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00:02The day we went wedding dress shopping, my fiancé sent my best friend into the fitting room in my place.
00:08His excuse? I was too indecitive to choose for myself.
00:11I watched her lean into his arms in a white wedding gown.
00:14The bridal concessional smiled.
00:16You two make such a beautiful couple.
00:18The bridal consultant had barely pulled back the curtain.
00:22When my fiancé looked past me at my best friend.
00:25Sophie, what do you think? The mermaid or the A-line?
00:29The consultant or paused.
00:31She had been asking me.
00:34The A-line.
00:36Her hips are too wide for the mermaid cut.
00:40Take the mermaid one away.
00:42I loved the mermaid gown.
00:43But before I could say it, Sophie had already pinned the veil into my hair.
00:50Caleb watched her through the mirror and nodded.
00:54Sophie knows what suits you better than you do.
00:58In the mirror, they looked like the real couple choosing a wedding dress.
01:01I was only the body wearing it.
01:05I'm done trying them on.
01:06Being indecisive again?
01:08No.
01:10This time, I'd never been more certain.
01:13I didn't want the dress.
01:16And I didn't want the man.
01:17I had always struggled with decisions.
01:19They told me they were only trying to help.
01:21Then the anniversary gift Caleb bought me was the bag Sophie had been obsessing over.
01:26Our apartment became the clean Scandinavian style she liked.
01:29Even his proposal happened on Sophie's birthday.
01:32Two reasons to celebrate, he called it.
01:34Back then, they still bothered to ask,
01:36What do you think?
01:37Later, even that disappeared.
01:41Just like now, I didn't even get to choose my own wedding dress.
01:50So now you're storming off?
01:52Everything was fine.
01:53What are you making a scene about?
01:55Sophie took half a day off to help you choose a dress,
01:57and you left her in there alone.
01:58I told you.
01:59I don't want to try on any more dresses.
02:01That's not it.
02:02You can't decide, so you're fighting with yourself again.
02:05He released my wrist and pulled my coat closed,
02:07as though the small gesture could make his grip disappear.
02:10Maddie, I know decisions make you anxious.
02:12That's why Sophie and I choose for you.
02:14Is helping you really so wrong?
02:18Maddie, was I too blunt?
02:20I only thought the mermaid looked tight.
02:23You're always complaining about your back.
02:27If you really love it, I'll ask them to bring it back.
02:29Enough.
02:30Sophie, stop indulging her.
02:32She doesn't even know what she likes.
02:34Bring it back and she'll spend another half hour agonizing.
02:39We're getting the A-line.
02:41Standing together, they looked like two patient parents
02:43dealing with a difficult child who would never grow up.
02:46Caleb.
02:48I'm the one getting married.
02:50I'm the one wearing the dress.
02:53Caleb blinked.
02:54Unsettled by how calm I sounded.
02:57Of course you're the one getting married.
02:58Who else would it be?
03:03I'm trying to keep you from exhausting yourself.
03:05You take ten minutes to choose coffee.
03:07A wedding dress would take all day.
03:10Exactly.
03:11Leave the difficult decisions to us.
03:13Come on.
03:14My treat.
03:15That new seafood buffet.
03:16At the word seafood, my stomach tightened.
03:19Shellfish left me covered in hives and itching all night.
03:21Caleb knew.
03:22Once after I accidentally ate shrimp.
03:24He had driven to a pharmacy at midnight for antivistamines.
03:28I can't eat shellfish.
03:30Right.
03:30I forgot.
03:31Sorry.
03:32We can go somewhere else.
03:35You'll be fine.
03:36Just pop an allergy pill.
03:38They serve steak and dessert so you can stick to those.
03:41Besides, Sophie's been dying to go here for days.
03:43His tone was as casual as if he were discussing the weather.
03:46So Sophie's craving mattered.
03:47My body could simply be medicated around it.
03:50It had been the same when I graduated.
03:52I had received two offers.
03:54One was a promising company downtown.
03:56Though far from Caleb and Sophie.
03:58The other was a small firm right in Sophie's building.
04:01And the pay was lower.
04:03I spent the entire night staring at both contracts.
04:06Terrified of choosing wrong.
04:08Caleb came home.
04:10Took the better offer from my hands.
04:12And set it aside.
04:13Take the one near Sophie.
04:15She can drive you every day.
04:17Sophie had promised we could eat lunch together.
04:18She had even offered to choose my meal.
04:21So I would not have to worry about that either.
04:22I listened to them.
04:23The company folded six months later.
04:30Maddie, maybe it's for the best.
04:32You couldn't handle all that networking in any way.
04:34He always did that.
04:36He used the gentlest words to take every possibility away from me.
04:39I'm not going.
04:40I'm tired.
04:41I'm going home.
04:42Madeline, what is wrong with you today?
04:50Don't be hard on her.
04:51It's probably pre-wedding anxiety.
04:52She'll calm down.
04:54The cab stopped outside our building.
04:57The living room was silent.
04:59Caleb and I had bought this apartment together.
05:01Each of us contributing to the down payment.
05:03And yet every object in it reminded me I was the outsider.
05:06The dusty blue sofa Sophie liked.
05:08The bohemian rugs she'd recommended.
05:10Even the blind box slippers in the entryway.
05:13Maddie can't choose.
05:14So blind boxes are perfect.
05:16Whatever she gets, she wears.
05:18She'd set it beaming, like a thoughtful little sun.
05:20What color I liked.
05:22What size I wore.
05:23None of it mattered.
05:24Because I couldn't choose.
