00:00At my final bridal fitting, I stepped out of the dressing room to find my sister Daphne.
00:04Straightening my fiancé Nolan's bowtie, Nolan Hayes, the Mafia Don feared throughout Boston's underworld.
00:10I had just opened my mouth to say,
00:11I'll do it, when the makeup artist smiled and walked toward Daphne.
00:15Right this way, bride?
00:16I stopped short. Nolan did not correct her.
00:18The black-suited guards stationed outside the door kept their eyes forward.
00:22Daphne only smiled shyly and leaned against him.
00:25Meanwhile, Miles, my childhood friend, raised his camera and began taking pictures of him.
00:30I stood frozen like an outsider.
00:32Nearly every photo on Miles' camera was of Daphne and my fiancé.
00:35There wasn't a single shot of me, the actual bride.
00:38Daphne spoke as naturally as though she were the one getting married.
00:42Fiona, bring me that bouquet.
00:44When Nolan noticed I had not moved, he came over and gently took the flowers from my hands.
00:49Those eyes of his, eyes that had terrified countless men across negotiating tables, held a rare trace of warmth.
00:55Fiona, what are you staring at?
00:57Go choose the invitation design.
00:58Fine. I'll come over when we're done with the photos.
01:02Fiona, move a couple of steps to the side. You're blocking the light.
01:05I moved without a word and stood in the corner.
01:07At that moment, I finally understood how unnecessary I was.
01:10If this wedding had no need for me, then I wouldn't be there.
01:13I quietly picked up my bag from the bench and pushed open the door.
01:17The bell above it chimed once.
01:19No one called after me.
01:20I looked back. Daphne was twirling in front of the mirror while Nolan stood behind her.
01:24Adjusting the bow at her waist, Miles held up his camera.
01:27Yes, yes. That's the angle.
01:29The shutter clicked five or six times in quick succession.
01:32I turned away and walked out of the boutique.
01:35As I got into my car, the two black sedans assigned to protect me fell in behind me without a
01:40sound.
01:40My phone lit up with a message from the wedding planner.
01:43Miss Bennett, the wedding is coming up. Have you chosen the invitation design?
01:47Before I could answer, another message arrived.
01:50Or you could let your sister choose. She has excellent taste.
01:54The car was so quiet that I could hear every breath I took, one after another, as though I were
01:58counting something.
01:59What was I counting?
02:00How many times I had been forgotten in this relationship.
02:03I typed three words.
02:04Let her decide. I meant it.
02:06Let Daphne decide.
02:07Nolan would listen to her in the end anyway.
02:09The reply came almost instantly.
02:11Got it.
02:12I stared at those words and imagined the planner breathing a sigh of relief.
02:15Every decision the bride made was always changed afterward.
02:18They were probably tired of revising the plans over and over.
02:21It was easier to let my sister make the decisions from the start.
02:24Before I could put my phone down, notifications began pouring in.
02:27Miles was uploading photos to the group chat one by one.
02:30I opened one. His composition was excellent.
02:33The light fell perfectly across their faces.
02:35Nolan stood in a sharply tailored black suit,
02:38and the two of them looked like the stars of a bridal campaign announcing the future wife of the haze
02:42dawn.
02:43I had poured everything into this wedding,
02:45as though doing so could prove that I was not always the one who got forgotten.
02:48I never imagined that, in the end, I would still be pushed out of the frame.
02:52My phone lit up, went dark, then lit up again.
02:55Maz kept filling the group chat.
02:56I did not respond. No one noticed.
02:58I dismissed my escort detail and drove alone to the apartment I had been renting.
03:02A note was stuck to the refrigerator.
03:04Seven days until the wedding.
03:05I peeled it off, crushed it into a ball, and dropped it into the trash.
03:09The next morning, I checked my phone.
03:11The wedding planning group chat showed 99-plus unread messages Daphne had tagged me only once.
03:16In a voice message.
03:17I tapped it.
03:18Fiona, I changed the wedding song.
03:20The song you picked was too groomy.
03:21The wedding should feel lighter.
03:23Nolan replied immediately beneath it.
03:25Agreed.
03:26The original song doesn't suit the occasion.
03:28Half the family will be there.
03:30Choose something lighter.
03:31The original song did not suit the occasion.
03:33I had spent an entire month choosing.
03:35It was the song my parents had played at their wedding.
03:37Hearing it always made my eyes burn.
03:39They had died far too young,
03:40and I had wanted them to be present in some small way.
03:43Nolan knew that so did Daphne,
03:45yet they still thought it was too gloomy.
03:47Daphne continued in the chat.
03:48Fiona never likes making decisions.
03:50We can just choose these things for her.
03:53Nolan replied with one word.
03:54Agreed.
03:55I stared at it without moving.
03:57Mass streamed past one after another.
03:59No one noticed that Fiona was in the group chat.
04:01No one noticed that Fiona was silent.
04:03I had no role in my own wedding.
04:05I opened my private conversation with Nolan.
04:07The last exchange was still from yesterday's bridal shoot.
04:10I had written,
04:11I'm a little nervous.
04:13He had replied with a head pat emoji.
04:14After that, nothing.
04:16He had not even messaged me privately after I left early to ask what was wrong.
04:20The only thing he had done was tag me in the group the night before.
04:22What happened?
04:23Did you get so nervous you left early?
04:26No one answered.
04:27No one cared.
04:28Daphne posted a photo with the caption,
04:30Fiona, today's shoot went perfectly.
04:32The dress is officially confirmed.
04:34And just like that, the matter was forgotten.
04:36Then they went back to discussing flowers,
04:39invitations, and the ceremony backdrop.
04:41Suddenly, I realized I was not merely unnecessary.
04:43Being unnecessary would at least mean I had once existed.
04:46I felt as though I had never been there at all.
04:48While I was packing, Daphne suddenly video called me.
04:53Fiona, you're moving way too slowly.
04:55The makeup team still isn't confirmed, so I booked one myself.
04:58I'm testing them out for you first.
04:59I looked at Daphne in front of the mirror and wanted to say something,
05:03but I no longer knew what.
05:04Two weeks earlier, I had told her my friend would personally do my bridal makeup,
05:07but it was as though my wishes never reached her.
05:10She simply made every decision for me.
05:12Had I never confronted them, had I never been unhappy,
05:14had I never been unhappy,
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