changed my hairstyle. I changed my makeup. Every time I bought something, I would even instinctively ask him, “Is this okay?”
After being rejected so many times, I really started to doubt myself, wondering if I just didn’t know how to dress, if my taste really was that terrible. It wasn’t until today that I realized. I had never chosen wrong. It was just that the correct answer was never the color, the dress, or the hairstyle.
It was Sienna. As everyone was leaving, Cole put an arm around my shoulders. “We’ll use that last eight-point photo for the welcome display. It’s settled.”
I pulled his hand down. “Okay.” He clearly froze.
He probably hadn’t expected me to yield so quickly, but what he didn’t know was that earlier, while sitting there listening to them rate me, I had already sent a message to the wedding planner. I needed to confirm something. If I didn’t want to go through with this wedding.
What was the latest I could cancel.