05:26Sophie and I are at the seafood place.
05:28Packed you a tiramisu.
05:30Don't be mad.
05:30Then a photo, Sophie.
05:32Gloved.
05:32Beaming.
05:33Holding an enormous crab leg.
05:35Caleb's hand in frame cracking the shell for her.
05:37I stared a long time.
05:38Then typed two words.
05:39No need.
05:40Stopped by the jeweler.
05:41Before I could send.
05:42Typing appeared.
05:43Sophie tried on a few styles for you.
05:46The six-pronged solitaire suits your hand best.
05:49I already paid the deposit, so you won't have one of your episodes over a pile of rocks.
05:54One of my episodes.
05:56So my indecision was an illness.
05:58And they were the kind doctors.
06:00Endlessly cutting away every troublesome option.
06:02Along with my own will.
06:04Last year.
06:05Our anniversary.
06:06He'd handed me a velvet box.
06:08Inside.
06:08A four-leaf clover necklace.
06:11But two weeks earlier.
06:12I'd stood at a counter with him for ages over a swan pendant.
06:15Wondering if it was too expensive.
06:19Why this one?
06:20Sophie came with me.
06:21She said the swan wasn't worth the price.
06:22And liked the clover better.
06:24You trust her taste, don't you?
06:30I didn't trust her taste.
06:32I had simply learned not to challenge either of them.
06:36The lock turned.
06:38Caleb walked in with a delicate paper box.
06:40Trailing the smell of garlic seafood.
06:47For you.
06:48Sophie stood in line forever for this.
06:52I don't like sweets.
06:57You've always loved cream.
06:59That's Sophie.
07:01Sweets give me acid reflux.
07:03Did you forget?
07:06Madeline, are you determined to pick a fight?
07:09The gown's not to your taste.
07:11Dinner's an allergy.
07:12Now the cake's too sweet.
07:14When did you become this ungrateful?
07:16Ungrateful.
07:17I drew a breath.
07:18Something in my chest was draining.
07:20Drop by drop.
07:22Show me the ring order.
07:23What?
07:24The ring you said was decided.
07:26A photo.
07:27A receipt.
07:28He handed me his phone.
07:30The photo was taken at the jeweler's.
07:32On Sophie's slender.
07:33Pale finger sat the six-prong solitaire.
07:35Half of Caleb's shoulder in the background.
07:37They stood close.
07:38Like a couple trying on bands.
07:40Sophie's fingers are a size lower than mine.
07:43It won't fit me.
07:47We'll resercise it.
07:48The style's what matters.
07:49Sophie tried on so many for you.
07:51Her hands went red.
07:53Stop thinking only about yourself.
07:56I almost laughed.
07:57Only about myself.
07:58If I only ever thought about myself.
08:00This apartment wouldn't have the clean Scandinavian look Sophie liked.
08:03I wouldn't have spent five years becoming someone who waited to be handed a glass of water.
08:08Someone who asked permission to breathe.
08:12Return the ring tomorrow.
08:14What are you playing at?
08:16Do you know how tired I am after work and you're wasting my time on this?
08:21If it's such a small thing, then listen to me.
08:24Return it.
08:25The next morning, while Caleb slept, I packed my few old clothes and went to the jeweler alone.
08:31The manager greeted me warmly.
08:33Ms. Bennett, hear about the bands?
08:36Mr. Morgan already paid in full.
08:38In full?
08:40His text had said deposit.
08:42The young lady with him worried you'd hesitate.
08:45So paying in full was cleanest.
08:47She said you have trouble deciding.
08:49So no returns.
08:50Not even room to change my mind.
08:52What a thoughtful friend.
08:53Could you pull up the full order?
08:55I gave Caleb's number.
08:56Her face shifted.
08:59Besides the bands, Mr. Morgan ordered a diamond bracelet.
09:02The engraving is SB.
09:05Sophie Blake.
09:06How much?
09:08$4,200.
09:09The pair of wedding bands cost just under $5,000.
09:12A thank you trinket for Sophie was worth nearly our rings.
09:15The bracelet?
09:16He paid himself?
09:18Yes.
09:18And the rings?
09:25Charged to a card ending 7742.
09:28My card.
09:29Our joint wedding account, funded mostly out of my savings.
09:32He'd used my money for rings I couldn't wear.
09:34And his own for a bracelet for Sophie.
09:38I won't return them.
09:40Call me when they're ready.
09:43Outside.
09:44The sun was blinding.
09:45My old roommate, Aaron, called.
09:48Maddie, that job you asked me about, it came through.
09:50Head office is in New York.
09:52They want a project lead in Montreal.
09:54Salary doubles.
09:56But you'd leave next week.
09:57I didn't answer right away.
09:59That downtown offer I'd walked away from years ago had come from this very company's headquarters.
10:03They'd loved my intern work.
10:05Said I'd leave projects within a year.
10:06Caleb had talked me out of it all night.
10:08Said the pace would break me.
10:10That the small firm under Sophie suited me better.
10:12I'd always thought he was protecting me.
10:14Only now did I understand.
10:16He was just teaching me, over and over, that I couldn't.
10:20When really, I always had been.
10:23You're going to take it?
10:25Will Caleb agree?
10:28He doesn't need to agree.
10:30I'm going alone.
10:32When I got home, the apartment was crowded.
10:35Caleb's friends and Sophie sat on the rug surrounded by invitations.
10:39Writing.
10:40Sophie held a stack of cream envelopes.
10:42Directing Caleb.
10:44Skip this classmate.
