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He Gave Me a Wedding Invitation, in His Marriage Wids Another Women

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Author:
NovelDrama.Org
Genre:
Novel
Status:
Ongoing

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He Handed 114

20 days ago

He Handed

The Pretend Wedding”

1. A Love That Lasted Ten Years

Lily Bennett and Ethan Cole had been together for ten long years.
Their relationship had weathered everything — youth, ambition, career changes, and the slow, quiet rhythm of shared life.
But one topic had always stood between them like a silent wall: marriage.

Ethan was firmly against it.
He said marriage was an outdated institution, that what mattered was love and understanding, not a piece of paper.

For years, Lily accepted that. She told herself love didn’t need legal proof.
She stopped bringing it up, stopped hoping for a proposal that would never come.
In her heart, she thought: as long as we’re happy together, that’s enough.

But deep down, she sometimes wondered:

“If I’m the one, why doesn’t he want to marry me?”

2. The Anniversary Surprise That Wasn’t

Their tenth anniversary was supposed to be special.

Lily had ordered Ethan’s favorite cake from Bluebell Bakery — vanilla with blueberry frosting — and bought a bouquet of fresh white roses, his favorite. She set the table, lit candles, and waited for him to come home.

When Ethan finally arrived, his face was expressionless, tired.
He held an envelope tied with a satin bow.

Lily’s heart lifted.
Maybe, finally, after ten years… maybe he was surprising her.

Smiling, she asked,

“Whose wedding invitation is this? One of your friends finally tying the knot?”

But when she opened the card, her smile froze.

Written in elegant silver letters were the words:
“The Wedding of Ethan Cole and Grace Miller.”

For a moment, Lily couldn’t breathe. The world around her went silent.
Her mind refused to process what her eyes were seeing.

3. The Betrayal Unfolds

“What is this supposed to mean?” she whispered.

Ethan’s voice was calm — too calm.

“Grace and I are having a wedding next week,” he said simply.
“You’ll sit at the head table with my parents.”

Lily laughed, but it was a hollow, broken laugh — the kind that escapes when reality is too absurd to believe.

“Ethan,” she said softly, “what am I to you?”

He looked genuinely confused.

“You’re my girlfriend, of course.”

Her heart cracked at the simplicity of his answer.

“Then why,” she asked, “am I the last person to find out you’re getting married?”

It hit her then — all the strange behavior over the past few weeks.
His friends teasing him at dinner, the secret phone calls, the way they exchanged knowing looks when she asked questions.

It wasn’t a joke.
It wasn’t a misunderstanding.
Ethan had planned this — and everyone but her knew.

4. The Excuse: A Dying Woman’s Wish

Seeing her disbelief, Ethan placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Lily, calm down. It’s not what you think.”

He took a deep breath, as if preparing to sound noble.

“Grace has been diagnosed with stomach cancer,” he said quietly. “Her one wish before she dies is to walk down the aisle in a wedding dress. I’m just helping her fulfill that dream. It’s only symbolic — we won’t be signing any papers. After the wedding, things will go back to normal.”

For a few seconds, Lily just stared at him.
Her mind was numb.

Then a bitter laugh escaped her lips.

“So you’re telling me,” she said, “that after ten years of refusing to marry me, you’ll marry another woman — but only because she’s dying?”

Ethan frowned.

“It’s not real, Lily. It’s just a ceremony. I’m doing something kind. You’re overreacting.”

5. The Truth Behind Grace’s “Cancer”

Lily’s voice turned cold.

“You think I’m jealous, don’t you? But I know the truth, Ethan. Grace isn’t sick.”

Ethan’s expression darkened.

“Don’t start with your jealousy again. No one would joke about something like cancer.”

Lily took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

“She’s perfectly healthy,” she said. “She had an endoscopy last week at Riverton Medical Center. My friend — Dr. Emma Collins — performed the test herself. Grace doesn’t have cancer.”

Ethan’s jaw tightened, anger flashing in his eyes.

“Enough! I won’t let your jealousy make you say cruel things about her.”

His tone was sharp — almost protective. Not toward Lily, but toward Grace.

And that hurt more than anything.

