Category: Fashion

The restaurant was everything I imagined for our anniversary—dim golden lighting, velvet booths, the faint clink of wine glasses weaving through soft piano music. Ethan reached across the table, squeezing my hand with that familiar smile. “Happy anniversary, Mara. Tonight’s about us.” I believed him. We ordered champagne. We laughed about how quickly a year had passed, how the wedding still felt like yesterday. For a while, it was perfect. Then the waiter arrived—tall, polished, his notepad tucked neatly under his arm. “Good evening,” he said, flashing a professional smile.…

 The envelope was cream-colored, sealed with a neat gold sticker. Ethan slid it across the table after dinner, his eyes sparkling with that rehearsed kind of excitement he always wore when he thought he’d done something special. “Open it,” he said. “You’ll love it.” The restaurant smelled of garlic and lemon, the low hum of violins weaving between the clinking of glasses. A single candle flickered between us, its light catching on the rim of my wine glass. My birthday. My husband. My moment. I tore the envelope gently, smiling…

The first thing I noticed was the candles. Rows of them, flickering in the dim light, their waxy scent mixing with the sweet glaze of a cake I hadn’t yet seen. My eyes widened as the lights snapped on and a chorus of voices screamed, “Surprise!” I clutched my chest, laughing in shock, cheeks burning as friends and family emerged from behind couches, doorways, curtains. Balloons clung to the ceiling. Confetti rained from someone’s hand. For a split second, joy swelled inside me so fast it almost hurt. Until I…

 The church smelled like lilies and wax, sweet and sharp, almost suffocating. My dress clung too tightly, my hands trembled around the bouquet, but I told myself it was just nerves. I had dreamed of this day since I was a child, twirling around in pillowcase veils, whispering names of boys I thought I’d marry. And now, here I was, standing at the altar, every eye on me. But the groom—my groom—wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at her. My cousin, Ava. I noticed it in the way his…

The first line of his vows made the guests smile, but something in me froze. He said her name. Not mine. He didn’t even realize it, not at first—his lips shaped the wrong syllables with such tenderness, such conviction, that it landed like a dagger in my chest. I remember the way my veil seemed to tighten around my throat, the air gone from my lungs as the church went silent. I forced a laugh, a brittle sound that cracked through the stillness. “You mean me, right?” I whispered, though…

I almost dropped my bouquet when I saw him. There he was, standing at the back of the aisle, just as the music swelled, his eyes locked on me. My ex. The man I thought I’d never see again. But it wasn’t just his presence that shook me—it was the hand he was holding. My mother’s. Daniel and I had been inseparable for three years. He was my college sweetheart, the boy with crooked smiles and late-night guitar songs. He made promises—forever kinds of promises. And then he broke them.…

I noticed it the second she walked into the bridal suite. The necklace. My necklace. The one my grandmother had given me before she passed, tucked in a velvet box with trembling hands and whispered, “Wear this on your wedding day, so I’ll be with you.” And there it was—around my bridesmaid’s neck. The bridesmaid was Chloe. My childhood friend, my secret rival, the girl who always had to shine just a little brighter than everyone else. We grew up together in the same neighborhood. Chloe was the pretty one,…

The room was glowing with candlelight, laughter spilling like champagne bubbles, when it happened. Glasses clinked, voices hushed, and all eyes turned toward him. I thought he was about to toast me and my new husband. Instead, he got down on one knee—and proposed to someone else. Ethan had always been the “what if” in my life. He was the boy next door who climbed trees with me as a kid, the one who taught me how to ride a bike, the one I kissed for the very first time…