10:45He was cheap in college.
10:45He'll never give a gift.
10:46Fine.
10:47Cross him off.
10:50Sophie recovered first, waving me over.
10:55Maddie, you're back.
10:56We're doing your invitations.
10:57You have trouble deciding who to invite, so I draft the list.
11:00My vintage invitations.
11:01The ones with wax seals I'd chosen three months ago.
11:04We're in the trash.
11:05On the table sat the plainest, cheapest cards.
11:09Mass-produced.
11:10With shiny gold lettering.
11:12What is this?
11:13The wax seals were a nightmare.
11:15Sophie burnt two fingers on them.
11:16These are easier.
11:17Just write a name.
11:18I picked those out over three months.
11:20Madeline, can you stop being so precious?
11:22It's a notice.
11:23Who cares about a seal?
11:25Sophie gave up her weekend to help, and you can't even say thank you.
11:31You're just standing there sulking.
11:36Come on, they're just being efficient.
11:37Exactly.
11:38You're always getting hung up on the smallest things.
11:41Caleb gets tired, too.
11:43I looked at their faces, all so certain.
11:46Yes, I fussed over details, the paper.
11:49The color of the wax, because I wanted the wedding to be perfect.
11:53To them, it was a chore.
11:56Don't!
11:58You have to embarrass me in front of everyone, don't you?
12:02Let go.
12:04Madeline, what is wrong with you?
12:05Caleb, stop!
12:07You've bruised her wrist!
12:08Maddie, I'm sorry.
12:10I didn't know the invitations meant that much.
12:13If you really don't like these, I'll dig the old ones out of the trash right now and redo the
12:17wax sanks one by one.
12:19Okay?
12:21Sophie does everything she can for you, and this is how you treat her?
12:26Madeline, is your indecision an actual brain defect?
12:29Does the whole world have to revolve around you?
12:34Back in college, when I couldn't decide what flavor of bubble tea I wanted,
12:38he had gone to three different shops and brought back every flavor they had.
12:42It's okay.
12:42From now on, I'll take care of all your indecision.
12:48Back then, I had thought it was love.
13:00My silence unsettled him.
13:02He followed, leaning in the doorway.
13:05Running away from home again?
13:07Look at yourself.
13:08Without me, you can't even decide what to wear tomorrow.
13:11Where would you go?
13:14I'm not going anywhere.
13:17Friday's our joint bash party, right?
13:20Have you picked a place yet?
13:21He softened, thinking I'd caved.
13:23Sophie booked it.
13:24That a new immersive escape room Verdi with a bar.
13:26I don't like those places.
13:27An escape room.
13:28I hate the dark.
13:29Hate enclosed spaces.
13:31Hate anything with horror in it.
13:32Freshman got a haunted house.
13:34I cried until I nearly passed out.
13:36Sophie was there.
13:37Caleb was there.
13:41I know you scare easily.
13:43But it's a group thing.
13:44Sophie says a good scare will cure your nerves.
13:48Sit and watch if you're scared.
13:50Just let her have her fun.
13:51She's put in so much effort for our sake lately.
13:54I'll go.
13:54He relaxed.
13:55That familiar smile returning.
13:57The one you give a child who is finally behaving.
14:00He went back to plan with his friends.
14:02I stood before the closet mirror.
14:03Pale face.
14:04Hollow eyes.
14:05Friday, I'd have my transfer paperwork and ticket.
14:08Friday, I'd attend this absurd party.
14:11There would be no wedding.
14:12This five-year game of Parasite.
14:14And host was ending.
14:16Friday, rain came down hard.
14:19Inside the escape room venue's bar area, the lights were low and the music was deafening.
14:24Sophie moved through the crowd in a wine-red slip dress, toasting like the hostess.
14:29Caleb watched her from the center booth.
14:32I sat huddled in a corner, a glass of Long Island iced teaen they'd ordered for me sitting in front
14:37of me.
14:38I don't drink hard liquor.
14:41Come on, Maddie, just try a sip.
14:43It's their signature drink.
14:49You're about to be a married woman.
14:52Don't you want to go a little wild for once?
14:54I didn't touch the drink.
14:55The escape room, when does it start?
14:58Soon.
14:59Put on your blindfold.
15:00I said I'm scared.
15:05What are you afraid of with me here?
15:06Can you act normal?
15:08Don't embarrass me.
15:09I looked at him.
15:11In the dim light, his face seemed almost unfamiliar.
15:14I didn't put on the blindfold.
15:17As the staff led them in a line towards the dark passage, I quietly fell to the back.
15:27I didn't leave the venue.
15:29Instead, I made my way to the escape room's control booth.
15:32I slipped one of the past members $50 and stood before the monitors, watching them feel their way through the
15:38darkness.
15:41Sophie shrieked and threw herself into the arms beside her, Caleb's.
15:46He held her tight, one hand cradling her head, the other finding her hand in the dark.
15:52Don't be scared, Sophie.
15:53I've got you.
15:54His voice came clear through the mic, so he did know how to protect someone.
15:58He just didn't want to protect me.
16:01Two hours later, the lights came up.
16:03They spilled out laughing.
16:05Sophie was still hanging on Caleb's arm, tears of laughter glistening at the corners of her eyes.
16:11Caleb gently wiped them away, then lowered his head and murmured something to her.
16:15In the lobby, they finally noticed I was gone.
16:20Where's Maddie?
16:24She probably got scared and ran off to cry in a corner somewhere.
16:28All she does is ruin things.
16:31If it weren't for five years, who could stand a neurotic like her?
