Chapter 9
Eugene waited until Cassandra’s condition had stabilized before leaving the hospital. As he walked, he texted Nerissa and asked her whether everything had been prepared for the wedding. He also told her he was on the way to the hotel.
However, he didn’t receive a reply even after getting into the car. He unlocked his phone to ask her again when he suddenly realized it had been two weeks since their last text conversation. He scrolled upward to see that most of the messages were from Nerissa.
Sometimes, she’d ask him what he’d eaten or what he wanted to eat. Sometimes, it was a question about the wedding. In response, he’d answered with a “Whatever“, “You decide“, or “Anything’s fine“.
That hadn’t deterred Nerissa, though. She’d continued to text him daily. However, they hadn’t texted each other for the past two weeks.
That struck Eugene as odd. Why hadn’t Nerissa texted him in so long?
He couldn’t help thinking of the utter disbelief in Nerissa’s eyes when he’d told her a month ago that he wanted to donate his sperm to Cassandra. They’d known each other for over two decades, and that was the first time he’d seen her look so anguished. That was also the first time she’d been so vehemently against something he’d said.
But after that, aside from her resolute objection to the artificial insemination, she’d gone about her life as usual. In hindsight, it seemed that they’d stopped speaking to each other about half a month ago, when he’d last brought up wanting to donate his sperm to Cassandra.
Nerissa had stopped texting him. She’d even stopped striking up conversations with him when he was at home.
The more Eugene thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. His heart raced, and he had an ominous premonition. He comforted himself, telling himself that Nerissa was only acting this way because she was busy with wedding preparations. At the same time, he urged the cab driver to speed up.
He checked his phone–still no answer. He tightened his hold on it.
When Eugene arrived at the hotel, he saw his friends and family already there. They were discussing something, and they surrounded Eugene when they saw him.
His mother, Mildred White, frowned when she saw him looking so hasty. “Why aren’t you in your tuxedo yet? And where’s Riss? Didn’t she come with you?”
One of his friends also asked, “Yeah, where’s the bride? And why haven’t you changed when you’re the groom?”
Panic rose in him when he realized they hadn’t seen Nerissa, either. He was sure he’d told her to come straight to the hotel in the morning before he’d left the apartment last night.
Where was she? Was she already in the banquet hall?
Eugene forced a smile. “Riss is probably keeping an eye on things in the banquet hall.”
With that, he started to head to the banquet hall. However, it hit him that he didn’t even know which hall they were using for their wedding. Nerissa had never told him, and he’d never asked.
The others were just as lost. They wouldn’t have waited in the hotel lobby otherwise.
Eugene had no choice but to check with one of the hotel’s staff. “May I know which banquet hall Nerissa Stone has booked for our wedding?”
The staff member flipped through some records and said politely, “Ms. Stone reserved Hall No. 3.”
That relieved Eugene. He knew he’d been overthinking–Nerissa had just been too busy lately. Perhaps he would get her a gift during their honeymoon to surprise her. It would be his way of compensating her for the effort she’d put into preparing their wedding.
Suddenly, the staff member’s expression became confused. She looked at a remark indicated by the reservation and said, “It seems Ms. Stone called us half a month ago to cancel the reservation. She said the wedding was off.”
Her words struck everyone like a bolt of lightning, and Eugene’s mind went blank.
The wedding was off? What did that mean?
