Chapter 4: Just a Cake

And they had the nerve to say they hadn’t crossed a line.

Gianna was updating her Instagram in real time.

She clinked glasses with both sets of parents, accepted congratulatory cards, poured champagne into a tower, and listened to the elders give their speeches.

This had gone far beyond the “just one entrance” Hollis had promised me.

It was only after the bouquet toss that Hollis finally messaged me.

[Are you at the hotel? Wait in the bridal suite for a bit. Gianna was having so much fun, she decided to try the rest of the ceremony, too.]

[Stop making a fuss. Consider this payback for making her cry earlier.]

The bridal suite was just two doors down from the banquet hall.

But he still wouldn’t come see me.

I didn’t reply to Hollis.

I just took a screenshot from the corner of Gianna’s video, showing the ruined wedding cake, and sent it to him.

[Why did you let her touch my cake?]

His reply was instant.

[It’s just a cake. Don’t make a big deal out of it.]

[I’ll have the hotel buy another one.]

I bit my lip, staring at the screen.

[Did you forget everything you promised me?]

Even though my disappointment had already reached its breaking point, that still stung.

I had visited dozens of boutiques before choosing my wedding dress. Gianna secretly tried it on and ripped the lace. Hollis said we could just pick another one.

I had chosen a beautiful seaside garden for the venue. Gianna changed it to this over-the-top, gilded ballroom. Hollis said to just listen to her, she had better taste.

By the end of it all, I had only one request left.

I had to make the wedding cake myself.

I was a pastry chef.

It was the one thing I had dreamed of doing.

At the time, Gianna hadn’t returned yet.

Hollis had stood at the entrance of the little dessert shop I was getting ready to open, a warm smile on his face.

“My girl doesn’t ask for much.”

“Fine. When the time comes, I’ll make sure every single guest eats a slice. No one gets to skip it. And they’ll all have to leave our pastry chef a five-star review.”

I had thrown myself into his arms, laughing.

“You always know just what to say.”

I replayed that part of the video again and again.

The five-tier fondant cake, the one I had spent the entire day at the hotel creating, had been hacked to pieces.

I hadn’t even tasted a bite before Gianna dug out a huge chunk and smeared it all over one of Hollis’s friends’ faces.

Then everyone joined in, a full-on cake fight.

Cream was everywhere.

In the end, the hotel staff swept my cake into the kitchen trash.

Hollis paused for a few seconds before replying.

[Willa Cross, stop acting like the world owes you something.]

[It’s just a cake. Is it really that big of a deal? None of your family even showed up. Even your bridesmaids were just friends Gianna found for you at the last minute.]

That last sentence brought everything rushing back.

My fingers flew across the screen.

[You know damn well why my parents refused to come.]

He didn’t reply.

But I remembered that day all too clearly.

The blood on the floor.

The tearing pain in my abdomen.

On instinct, I had called the person I trusted most in the world.

The call connected, and a spoiled, laughing voice cut through the noise.

“Didn’t you promise you were all ours for the day? Don’t answer your phone!”

It was loud on his end, the thumping bass of a music festival.

Then the line went dead.

I lost the baby.

When I woke up, I was in the hospital.

The first person I saw wasn’t Hollis.

It was my roommate.

She had come home from work, found me unconscious, rushed me to the emergency room, and signed the consent forms.

At that point, I had known her for less than a month.

But she was the one who stayed by my side.