16:37Don't say that.
16:39Though, honestly, sometimes I think she doesn't deserve you.
16:42You're so wonderful, and she needs you to coax her just to eat a simple meal.
16:47Are you really going to marry her?
16:50The invitations are out.
16:51She can't live without me.
16:53She can't even order bubble tea without asking me which flavor.
16:56Who else would ever want her?
16:59It'll be fine once we're married.
17:01He sighed, as if trying to convince himself.
17:05The nausea rose in waves, not from shellfish, from him.
17:09I took out my phone and sent a scheduled message.
17:12Three words.
17:13To Caleb.
17:14Let's break up.
17:15Then I powered the phone off, pulled the SIM, and dropped it in the trash.
17:23Caleb, you're a piece of shit.
17:25I don't want you anymore.
17:28When I wheeled my suitcase out of the terminal,
17:31Montreal met me with cool air and signs I couldn't fully read.
17:35No Scandinavian furniture.
17:38No pink piggy slippers.
17:40No voice deciding things for me.
17:44Just unfamiliar streets, French everywhere, and a chill that woke me up.
17:50Miss Bennett, your apartment's all arranged.
17:54Lisa, the local assistant sent to meet me,
17:58loaded my bags,
18:00and handed me a bottle of water.
18:08The cold water slid down my throat
18:11without a trace of acid in my stomach.
18:15Other than shellfish, I could eat almost anything.
18:19But over the past five years,
18:21I had grown so used to catering to their tastes
18:24that I had forgotten what I originally liked.
18:28Back home, it would be morning.
18:31Caleb woke like clockwork at eight.
18:34I couldn't picture his face when he read that message.
18:36A sneer, maybe.
18:39Or the assumption that I was playing another game
18:42to reel him back in.
18:44After all, in his eyes,
18:45I was a woman who couldn't even choose dinner for herself.
18:50How could a woman like that
18:52dare to walk out on him?
18:54When I reached the apartment,
18:55I spent an hour unpacking and getting settled in.
18:58Few clothes, work suits,
19:00nothing of the floral dresses
19:01and overalls Sophie had labeled,
19:03so you.
19:04I bought a local sim,
19:06slipped it into a new phone,
19:07and made my first call.
19:10Landed.
19:11Settled in.
19:13Your ex has lost his mind.
19:16Called me at midnight
19:17asking if you were hiding at my place.
19:19I told him I didn't know.
19:22And get this,
19:23he still wants me
19:24to tell you not to make a scene.
19:27Because you've got the wedding tasting today.
19:31He didn't call the police?
19:33Police?
19:34Please.
19:35He's convinced you're throwing a fit
19:37over that A-line gown and the escape room.
19:40Maddie, you left clean.
19:42You didn't even touch the money in your joint account.
19:45It makes me sick.
19:47That account still held
19:48what was left of my savings.
19:50The same account he'd been draining
19:51for Sophie's designer bag deposits,
19:53their dinners,
19:54and their nights out alone.
19:56I didn't want a cent of it back.
19:58Good for you.
19:59Oh,
20:00Sophie's already performing online.
20:02She posted on IG saying
20:04it was all her fault
20:05that she got carried away
20:06and neglected you.
20:08And she's crying and pleading with you
20:10to come home.
20:12Let her.
20:15Old Montreal spread out below.
20:17Stone buildings.
20:18The glint of the St. Lawrence in the distance.
20:20Gulls over the old port.
20:22A city that didn't know a single thing about me.
20:25A city where no one would decide for me.
20:28I don't need them choosing for me anymore.
20:31I looked at the river.
20:34Whatever storm was breaking back home,
20:36it couldn't reach me here.
20:38The next two days,
20:39I threw myself into the new job.
20:41The branch had just opened.
20:43The mess was everywhere.
20:45In the conference room,
20:47three managers argued over a supplier.
20:50Miss Bennett,
20:51Company A bids lower but takes longer.
20:53Company B is better but over budget.
20:59The old me would have gone damp palmed,
21:01would have instinctively looked for Caleb's eyes
21:04across the room.
21:05But there was no one now,
21:06only me.
21:08Company B,
21:09pull the overage from next quarter's marketing.
21:13Rework from a quality failure
21:14costs far more than the gap now.
21:17Start the paperwork.
21:19No hesitation.
21:20No agonizing.
21:22The room went quiet for a beat.
21:23Then everyone nodded and moved.
21:25So this was what it felt like to decide for yourself.
21:28Like a rusted lock finally turning under the right key.
21:31After work I went to a restaurant alone
21:33and ordered steamed fish.
21:35I ate slowly,
21:36and my eyes stung.
21:39I'd thrown the antihistamines in the trash.
21:42I didn't need them.
21:44My allergy had never really been shellfish.
21:47It had been the two of them,
21:48from the very start.
21:51For the first time in years,
21:53I was eating something I actually liked.
21:58Aaron told me the rest,
22:00later.
22:01Caleb didn't sense anything was truly wrong
22:04until three days before the wedding.
22:06The venue called,
22:07asking why the bride hadn't confirmed the final layout.
22:10He dialed my old number,
22:12dead.
22:14He went to my office.
22:16HR told him I'd finished my resignation,
22:18and left the country three days earlier.
22:22He raced back to our apartment.
22:23The half of the closet that had been mine was empty.
22:26Even my toothbrush was gone.
22:29Caleb,
22:31this time it looks like she means it.
22:38Where could she even go?
22:39She can't make a single decision without us.
22:42She left the country alone?
