After She Could Smell Emotions, She Called Off the Wedding Chapter 04
With our parents gone, Nathan and I hosted Jasmine and Ethan for a family lunch three days after their wedding.
Jasmine took my hand and smiled warmly.
“Look at you, Georgie. You’re all grown up.”
“I may not be one of your bridesmaids next week, but I’ll get to walk you down the aisle and give you away.”
I lowered my gaze.
“Really? You don’t regret it?”
She paused, then laughed, clearly taking my question the wrong way.
“Of course I don’t regret not being a bridesmaid. With Mom and Dad gone, walking you down the aisle is far more important.”
“Okay.”
I slipped my hand from hers.
Jasmine didn’t notice. “I’m going to see what Nathan’s making.” She headed into the kitchen without noticing my reaction.
He had prepared an elaborate seafood spread.
Nathan had originally been scheduled to perform surgery that day. He’d always put his patients first, yet that morning, I’d overheard him arranging for a qualified colleague to take over the procedure.
He had probably done it so he could cook for Jasmine himself.
At the table, Nathan and Jasmine sat at opposite ends, keeping as much distance between them as possible.
“Georgie told me you love seafood, so I put together a whole spread,” Nathan said. “Just don’t overdo it.”
I listened quietly.
Every detail he knew about Jasmine’s tastes felt like a slap. I had never told him any of it.
Jasmine gave him a cool “Thanks” and placed a large shrimp on Ethan’s plate.
Nathan’s expression dimmed. I saw it clearly, but by then I felt too numb for it to stir anything inside me.
Everyone except Ethan brought their own secrets to that table.
Ethan left for work that afternoon, while Jasmine and Nathan accompanied me to my final bridal fitting.
For a moment, I barely recognized the radiant woman in the mirror.
Nathan had designed the gown himself, covering it with delicate embroidered petals. Six months earlier, he’d unveiled the finished sketch like it was a priceless gift.
“Georgie, I want you beside me for the rest of my life. Even when we’re old, I want to be beside you, traveling to every place you’ve ever dreamed of seeing.”
I never could’ve imagined that only six months later, every one of his lies would be exposed.
I’d lost my parents when I was eight.
At twenty-eight, I was losing Jasmine and the man I loved.
Maybe I was simply cursed to lose everyone who mattered to me. No matter how desperately I tried to hold on, nothing ever stayed.
The bridal consultant adjusted my train and smiled.
“Mr. Cole specifically requested jasmine vines across the bodice,” the consultant said. “We assumed the flowers meant something to you.”
I went still.
So that was what the dress was called.
I looked down at the embroidery. They weren’t random flowers. They were jasmine.
Bitter amusement swept through me, and I tore off the veil.
The consultant looked nervous.
“Ms. Bennett, is something wrong with the dress?”
I stared at the veil on the floor, my voice hoarse.
“No. It’s perfect.”
I changed out of the gown and walked out of the fitting room.
Nathan and Jasmine stood far apart, looking every bit like strangers.
Nathan looked surprised.
“Why didn’t you come out in it so Jasmine and I could see?”
I forced a faint smile.
“If you see it now, there won’t be any surprise left for the wedding.”
Nathan smiled tenderly while Jasmine smoothed my hair, just as she had since we were children.
All I felt was revulsion.
Nathan and I had agreed that it would be bad luck for him to see me before the ceremony, so he booked a hotel room for the night.
Before leaving, he held me tightly, his heart racing against mine.
“Tomorrow, you’ll finally be my wife, Georgie. I’m so happy.”
I nodded without expression.
Shortly after midnight, I finished packing and left for the airport. My flight took off before dawn.
Before boarding, I opened the group chat the three of us shared and sent a single attachment.
[Photo: the cottage outside Seattle.]
Then I posted the picture of Nathan kissing Jasmine to my Instagram Story and hid the Story from both of them.
[Photo: Nathan and Jasmine kissing outside the cottage.]
I said nothing else and switched my phone to airplane mode.
After the long flight, I landed in Iceland. Back home, the time our wedding was supposed to begin had already come and gone.
The moment I turned on my phone, countless calls and messages flooded the screen.