Once The Bride He Discarded, Now The Love He Can't Forget

"The wedding is grand enough on its own, but did you hear? Richard's childhood friend is up on the hotel rooftop, threatening to jump!" someone said.

Brynn Morgan caught the whispers drifting in from the hallway, and a slow ache gathered in her chest.

Rena Davis, Richard Yates' childhood sweetheart, had staged a suicide scare ninety-nine times already.

Brynn once believed she had grown numb to it. Yet today felt entirely different. Today was the day she was supposed to marry Richard.

With Rena making another dramatic scene, Brynn understood she would be the one who had to bend again.

She had loved Richard for five long years, and Rena had been stirring trouble for exactly that amount of time.

Every single time, Richard chose to run to Rena before he ever thought of his own girlfriend.

Brynn often wondered if she was nothing more than the extra woman in their tangled relationship.

Richard had insisted the last time he left her for Rena that it would never happen again.

Brynn held on to that promise, and believing in it was the reason this wedding existed at all.

"If she truly intends to die, then let her. Why should I be the one they call?" Brynn jerked her head up, startled. The balcony door remained slightly open, and Richard's even, indifferent tone slipped through. "Jump from the roof? She won't. How many times has she acted out these so-called suicide attempts? Has she ever shed a single drop of real blood?"

A few quieter words followed, though Brynn couldn't make out what he said next.

Richard ended the call and turned around, his eyes landing directly on hers.

Brynn's heartbeat quickened. He had stayed. He hadn't run to Rena this time. Had he truly kept his promise?

"Why are you staring at me like that? The ceremony is about to begin. Are you prepared?" Richard asked, his face devoid of emotion.

Even so, Brynn felt happiness bloom inside her. She understood that he came into the world with a distant nature. His feelings rarely aligned with anyone else's.

However, from the innocent affection she once held to the deeper love she carried now, she believed she had finally earned a place in his heart. She felt certain she mattered to him. Otherwise, why would he choose to marry her at all?

She stepped forward with a radiant smile and slipped her arm through his, joy brightening her eyes. "Richard, we're finally about to be married..."

Richard gave no change in expression. "Yes. I'm aware."

As the soft melody of a piano filled the hall, the ceremony began.

Dressed in a tailored suit with a crisp shirt, Richard walked down the aisle. Reaching the front of the aisle, he took his side of the wooden altar, his hands resting at his sides.

The groomsmen, dressed in complementary suits, stood beside him, offering quiet grins.

Then, the piano melody shifted-soft strings joined in, weaving a lyrical tune that signaled the arrival of the bride. All heads turned toward the doors, where Brynn stood, radiant in a flowing gown.

As she took her first step down the aisle, Richard's phone rang.

She paused mid-aisle, her smile faltering. That ringtone belonged only to Rena, and it struck her like a terrible reminder.

Richard retrieved his phone and answered it. "Hello. What is it this time?"

The silent officiant took a step forward, attempting to push the ceremony back on track. It must have been the most embarrassing moment he had ever handled.

Before he could say anything, Richard spoke again. "I'll come immediately."

He walked away without hesitation.

The entire venue stirred with confusion as voices rose all at once.

"Please don't go..." Brynn begged as she hurried after him, lifting her wedding gown and wearing a look of raw desperation. "You promised me that would be the last time."

Richard drew his brows together, appearing to quietly measure his choices.

After a short pause, he offered a steady explanation. "Rena actually jumped this time. I need to see her condition. I'll return soon."

"Richard!" Brynn grasped his wrist tightly and refused to let him walk away. "If you leave now, I won't marry you!"

Richard loosened her grip and stepped back. "Then be sure you can live with that."

Brynn felt something break inside her, and tears spilled before she could stop them.

Richard's composure wavered when he saw her crying, yet he understood she was yielding to him again. Just like every time before, she couldn't picture a world that didn't include him. He was fully aware of how deeply she cared for him. She had set aside every comfort to build a life with him. Through every setback, she chose to stay by his side. Her deepest dream was to become his wife.

In the past, whenever Rena caused trouble, Brynn was the one who helped him smooth everything over.

This time, though, her refusal to marry him showed how far she had been pushed.

Even so, Rena's situation seemed genuinely serious.