6. Realization: The Day Love Died

For a long moment, Lily just stood there, feeling the air leave her lungs.

The man she had loved for a decade was defending another woman — even when she was telling the truth.
Her hands trembled as she whispered:

“Ethan… do you even remember what day it is today?”

He looked confused.
He didn’t remember.

It was their tenth anniversary.
The day she’d once believed he might finally choose her.

But instead, he’d chosen someone else — chosen to hold a wedding, even if it was “pretend.”

That was the moment she truly saw him for who he was: selfish, blind, and incapable of seeing her worth.

7. The Turning Point

Something inside Lily broke — but something else also awakened.

If he could hold a wedding with another woman, then why couldn’t she get her own marriage license with someone else?
Why should she keep waiting for a man who treated her as an option?

“Fine,” she thought. “If Ethan can have his pretend wedding, then I can have my real one — even if it’s just to remind myself that I deserve more.”

It wasn’t about revenge. It was about reclaiming her dignity.

For ten years, she had built her world around him. Now, she realized he had never planned to build one with her.

8. The Disappearance

But fate has its own cruel sense of timing.

On the day of Ethan’s so-called wedding to Grace, something unexpected happened — he disappeared.

No one knew where he went. The guests arrived, the decorations were set, the music played, but the groom was gone.

Grace was left standing in her white gown, humiliated and alone.
And Lily — though heartbroken — felt a strange, quiet sense of justice.

Maybe karma had arrived sooner than expected.

9. Reflection: Ten Years Lost

Later that evening, Lily sat alone in the quiet apartment they once shared. The cake from Bluebell Bakery sat untouched on the table. The white roses had begun to wilt.

She thought about all the times she had compromised — how she had convinced herself love without marriage was enough, how she had ignored the loneliness that crept in whenever she saw couples exchanging vows.

She realized something painful yet liberating:

She had loved Ethan far more than he had ever loved her.

He saw their relationship as convenience. She saw it as forever.
He talked about freedom. She dreamed about commitment.

For Ethan, love had always been about comfort.
For Lily, it had been about devotion.

10. The Meaning of Self-Worth

In the days that followed, Lily packed her things and left their apartment.
She didn’t leave a note. She didn’t send a message.

For once, she didn’t owe him an explanation.

Because sometimes silence says everything — louder than words ever could.

She looked at herself in the mirror one last time and whispered,

“I deserve more than being someone’s second choice.”

That was her closure.

11. The Aftermath

Rumors later spread about Ethan and Grace. Some said he ran away because he realized he couldn’t go through with it. Others whispered that Grace’s lie had been exposed publicly — that her “cancer” story had fallen apart, and Ethan couldn’t face the humiliation.

But by then, Lily didn’t care anymore.

She had stopped following his life. She didn’t want updates, apologies, or explanations. She had spent too many years giving him understanding he never earned.

Now, she was done.

12. A New Beginning

Months later, Lily walked past Bluebell Bakery again — the same place where she had ordered that cake for their tenth anniversary.

This time, she walked in and bought a small cupcake for herself.

No occasion, no waiting, no expectations.
Just a quiet celebration of freedom.

She sat by the window, watching people outside — couples laughing, children running, life moving forward.

And for the first time in years, she smiled.
Not because of someone else, but because she finally felt peace.

13. The Moral: Love Without Respect Is an Illusion

“The Pretend Wedding” isn’t just a story about betrayal — it’s about realization.

It shows how love can blind us, how years of devotion can make us ignore red flags, and how sometimes, losing someone is the only way to find yourself.

Lily’s journey is a reminder that:

Real love doesn’t ask you to sacrifice your self-worth.
Commitment means more than just staying; it means choosing each other every day.
And the worst kind of betrayal isn’t cheating — it’s indifference.

14. Conclusion

In the end, Lily didn’t get the wedding she once dreamed of — but she found something better: clarity.

Ethan’s “pretend wedding” turned out to be the end of their illusion and the beginning of her truth.
He had wanted to fulfill another woman’s dream, but in doing so, he destroyed the only person who truly loved him.

And as Lily walked away from the ruins of that ten-year relationship, she realized something profound —

“Sometimes, the greatest gift love gives you… is the strength to let go.”