22:43Is she insane?
22:45Caleb,
22:46don't panic.
22:47Maybe she just went to travel,
22:48to clear her head.
22:50Get off me.
22:52He threw her hand away.
22:53First time in five years,
22:54he'd snapped at her.
22:55She stumbled into the doorframe,
22:57stunned.
22:58He wasn't looking at her.
22:59He was staring at the velvet box on the table,
23:02his ring inside,
23:04mine gone.
23:07Before I left,
23:08I'd collected the finished pair from the jeweler,
23:11set his ring back in that box,
23:12and left mine with the store to be sold on consignment.
23:16He thought I'd carried it off with me.
23:18Let him stew in his self-deluded panic.
23:23Friday,
23:23the day we were supposed to marry.
23:25I sat at the floor-de-slee window of my Montreal office,
23:28coffee in hand,
23:29reading a quarterly report.
23:30Meanwhile,
23:31back home,
23:32Instagram had completely exploded.
23:34Caleb hadn't canceled the reception.
23:35He stubbornly believed I was sulking
23:37and would appear at the last second in my gown.
23:39For five years,
23:40his whole understanding of me had been one sentence.
23:42She can't leave me.
23:43Aaron sent a video from inside the hall.
23:45The lights blazed.
23:47Round tables of guests leaned together,
23:49whispering,
23:49throwing puzzled glances at the head table.
23:51Caleb stood on the stage in a sharp black suit,
23:54his face dark enough to drip.
23:56Beside him stood Sophie,
23:57in a pale bridesmaid dress so delicate it looked,
23:59from that angle,
24:01almost like a wedding gown.
24:02She was murmuring something to him,
24:04patting his back.
24:04This guy's unbelievable.
24:06His relatives keep asking where the bride is.
24:08You know what he told them?
24:09That you had a pre-wedding meltdown
24:11and won't come out of the hotel room.
24:13He even had Sophie walk down the aisle as if she were the bride,
24:16just to buy more time.
24:17Of course.
24:18He was so used to letting Sophie stand in for me that he did it even now.
24:22At the end of the video,
24:24the MC,
24:25sweating,
24:26lifted the mic and tried to save the moment.
24:28It seems our bride is still in the dressing room,
24:30putting on her finishing touches.
24:34Let's all...
24:36The wedding's cancelled.
24:37Three words,
24:38thrown at everyone,
24:39and he walked out without looking back.
24:41Sophie stood alone on the stage in her pale dress,
24:44like a clown nobody had told the joke was over.
24:46The video cut out there.
24:49Half an hour after Caleb left the hotel,
24:52an email landed in his inbox.
24:54Scheduled.
24:55Sent by me.
24:56Subject line,
24:57regarding not marrying you,
24:58and the bill.
24:59The body was short.
25:00Caleb,
25:00I'm not marrying you.
25:01Don't come looking.
25:02I'm not sick,
25:03and I'm not throwing a tantrum.
25:04I just realized,
25:05all at once,
25:06that being near you makes me feel ill.
25:08Attached is the record of these five years.
25:10Three folders waited in the attachment.
25:12He opened them in his car,
25:13in the parking garage,
25:15alone.
25:16The first folder was the statement from our joint account.
25:19The one funded mostly by my savings.
25:21Every expense labeled.
25:23The deposits on countless designer bags in Sophie's name.
25:25Every dinner,
25:26every movie the two of them saw alone.
25:28All of it paid off my card.
25:29Beside it,
25:30I'd added the separate receipt for the $4,200 bracelet.
25:33The second folder held recordings.
25:35One came from his own dash cam.
25:36I'd stepped into a convenience store for water.
25:39He'd taken a call from Sophie in the car.
25:40That necklace Madeline thought was too pricey?
25:42Don't worry.
25:44I'll put it on her car tomorrow,
25:45and bring it to you.
25:46She never reads the statements.
25:48Her brain,
25:49two soft words,
25:51and she does whatever I say.
25:52The third folder contained the consignment receipt for my wedding ring,
25:55along with a sticky note I had left.
25:57I don't like Clover.
25:58I don't like Scandinavian.
25:59And I don't like you.
26:00Take your precious Sophie and Rot in that dumpster together.
26:02Erring painted the scene for me afterward,
26:04because Sophie had chased him into the garage and caught him mid-read.
26:08Caleb, don't be angry.
26:09That's just how Maddie is.
26:11This is her just sulking?
26:14Caleb, I can explain.
26:15I meant to pay you back.
26:17Pay me back?
26:18With what?
26:19Your salary wouldn't cover the change on one of those bags.
26:23You spent months telling me Madeline was sick,
26:25that she was too much,
26:26that she didn't deserve me,
26:27and everything you wore,
26:28everything you carried,
26:30it was all bought with her money.
26:34But Caleb, you were the one who wanted to buy them for me.
26:37You said you liked, that I was easy,
26:40that I understood you.
26:41I thought Madeline was easy to fool!
26:45Now she doesn't want me.
26:46Are you happy?
26:47He pulled out his phone,
26:48and right in front of her,
26:49blocked every one of her numbers.
26:52Then he stamped on the gas,
26:53and the car screamed out of the garage.
26:56Sophie was left alone in the exhaust.
26:58Mud flecked across the hem of her pretty white dress.
27:01In my office,
27:01I pressed the final return key,
27:03and sent the quarterly summary to headquarters.
27:06Outside, Montreal glittered in the dark.
27:08Caleb,
27:08do you know what real pain is?
27:10It isn't losing face.
