Chapter 2

The next morning, I checked my phone.

The wedding-planning group chat showed 99+ unread messages.

Daphne had tagged me only once, in a voice message. I tapped it.

“Fiona, I changed the wedding song. The song you picked was too gloomy. The wedding should feel lighter.”

Nolan replied immediately beneath it.

Agreed. The original song doesn't suit the occasion. Half the family will be there. Choose something lighter.

The original song did not suit the occasion?

I had spent an entire month choosing it.

It was the song my parents had played at their wedding. Hearing it always made my eyes burn. They had died far too young, and I had wanted them to be present in some small way.

Nolan knew that.

So did Daphne.

Yet they still thought it was too gloomy.

Daphne continued in the chat.

“Fiona never likes making decisions. We can just choose these things for her.”

Nolan replied with one word.

Agreed.

I stared at it without moving.

Messages streamed past one after another.

No one noticed that Fiona was in the group chat.

No one noticed that Fiona was silent.

I had no role in my own wedding.

I opened my private conversation with Nolan.

The last exchange was still from yesterday's bridal shoot.

I had written, I'm a little nervous.

He had replied with a head-pat emoji.

After that, nothing.

He had not even messaged me privately after I left early to ask what was wrong.

The only thing he had done was tag me in the group the night before.

What happened? Did you get so nervous you left early?

No one answered. No one cared.

Daphne posted a photo with the caption, Fiona, today's shoot went perfectly. The dress is officially confirmed!

And just like that, the matter was forgotten.

Then they went back to discussing flowers, invitations, and the ceremony backdrop.

Suddenly, I realized I was not merely unnecessary.

Being unnecessary would at least mean I had once existed.

I felt as though I had never been there at all.

While I was packing, Daphne suddenly video-called me.

When I answered, someone was applying her makeup.

“Fiona, you're moving way too slowly. The makeup team still isn't confirmed, so I booked one myself. I'm testing them out for you first.”

I looked at Daphne in front of the mirror and wanted to say something, but I no longer knew what.

Two weeks earlier, I had told her my friend would personally do my bridal makeup. But it was as though my wishes never reached her. She simply made every decision for me.

Had I never confronted them?

Had I never been unhappy?

Had I never stood my ground?

I had.

It always ended with the same line.

“Fiona, you're more mature than she is. Don't make a big deal out of this.”

Miles had known me longer than anyone, yet he always took her side.

Then Nolan entered my life and pursued me relentlessly.

The man known throughout the underworld for his ruthlessness and decisiveness would personally drive me home late at night and tell me my quiet, absentminded ways were adorable.

I thought he liked me that way.

But after he met Daphne, his preferences seemed to change.

Without realizing it, he began saying that women should be lively and decisive.

One day, I finally said, “Can you stop being so close to Daphne? You need better boundaries with her.”

I thought he would understand.

Instead, he laughed, ruffled my hair, and dismissed it.

“Boundaries? Once you marry me, Daphne will be part of the Hayes family too. Do you expect me to treat her like a stranger?”

I fell silent.

Of course I didn't want them at each other's throats.

But the words, You're more mature, so you should be more understanding, had weighed on me for years.

For the first time, those words felt heavy enough to suffocate me.

They had forgotten that I was only two years older than she was.

I wanted gifts too.

I wanted someone to ask me, Do you like this?

But no one ever cared.