He refused to let Brynn's emotional outburst influence his decision.

He parted his lips, ready to offer comfort, but his phone vibrated again. He answered immediately and sprinted toward the exit without stopping to think.

For several seconds, the guests stared at one another in astonishment. What exactly had they just witnessed? The groom had run out of his own wedding.

Seeing the ceremony fall apart around her, Brynn brushed her tears away, steadied her breathing and said to the crowd, "I'm sorry, everyone. The wedding will not continue today..."

Another wave of noise spread across the venue.

However, Brynn had no energy left to care about the reaction. She understood that by tomorrow, she would be the subject of relentless gossip.

Everyone knew how fiercely she loved Richard. They knew she had chosen him over countless suitors who came from wealth and privilege. The two of them had endured every hardship together, and just when joy seemed finally within reach, Richard had walked away from her on their wedding day.

Brynn rushed out of the hotel only to discover that the entrance had been swallowed up by a dense crowd.

A short distance away, Richard had already lifted Rena off the rescue air mattress. She wore a wedding gown of her own, and her eyes were swollen from crying.

"Richard, how could you abandon me like that? Didn't you promise we'd stay together forever?" Rena said.

"Stop causing trouble," Richard replied with a faint crease between his brows, his tone steady and cold.

Rena framed his face with her hands and stared straight into his dark eyes. "I won't stop!"

Brynn immediately assumed that Richard would recoil or scold her for touching him like that.

Memories surfaced of her younger self gently holding his face, only for him to look back at her with cold detachment. "I don't like being touched," he had said to her, his voice cold and his gaze empty.

But now, he didn't move away. He let Rena pinch and tease his face until her sobs dissolved into shaky laughter.

Brynn had always believed he kept his distance from everyone, that he simply wasn't capable of warmth. Watching him carry Rena toward the ambulance, she finally understood the truth.

She had convinced herself that love would slowly soften him, that patience over the years would bring light into his distant eyes, and that someday he would look at her with affection. But she saw now that she had only been deceiving herself.

Eventually, the truth settled in-she had misunderstood everything. He could love someone. He simply didn't love her.

Brynn let out a brittle laugh, and tears slipped after it.

Over the last five years, what role had she truly played in his life? How blind she had been.

Five years had passed like one long, hopeful dream. And now that dream had collapsed, forcing her at last to open her eyes.

With her decision firm, she walked back to the dressing room, removed the wedding gown, and slipped into her own clothes again.

The uproar sparked by the ruined wedding still echoed everywhere. So when Brynn stepped into the law firm, her coworkers-who had been buzzing with gossip-fell silent in unison.

Brynn didn't spare them a glance. She had grown thick-skinned long ago, back when she became the school's favorite topic after openly announcing her plan to win Richard's heart, the celebrated scholar of the law department.

Fueled by innocent resolve, she had kept going without looking back. Now, however, the truth made itself painfully clear: Richard never cared for her the way she dreamed he would.

She settled into her workstation and printed out a resignation letter. She signed her name and walked it straight to Richard's office, placing it neatly on his desk.

Hardly a moment passed before her phone vibrated.

Richard's name appeared on the screen.

"I heard you called off the wedding. Why didn't you discuss it with me first? Do you understand how damaging this is for the firm's image?" he asked.

"What choice did you expect me to make?" Brynn shot back, her voice cold and steady. "Should I have asked the guests to wait politely while you ran off to save someone else?"

Richard paused for several seconds, as if stunned that Brynn had finally spoken to him without restraint.

Since the beginning, she had always approached him with softness. She met him with patience, bright smiles, tireless enthusiasm, and an affection that followed him everywhere. She had never once raised her voice at him.

He answered with measured calm, "I take responsibility. I didn't consider the consequences properly."

A hollow laugh escaped Brynn. She couldn't believe how foolish she had once been, thinking she could warm the heart of a man who seemed incapable of feeling anything deeply.

Her eyes drifted toward the resignation letter on the desk. "Richard, about my res-"

Before she managed to finish, another voice chimed brightly through the phone. "Richard, my back is aching. Come help me massage it."

"I'm in the middle of something. We'll discuss this later," Richard said quickly, and the call ended without another word.