27:12It isn't discovering Sophie loves money more than you.
27:14It's realizing the shadow you thought would never leave,
27:17the one you kept beneath your heel,
27:18was the only light you ever stood in.
27:20And now the light's gone out.
27:22Caleb started hunting for me like a man possessed.
27:24He staked out the bookstore I used to haunt.
27:27He tracked down my old co-works.
27:29He even drove to my hometown,
27:32and knocked on my parents' door.
27:33But my parents had long since dismissed everything I did as another act of rebellion.
27:38To them,
27:39I had always been difficult.
27:41And now I had driven away a stable, respectable man who was willing to marry me.
27:47All Caleb got from them were complaints about how ungrateful I was,
27:52and how I never appreciated what I had.
27:54Two weeks later,
27:56I flew back to represent the Montreal branch at an industry summit,
27:59held at a convention center in New York.
28:02I wore a crisp white suit,
28:04hair swept into a sleek knot,
28:05and stood at our booth speaking confidently in French,
28:09with a group of clients from Paris.
28:10And that was when I saw Caleb in the crowd.
28:13He'd lost weight.
28:14His usually immaculate hair was a mess,
28:16a shadow of stubble on his jaw.
28:17He wore a wrinkled shirt,
28:19and clutched a summit brochure,
28:20like he didn't know why he was holding it.
28:24Madeline!
28:27Excuse me and I'll stop.
28:28Then I turned and looked at him,
28:29calm,
28:30the way you'd look at a stranger who'd wandered to the wrong booth.
28:32Can I help you?
28:33Maddie, stop this.
28:34I finally found you.
28:36Do you have any idea what these two weeks have been like?
28:38You block me on socials and my calls won't even go through?
28:40Just how much longer are you going to punish me?
28:42Mr. Morgan, control yourself.
28:44Punish you?
28:45You flatter yourself.
28:46I just think garbage should stay in the bin
28:48and not come out contaminating the air.
28:52He stared at the suit,
28:53the knot of my hair,
28:54unable to reconcile the woman in front of him,
28:57commanding an entire booth,
28:58with the mamadeline who used to ask him which bubble tea to order.
29:02You,
29:03what are you even doing here?
29:05He gestured helplessly at the banner behind me,
29:07at the clients,
29:08as if none of it computed.
29:09What stunned him wasn't my French,
29:11it was that I was leading,
29:12that I belonged,
29:13because I don't need you to choose for me anymore.
29:15I don't need you telling me a job's too hard,
29:17or too far,
29:18or not right for me.
29:19Caleb,
29:19I never had an indecision disorder.
29:21I was just sick enough,
29:23once,
29:24to trust you.
29:53Maddie,
29:54each sentence landed exactly where it hurt.
29:57Caleb!
29:59What are you doing here?
30:00Sophie shoved through the crowd on her heels,
30:02breathless,
30:03dressed to make a point,
30:04an unmissable designer bag on her arm.
30:06She saw me and faltered,
30:07venom flashing in her eyes,
30:08before she smoothed it into something pitiful.
30:10Caleb,
30:11you don't want me anymore?
30:12You said the two of you were finished?
30:15Get away from me.
30:17Who told you to follow me?
30:19You're yelling at me?
30:20For her?
30:21For a woman who can't even pick her own wedding gown?
30:24Madeline,
30:25drop the act.
30:26You think a suit makes you some career woman?
30:28Caleb never loved you.
30:29You have no idea how happy he was with me.
30:31I watched the whole farce,
30:32and felt only how absurd it was.
30:34These were the two people I'd tiptoed around for five years.
30:38Security.
30:40These two aren't invited guests.
30:41They're disrupting the summit.
30:43Please see them out.
30:44You don't have the right to throw me out!
30:46Caleb didn't struggle.
30:47He just stood there,
30:48staring at me.
30:49And in his eyes was the despair of someone who had finally,
30:52truly lost.
30:53Maddie?
30:53He said my name one last time.
30:56Don't call me Maddie.
30:58You make me sick.
31:00The guards half-led,
31:02half-hauled the two of them out of convention center.
31:04I didn't listen to Sophie cursing at the doors.
31:06I turned and took the water my assistant offered.
31:09Miss Bennett?
31:10Friends of yours?
31:11Strangers?
31:13Nobody who matters.
31:14Is the afternoon presentation ready?
31:16Ready.
31:16The presentation went beautifully.
31:18It was the branch's first public appearance back home,
31:21and I was the one at the podium,
31:23fielding three sharp industry questions,
31:25without a stumber.
31:26When the applause came,
31:27I saw Erin in the back row,
31:29both thumbs up.
31:30Afterward,
31:30she dragged me out to a rooftop terrace,
31:32overlooking the city.
31:33That was incredible!
31:35You didn't see Caleb's face when they walked him out?
31:37Like,
31:38the sky had fallen.
31:39And Sophie?
31:40Crying her makeup into a mess,
31:42screeching like a fishwife?
31:43That's enough to satisfy you?
31:45There's more?
31:45I took out my phone,
31:46opened an image,
31:47and slid it across to her.
31:49Caleb's business partner.
31:50He's also a sponsor of this summit.
31:53A few days ago,
31:54I had that email,
31:55the financial records,
31:56the recordings,
31:57sent to him,
31:58anonymously.
31:59Isn't Caleb's company pushing for its Series A right now?
32:01The one thing investors can't stomach
32:03is a founder with murky finances
32:04and a private life scandal.
32:07That's cold.
32:08He loved deciding things for me,
32:10didn't he?
