Chapter 3
The park is quiet, the kind of peace I didn’t know I needed. Harry and I walk along a gravel path, the crisp air brushing against my skin.
I can still feel the aches from the accident, but they’re dull, far less painful than the mess in my chest.
Harry carries two cups of coffee, one of which he handed me earlier, and every now and then, he glances at me like he’s trying to figure me out.
“So,” he finally says, breaking the silence, “running away from a wedding and getting hit by a car—that’s gotta be a hell of a story.”
I snort, kicking a stray pebble. “You don’t even know the half of it.”
“Well, I’ve got time.” He grins, his expression inviting but not pushy.
I sigh, taking a sip of the coffee before sitting on a bench under a large oak tree. Harry follows, settling beside me and watching as I stare at the ground.
“My fiancé—ex-fiancé, I guess—cheated on me,” I begin to talk, my voice soft to the fullest.
“Not just cheated, though. He got her pregnant. And she showed up at our wedding to announce it.”
“Wow,” Harry says after a beat. “That’s…seriously messed up.”
“Yeah,” I agree, laughing bitterly. “And the worst part? I didn’t see it coming. I thought I knew him. Thought I could trust him.”
Harry leans back, resting his arm along the back of the bench. “You loved him.”
I nod, swallowing hard against the lump in my throat.
“I did. I mean, I thought he was my forever, you know? We were together for three years. I thought we had this perfect, unshakable relationship.”
Harry doesn’t say anything, just lets me talk, which I appreciate more than I can express.
“I feel so stupid,” I admit, my voice cracking. “How could I not have seen it? How could I have been so blind?”
“Hey,” he says gently, his voice warm and steady. “Don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself for his garbage choices. That’s on him, not you.”
I look at him, surprised by the conviction in his tone.
“For real,” he continues. “You trusted him because you’re a good person. He broke that trust because he’s an idiot.”
“Thanks,” I whisper.
I don’t know, but literally, there’s this dance of something within me. It’s stirring within my heart. Probably validation, or I don’t know if I can even grasp it.
Harry shrugs, offering me a small smile. “Anytime. And for what it’s worth, he doesn’t deserve you. Not even close.”
I let out a shaky breath, the tightness in my chest easing just a little.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I ask after a moment.
Harry chuckles, his blue eyes twinkling. “Maybe I just like fixing broken things.”
Later that evening, I’m back at my tiny apartment, curled up on the couch with a blanket and a cup of tea.
My wedding dress is crumpled in a heap by the door, a painful reminder of the day I’d rather forget.
There’s a knock, sharp and insistent. I freeze, my heart lurching in my chest.
When I open the door, Brandon is standing there, disheveled and desperate.
“Aria,” he says, and I can see how emotional he is. But it’s making me sick.
“Please, let me in.”
I hesitate, gripping the edge of the door. “Why are you here, Brandon?”
“I need to talk to you,” he replies quickly. “I need to explain.”
I cross my arms, leaning against the frame.
“Explain what? That you cheated on me? That you got someone else pregnant? That you let me stand there at the altar while you—”
My voice breaks, and I stop, shaking my head.
“Aria, please,” he says, stepping closer. “It wasn’t like that. I didn’t mean for any of it to happen.”
“Oh, so it just…happened?” I snap, my anger flaring. “What, you just tripped and fell into her bed?”
He flinches but doesn’t back down. “It was a mistake. A stupid, horrible mistake. I wasn’t thinking—”
“No,” I cut him off, and my voice is rising with each word.
“You were thinking. You thought about yourself. You didn’t think about me, about us.”
Brandon runs a hand through his hair, looking utterly defeated.
“I love you, Aria. I messed up, but I love you. Please, let me fix this.”
I laugh, but there’s no humor in it.
“Fix it? How, Brandon? How do you fix this?”
“Just give me another chance,” he pleads. “I’ll do anything. I’ll make it right.”
I step back, shaking my head. “You can’t make it right. You broke us, Brandon. You broke me.”
Tears blur my vision, but I blink them away. There’s no way I’m going to cry. And even if I do, it’s not in front of him.
“I thought I knew you. I thought I could trust you. But now…I don’t even know who you are.”
“Aria,” he whispers. His tone is breaking when he calls my name. I’m just staring at him, because he is the funniest idiot I’ve met in this world.
“Leave,” I say firmly, my hand tightening on the door. “We’re done.”
He stares at me for a long moment, his shoulders slumping. Then, without another word, he turns and walks away.
I close the door and lean against it, my chest heaving with sobs.
I did the right thing.
So why does it hurt so much?
