Chapter 1

Out of nowhere, my girlfriend announced that our wedding was being postponed.

"Austin’s eighteenth birthday bash is on that exact same day, and he really wants that ballroom. I already canceled our reservation and transferred it to his name."

Her brother. Again.

In the past, I would have argued and lost my temper. But now, all I felt was bone-deep exhaustion.

After she finished speaking, she glanced at me guiltily, but I just smiled faintly.

"Of course your brother's eighteenth birthday is more important. It doesn't matter if we even have a wedding."

She froze for a second, then threw her arms around me.

"I knew you'd understand! Honestly, I’ve always thought weddings are just for show anyway. Now we can save those few thousand dollars for something else."

With that, she turned around and immediately dialed her brother’s number.

I set down the half-folded wedding invitation in my hands, picked up my phone, and texted my dad.

Dad, I'm calling off the wedding.

After ending the call, I stood on the balcony, motionless.

From behind me came Chloe’s voice. "What are you doing standing out there? Come over here and help me look at this."

I turned and walked back into the living room.

She was curled up on the couch, her phone screen glowing as she browsed a high-end electronics site.

"What do you think of this setup? It’s over four thousand dollars. Top-of-the-line specs, and the custom casing looks amazing."

She shoved the screen in front of my face.

"Austin likes sleek, high-end gear. This should be perfect for him."

I looked at the limited-edition gaming rig on the screen—a silver-and-black chassis with sharp edges, complete with custom RGB ambient lighting on the controller.

It truly looked incredible.

We had been together for five years.

In those five years, across every birthday, holiday, and anniversary, the only thing she had ever given me was a plain T-shirt—and it was a promotional freebie.

I had been so happy back then, thinking she had finally remembered me.

It wasn't until I found the receipt in her bag that I saw the words "complimentary gift" printed in plain black and white.

"It looks nice."

She didn't catch the flat tone in my voice and kept scrolling.

"There's also this one. It's six thousand dollars and comes with a full set of pro peripherals. Which one do you think is better?"

"Either is fine."

"Just help me pick one!"

She furrowed her brows, her tone laced with impatience.

"It’s his eighteenth birthday. It has to be special."

I watched how intensely she compared the two setups, her fingers swiping back and forth, her face dead serious.

Just last week, we went ring shopping. She had sat on the store couch staring at her phone the entire time. The sales associate pulled out five or six rings for me to try, and Chloe hadn't even looked up once.

In the end, I picked out a pair of the cheapest plain bands myself for barely five hundred dollars.

When paying, she had casually remarked, "Rings are just symbolic anyway. People get bored of wearing them after a few days."

"Are you going to talk to your parents before buying him that setup?"

"Why should I? It's my own money."

"Besides, Mom and Dad already got him a top-tier PC. As his older sister, adding a console setup isn't over the top."

I remembered the night we set our wedding date. She had told me we needed to keep the entire wedding budget under five thousand dollars—cut every corner we could. No honeymoon either; we'd make up for it later when we had more money.

She couldn't bear to spend five thousand on our wedding, yet she didn't hesitate for a second to drop six thousand on a gaming rig for her brother.

I sat down on the sofa and picked up one of the half-folded invitations.

Our names were printed on the blush-pink cardstock, with the date set for the sixteenth of next month.

I had spent an entire week picking them out—the cheapest design available, fifty cents each. I bought fifty of them.

"Stop folding those."

She glanced over dismissively.

"We won't be using them anyway."

My hands paused.

"Chloe Vance," I said, calling her by her full name.

"Yeah?"

"Your brother's birthday is more important than our wedding, right?"

She finally tore her gaze from her screen and looked at me. Her eyes darted away for a second, but she quickly put on that familiar, self-righteous expression.

"It’s not like I had a choice. The venue said that was the only open slot left, and Austin was dead set on having that specific ballroom."

"We're just pushing our wedding back a bit. It’s not like we're canceling it."

"We can do it next spring. The weather will be nice, and an outdoor ceremony would be great."

Next spring.

I let out a quiet scoff and said nothing.

Thinking I had conceded, she looked back down at her screen.

"Let’s go with the six-thousand-dollar one then. It’s pricey, but Austin is going to love it."

"I'm taking the day off tomorrow to check it out at the store. Come with me and give me a second opinion."

"I can't. I have to work tomorrow."

"Just take PTO. Don't you still have several vacation days left?"

"I don't want to take time off."

She finally sensed something was wrong, set her phone down, and turned to face me.

"What is wrong with you? Are you sulking again?"

"No."

I stood up.

"I'm going to take a shower."

She grabbed my wrist. "Don't be like this. I know you feel slighted. But I swear, this is the absolute last time."