32:11So I decided one for him.
32:12I decided that for the rest of his life,
32:14he'll never stand higher than me again.
32:16It played out just as I had expected.
32:18The next day,
32:19word spread that Caleb had been asked to step back
32:21from all duties.
32:23The investors had serious doubts
32:25about the stability of the founding team.
32:27He tried to reach his partner to explain
32:29and got stopped by security at the door.
32:32Sophie didn't sit still either.
32:33The moment she saw there was nothing left
32:35to squeeze out of Caleb,
32:36she took to social media with a sob story,
32:38hinting he'd harassed and manipulated her,
32:41casting herself as the innocent victim.
32:43She even posted the transfer
32:44for that $4,200 bracelet.
32:46Except now she called it hush money.
32:48Two dogs tearing at each other.
32:49It was better than anything I could have scripted.
32:53The day before I flew back to Montreal,
32:55Caleb cornered me in the hotel lobby.
32:56He looked worse than at the summit.
32:58Bloodshot eyes,
32:59a suit full of creases,
33:00the reek of cigarettes and liquor
33:01coming off him in waves.
33:02When he saw me,
33:03he lunged,
33:03trying to grab my shoulders.
33:04Lobby security stepped in at once.
33:06Madeline,
33:07do you really have to destroy me
33:08down to the bone?
33:09I lost my job.
33:10My partner's forcing me out.
33:11That lunatook Sophie
33:12is smearing me all over the internet.
33:14This is all you, isn't it?
33:16You sent those emails.
33:17And if I did?
33:18Why?
33:19I just lost my head for a while.
33:20I just got used to having you there.
33:22Why would you do this to me?
33:23Five years, Madeline.
33:25Five years together.
33:26Don't you feel anything for the time we had?
33:28The time we had.
33:29I couldn't help it.
33:30I laughed.
33:32You want to talk to me about what we had?
33:35Five years ago,
33:36you told me I couldn't survive without you,
33:38so I turned down the offer
33:39from headquarters and stayed.
33:41You and Sophia called it helping
33:42while taking over my life,
33:44my choices,
33:44and my dignity.
33:46You spent my money on her,
33:47then expected me to wear
33:48a resized ring she had tried on first.
33:50You used every compromise I made
33:51to make yourself feel superior.
33:53You turned my weakness
33:54and my silence
33:55into something to show off with.
33:59Now you've lost it all,
34:00and you come asking
34:01why I won't think of old times.
34:02Caleb,
34:03this isn't sentiment.
34:05This is the impotent rage
34:06of a dog that's lost its home.
34:11I'm sorry.
34:12Maddie, I'm sorry.
34:14He said it over and over,
34:15but I knew he wasn't apologizing to me.
34:17He was apologizing to the man
34:18who'd lost his job,
34:19his name, everything.
34:21Apologizing to himself.
34:23The lobby had begun to fill.
34:25People slowed to point at the man
34:26sitting on the floor.
34:27The man who'd always run the room,
34:29always held every string,
34:30now sprawled like something spilled
34:32across the polished marble.
34:33That was when Sophie showed up.
34:35She'd clearly followed him.
34:36Seeing him wrecked,
34:37she didn't move to help.
34:38She stopped a few steps off,
34:40smirking,
34:41and raised her phone to film.
34:42Everyone look,
34:43here's the scumbag
34:44who used up my feelings
34:45and then tried to pin it on me.
34:47She pitched her voice high,
34:48desperate to be heard.
34:50He got fired,
34:51and now he's begging his ex
34:52to take him back.
34:53Absolutely disgusting.
34:54You crazy bitch!
34:56You've got some fucking nerves
34:58showing your face here!
35:00If it weren't for you,
35:01you leech,
35:02I'd never have ended up like this.
35:04Everything you wore,
35:05everything you carried,
35:06I bought it.
35:06What gives you the right
35:07to play innocent?
35:09You think I ever loved you?
35:10I liked how easy you were
35:11to flatter.
35:12You were always bragging
35:13about how completely
35:14you controlled Madeline.
35:15Why wouldn't I play along?
35:17And you bought it?
35:18Most of it came straight out
35:19of Madeline's account.
35:20You were spending
35:21your fiancé's money
35:22just to impress me?
35:23The two of them
35:24grappled right there
35:25in the lobby,
35:26all dignity gone,
35:27while security scrambled
35:28to pull them apart.
35:31I stood a little apart
35:33and watched the ridiculous scene.
35:35There wasn't a ripple
35:35left in me,
35:36so this was what
35:37they really were.
35:37With no shared host
35:38left to feed on,
35:39the fake warmth
35:40and understanding
35:41between them collapsed
35:42in an instant,
35:42leaving nothing but the
35:43ugliest kind of biting
35:44and clawing.
35:45Miss Bennett,
35:46your car's here.
35:46Let's go.
35:47I didn't spare them
35:48another glance.
35:49I walked out the front doors
35:50and got into the car
35:50for the airport,
35:51then texted Erin.
35:52Heading to the airport,
35:53the rest of the show
35:54back there is yours
35:55to broadcast.
35:55She fired back
35:56a laughing emoji instantly.
35:58Don't worry.
35:59A bystander already
36:00put their lobby brawl
36:01online.
36:01Caleb got taken in
36:02to give a statement
36:03and Sophie's face
36:04is all scratched up.
36:05These two are socially
36:06finished in this city.
36:10Three months later,
36:12the Montreal branch
36:12was running smoothly.
36:14Because I delivered
36:14on the project,
36:15I was formally named
36:16North American project director.
