The Unfinished Wedding

The day Leo Shawn proposed, leaves blanketed the city. He held a custom diamond ring, saying Vivian Shaw was a thing of the past, and that from now on, he only wanted to be with me. I hesitated for three seconds. It wasn't that I didn't love him; it was just that I always felt his gaze lacked a certain certainty when he looked at me. But we couldn't resist—our families were long-time friends, and our parents had arranged our childhood marriage years ago. Besides, he repeatedly assured me that he had let go of the promise he made to Vivian Shaw five years ago; in the end, I gave in. The wedding was scheduled for late autumn that year, and the church was filled with my favorite white roses. I sat in the dressing room wearing my wedding dress while the makeup artist touched up my lipstick, when suddenly, a commotion broke out outside the door. The bridesmaid rushed in, panic-stricken, saying that Leo Shawn had disappeared. The pearl bracelet in my hand snapped as it fell to the ground, the beads scattering everywhere, echoing the rhythm of my racing heart. Later, someone said they saw Leo Shawn pulling Vivian Shaw into the car headed for the airport. Vivian still carried her suitcase, and the two of them were laughing joyfully, saying they were about to fulfill their dream of traveling around the world. All eyes in the crowded room were fixed on me—some filled with sympathy, others with ridicule, and some merely eager to watch the drama unfold. I didn't shed a tear. I simply walked over to both sets of parents, bowed deeply, and announced the wedding was off, though the collaboration between the families would continue unaffected. That day, I dismantled the pearls on the wedding dress all by myself, placing each one carefully into a velvet box. The rain fell outside all through the night, and I thought some hearts are probably impossible to warm. Five years—neither long nor short. I started my own design company in Harbor City, where I met Yale Luke and later had Andy. Andy is four years old now, with round, chubby cheeks and two little dimples when she smiles. Every morning, he wraps his arms around my neck and says, 'Mama, let's be happy today too.' It's the softest, most tender bond I've ever known. Yesterday afternoon, I took Andy to buy his favorite strawberry bread. Just as we stepped out of the bakery, a familiar figure stopped me. It was Leo Shawn. He looked thinner than he did five years ago, with fine lines at the corners of his eyes, still holding the diamond ring from back then. He knelt on one knee, his voice trembling with misguided tenderness: "Shirley, I've come to fulfill our wedding from five years ago." I looked at him and suddenly felt a flicker of amusement, as if watching a stubborn child. "I have no regrets now. From now on, I will cherish every day with you." He said this as he reached out for my hand, but I took a step back to avoid him. "Leo Shawn, you ran away from the wedding five years ago. Don't tell me you think I've been waiting for you all this time?" My tone was calm, devoid of much emotion; after all, he was no longer someone in my heart. He stood up, his eyes filled with helplessness, as if I were being unreasonable: "I know running away from the wedding back then was wrong." "But Leo and Vivian had an agreement to give her an around-the-world wedding trip. One shouldn't have regrets in life." "Now that I have no regrets, don't keep holding on to it." Let's just go through with the wedding; don't let it affect the cooperation between our families. In the end, what he cared about most was still the business. I was too exhausted to argue with him, so I turned and tried to leave: "I will never marry you." Andy was still holding bread in my arms, quietly asking, "Mother, who is this man?" I just wanted to take him home as quickly as possible. But Leo Shawn grabbed my arm, his tone laced with displeasure: "Shirley, don't say things in anger." "Who doesn't know you love me? If you won't marry me, then who else would you marry?" "You've been by my side since you were little, no matter how many people pursued you, you never even looked at them." "When Vivian and I were dating, you weren't with anyone else either." "I proposed, you said yes right away. If you loved me that much, how could you refuse to marry me?" I rolled my eyes; his self-awareness was as ridiculous as ever. I wasn't dating back then because I was busy studying for the graduate entrance exam. When would I have had time for a relationship? "I don't want to argue with you. Let go." I struggled to shake off his hand, but he gripped even tighter. "You're still the same—emotionally steady, and even when angry, all you do is roll your eyes." "If you're upset about what happened between Vivian and me, I'm sorry. Isn't that enough?" "You've always been sensible; I'm sure you can understand me." "Stop joking around, or I'll really get angry." "If this affects the alliance between our two families, can you take responsibility for it?" He's still using the same tactics from years ago to pressure me.