Before the wedding, my fiancé’s brother’s widow moved my wedding dress into the garage.
I was the one who put it back.
Not because I’d forgiven her.
I just suddenly realized it didn’t belong in that house anymore.
A crumpled strip of white tulle peeked out from the corner of the garage.
My wedding dress.
The hem was coated in dust, and the garment bag was leaning against a damp wall.
When my fiancé, Owen, saw it, he apologized immediately.
“Her pipes burst. She’s just staying here for a few days.”
“We were in a hurry to make space, so we had to move the dress.”
“I’ll take it to the cleaners tomorrow, I promise.”
He said it as if it were a given that my things should make way for hers.
I carried the dress toward the study.
He was still talking behind me. “Really, it’s only for a few days.”
I pushed open the door.
The room was completely transformed.
My desk was gone.
My bookshelves were empty.
The walls were covered in cartoon drawings.
A child’s bed and a mountain of toys had taken the place where I used to work.
They had already cleared out my space for me.
Then the woman herself stepped out of the room. Paige.
She was wearing Owen’s T-shirt.
She wasn’t the least bit flustered. She just smiled. “Thank you for being so understanding.”
In that moment, I finally understood what was wrong.
It wasn’t just my desk and my wedding dress that had been moved out.
It was me.
But Owen was still trying to explain.
“She’ll be leaving soon.”
I looked at him. I didn’t argue. I didn’t ask a single question.
I just carried the wedding dress back downstairs.
I set it down in its original corner in the garage.
“Just leave it.”
“I’m not dealing with it right now.”
He thought I was only talking about the dress.
My Wedding Dress In The Garage His Widow In My Home Chapter 27 The weather was beautiful on the day of the city marathon. The starting line was packed. As Lena stretched her ankles, she said, “Don’t start too fast. Who was it last time who wanted to call a bus at kilometer three?” “That
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My Wedding Dress In The Garage His Widow In My Home Chapter 26 The day the community center was completed, my mother came down from Duluth. She stepped out of the car with her cane and stood before the main entrance for a long time. “The slope is even gentler than the one at my
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My Wedding Dress In The Garage His Widow In My Home Chapter 25 The first weekend after everything ended, I opened my storage closet. The wedding dress was still hanging at the very back. Since bringing it from New York to Milwaukee, I hadn’t touched it. There was still a gray smudge across the bottom
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My Wedding Dress In The Garage His Widow In My Home Chapter 24 The Reed Family Crew group chat stayed silent for three full days. On the fourth, Mark forwarded Paige’s clarification into the group. The people who had once left hearts under her photos quietly removed their likes. Some remembered the talk of a
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My Wedding Dress In The Garage His Widow In My Home Chapter 23 Paige didn’t sign that day. She demanded that Owen pay her legal fees and publicly confirm that he had offered her the house of his own free will. Owen refused. “That promise was my mistake,” he told her. “It isn’t an excuse
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My Wedding Dress In The Garage His Widow In My Home Chapter 22 The temporary injunction hearing was set for two weeks later. Paige’s lawyer requested mediation first. In the mediation room, Paige wore a plain dress and had a framed photo of Sadie on the table beside her. When she saw me walk in,
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My Wedding Dress In The Garage His Widow In My Home Chapter 21 When the court papers were served, Paige was in the Reed Family Crew group chat, complaining about me. She said I was using my high-paying job to hire lawyers and bully her. She also said Owen had personally promised to take care
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My Wedding Dress In The Garage His Widow In My Home Chapter 20 The letter demanded that Paige delete the false statements within twenty-four hours, stop all contact with my company and clients, and publicly clarify three facts. One: I had not emptied the joint account. Two: The duplex had never belonged to her. Three:
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My Wedding Dress In The Garage His Widow In My Home Chapter 19 I zoomed in on the screenshot and read it through once. The celebration wasn’t over yet. Laughter drifted from the other side of the terrace. When Lena saw I hadn’t moved, she came over. “What’s wrong?” “Someone’s planning to drag my past
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My Wedding Dress In The Garage His Widow In My Home Chapter 18 On Friday afternoon, my phone buzzed with a calendar reminder. *Independent project completion celebration, 7:00 p.m.* It was the first project I had managed on my own from concept to completion since coming to Milwaukee. Right after, a text from Lena popped
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