36:18To celebrate,
36:19my colleagues threw a party
36:20on a rooftop terrace
36:21over the old port.
36:22Cool wind came up
36:23off the St. Lowence.
36:24A singer strummed
36:25something easy on a guitar.
36:27Madeline, congratulations.
36:28I hear headquarters
36:29wants you back in New York
36:30next year to lead
36:31a larger business line.
36:32Still thinking about it.
36:41Maddie,
36:42it's your birthday today.
36:43I found a delivery job.
36:44It doesn't pay much,
36:45but I saved every dollar
36:46of the first month.
36:47I bought a British
36:47share pin kitten.
36:48Kind you always wanted.
36:49Could you come back
36:51and see it?
36:51I looked at the lines
36:52of text so small,
36:53so low,
36:54and a memory surfaced
36:55from three years ago.
36:56I'd wanted a cat then,
36:57torn between a rag doll
36:58and a British short hair.
37:00Caleb had given
37:00the cat away
37:02because Sophie said
37:03someone who couldn't
37:04take care of herself
37:05had no business
37:06keeping a pet.
37:06And now,
37:07he really has the nerve
37:08to try winning me back
37:10with a cat.
37:10I didn't reply.
37:11I moved the number
37:12straight into the block list.
37:13Halfway through the party,
37:15Erin called on video.
37:16Director Bennett,
37:17happy birthday.
37:18On screen,
37:19she held up a small cake,
37:20her newly finished
37:21studio behind her.
37:22Thanks, boss, Erin.
37:23I stepped to a quiet corner,
37:25watching the lights
37:25scatter across the water.
37:27Oh, gossip report.
37:29Caleb's ex-partner
37:30sold the whole company off.
37:32His name's Mud in the industry.
37:33He can't get a foot
37:34in anywhere.
37:36Word is he's working
37:36as a stock clerk
37:37in a logistics warehouse now.
37:40It turned out Sophie
37:41had previously had an affair
37:42with a married man.
37:42His wife exposed
37:43everything publicly
37:44and confronted her at work.
37:46Once the post spread,
37:47she lost her job,
37:48couldn't stay in the city,
37:48and slunk back
37:49to her hometown.
37:50The people who had once
37:51filled my entire world,
37:52who had once made living
37:53feel unbearable,
37:55now they sounded like
37:56a story that had happened
37:57to someone else.
37:58Distant,
37:59bloodless.
37:59Maddie,
38:00do you ever regret it?
38:01Regret what?
38:02Taking it all the way.
38:03It was five years.
38:04Back then,
38:05who didn't think you two
38:06would make it to the altar?
38:07Erin,
38:07there's only one thing I regret.
38:08I regret not seeing sooner
38:09that my so-called indecision
38:10was really just me
38:11not being strong enough.
38:12When you can only lean
38:13on someone else,
38:14the choices they make
38:15for you aren't health.
38:16They're theft.
38:17I don't regret leaving
38:17the garbage behind.
38:18I'm just grateful
38:19I finally learned
38:20how to decide for myself.
38:21I hung up and turned back
38:23to the crowded terrace.
38:24The music,
38:24the laughter,
38:25the light strung
38:26above the old port,
38:27all of it warm,
38:28none of it deciding
38:29anything for me.
38:31Madeline,
38:31come on,
38:32we ordered a whole table
38:33and the steamed fish
38:34you love.
38:35Coming.
38:35I pulled out a chair
38:36and sat.
38:37The plate in front of me
38:38held no garlic I hated,
38:40no ingredient that would
38:41make me break out,
38:42only the flavors
38:42I genuinely liked.
38:44I picked up my knife and fork,
38:46cut a piece of tender fish,
38:47and put it in my mouth.
38:48It was delicious.
38:49Tomorrow morning,
38:50at the team meeting,
38:51I would announce my decision.
38:52Next year,
38:53I'd go back to New York
38:54to take over the new business line.
38:55That would be my home ground.
38:56It was also the brand new life
38:58I'd bought with one clean cut.
38:59Around me,
39:00people I'd chosen to be with
39:01were laughing over things
39:02that actually mattered.
39:03No one waited to tell me
39:05what I couldn't handle.
39:06No one reached for my glass
39:07before I could.
39:08The city lights ran on
39:09across the black water,
39:10going wherever I wanted them to go.
39:12I thought of the woman
39:13who used to stand frozen
39:14in front of a bridal mirror,
39:15unable to say a single word
39:17for herself.
39:18She felt like a stranger now.
39:19I didn't miss her.
39:20I only felt glad
39:21she'd finally walked out
39:22of that room.
39:23To myself,
39:24to every moment,
39:24I no longer hesitated.
39:26To the tomorrow
39:27I would never
39:28have to turn back for.
39:29I had learned what I liked.
39:30I had learned to say no
39:32without spending
39:32a second in thought.
39:33I had learned that
39:34choosing a gown,
39:35choosing a job,
39:36choosing a person,
39:37none of it required permission.
39:38Somewhere far behind me,
39:40in another city,
39:41two people I'd once
39:42tiptoed around
39:43were living out
39:43the consequences
39:44of who they truly were.
39:45I set the glass down
39:46and looked out at the river,
39:48at the lights,
39:49at the life I had built
39:50with my own two hands
39:51and my own decisions.
39:52There would be no going back.
39:53There was no reason to.
39:54For the first time in my life,
39:56every road ahead
39:57was mine to choose.
39:58And I would never again hesitate
40:00over the ones I didn't want.
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