Chapter 5

The next day, when I dragged my suitcase past the study, the door was not fully closed.

Ethan Shaw’s low laughter came from inside.

Nina Wells was actually there too.

She wore a deep V camisole and sat on Ethan Shaw’s lap, as if she had long been used to this kind of closeness.

A stack of wedding materials was spread across the desk.

“Ethan, I went through the schedule again.”

“The photo wall still feels a little empty.”

Ethan Shaw raised his eyes.

“Where is it empty?”

Nina Wells flipped through the design draft, and her fingertip landed on one page.

“There are too many photos from your seven years together.”

“When you first met, your first trip, New Year’s Eve together... It’s an entire wall.”

She laughed softly.

“Guests don’t have the patience to look at all that.”

Ethan Shaw was silent for a few seconds.

“Then delete half of them.”

“Just keep a few for the gesture.”

My footsteps stopped.

That photo wall.

I had stayed up for three whole nights picking each photo one by one.

Behind every photo, I had written one sentence about its story.

Our first time holding hands.

Our first time seeing the ocean.

Our first birthday together.

I thought those were the most precious memories of our seven years.

But in his mouth, they were only “keep a few for the gesture.”

Nina Wells continued flipping down.

“And the vows.”

“This line of yours is too ordinary.”

She slowly read it aloud.

“Thank you for walking with me through seven years, and please keep guiding me through every day from now on.”

After reading it, she was the first to laugh.

“It sounds like a company year-end speech.”

Ethan Shaw also smiled.

“I don’t know how to write them.”

“You help me change it.”

Nina Wells picked up the pen and wrote a few lines on the paper.

“Meeting you was luck, staying with you is the answer.”

“Isn’t this a little better?”

Ethan Shaw lowered his head and glanced at it.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll listen to you.”

I suddenly remembered.

Half a month ago.

I had handed him the vows I had written.

I asked.

“Should we write them together?”

He did not even look at them.

“We just need to read a couple of lines at the wedding.”

“There’s no need to be so serious.”

It turned out.

It was not that the vows were unnecessary.

It was just unnecessary to prepare them with me.

Nina Wells flipped to the guest seating chart again.

“Can the bridesmaids’ and groomsmen’s table be a little closer to the main table?”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of you then.”

Ethan Shaw barely hesitated.

“Sure, I’ll tell the hotel.”

She smiled.

“Will Sophie mind?”

Ethan Shaw lowered his head and continued changing the document.

His voice was flat.

“She won’t.”

“Sophie has always been sensible.”

Nina Wells suddenly lifted her head and kissed the corner of Ethan Shaw’s mouth.

“Will she mind if I do this?”

Ethan Shaw paused for a long time before saying, “She’s sensible. She won’t mind.”

“It’s just that I’m about to marry Sophie, so we can’t do this anymore in the future.”

Nina Wells’s eyes were red.

“One last time.”

I did not keep listening.

Dragging my suitcase, I walked step by step toward the door.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

The wedding planner sent me a message.

“Ms. Collins, Mr. Shaw just confirmed the latest plan.”

“The photo wall has been reduced, the vows have been rewritten, and the bridesmaid seating has been adjusted.”

“Please confirm one final time.”

I lowered my head and looked at my phone.

Suddenly, I found it somewhat laughable.

Every change to the entire wedding.

Had been personally confirmed by Ethan Shaw.

But the real bride had become the last person to know.

The planner quickly sent another message.

“Also, the hotel needs final confirmation this morning.”

“If you cancel now, there’s still time.”

I did not hesitate.

I replied with one sentence.

“Cancel it.”

Immediately after, I sent another sentence.

“I will cover all breach-of-contract fees.”

The other party was silent for a few seconds.

In the end, she only replied with one sentence.

“Ms. Collins, I wish you happiness in the future.”

I put away my phone.

I did not look back.

After I boarded the plane, the text notification that the wedding was canceled was finally sent to Ethan Shaw’s phone.

He immediately called the wedding planner, his voice sinking.

“What happened?”

The planner was even more shocked than Ethan Shaw.

“The wedding was canceled by Ms. Collins herself. She said she was going to Alaska in the United States for work, and she probably won’t come back in the future.”

“Mr. Shaw, you didn’t know?”