The Runaway Bride, The Cat Emergency

On the day I was supposed to marry Sienna Brooks, she ran away in the middle of our wedding.

She was a veterinarian, and she claimed a client's cat had suddenly gone into heat. She told me she was the only one who could handle it.

When I called her, she snapped at me. What the hell is your problem, Rowan? We can reschedule a wedding, but this cat can't wait. This is my job!

I was standing across the street when she said that. I watched with my own eyes as she held a cat and kissed her first love, Caleb Sterling.

It wasn't the cat that was in heat. It was her ex-boyfriend.

1.

Sienna ditched our wedding and left me standing there like an idiot.

The ballroom was a mess of whispers and pointing fingers.

I couldn't believe it. My girlfriend of seven years had just abandoned me for a cat.

My body felt like lead. I was frozen in place.

I kept calling her, but she didn't pick up once.

"I'm so sorry, everyone," I told the crowd, trying to keep my voice steady. "My wife had an emergency at the clinic. Please, enjoy the food. We'll be back soon."

Then I ran out to find her.

Despite how insane this was, I still thought we had to finish the ceremony.

My heart was pounding against my ribs the whole way there.

I was almost at her clinic when she finally answered.

Her voice was dripping with annoyance. "What? What do you want now?"

"I told you, I'm dealing with a cat emergency!" she yelled.

She had a temper. For years, this was how she treated me.

I gripped the steering wheel, trying to stay calm.

"Sienna, it's our wedding day. Can you just finish up and come back? Please?"

"I'm still busy," she said coldly. "Tell the guests it's canceled. We'll do it another day."

I couldn't believe my ears.

I had spent six months planning every detail of this day.

You don't just reschedule a wedding like it's a dental appointment.

Dozens of people were waiting for us at the hotel.

"Sienna Brooks!" I shouted. My patience finally snapped.

I usually let her slide when she was being difficult, but this was too much.

My anger only made her blow up more.

"Stop making a scene! A wedding can wait, but this animal is my responsibility!"

"I'm not coming back today. Deal with it."

She hung up on me.

The Uber pulled up to her clinic right as the line went dead.

I scrambled out and headed for the door.

Through the glass, I saw Sienna. She was still in her white wedding dress.

She was sitting on a sofa, laughing with a man.

I recognized him instantly. It was Caleb Sterling.

He was the one who got away, the high-achiever who had moved to London years ago. He'd only been back in town for a month.

Sienna took a small white cat from his hands.

They leaned their heads together, whispering sweet things to the animal.

To anyone else, they looked like a perfect, happy couple.

Then Caleb reached out. He grabbed her waist and kissed her deeply.

Sienna didn't pull away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

My bride was kissing another man on our wedding day.

The pieces finally clicked together.

The cat wasn't the one in heat. Caleb was.

And Sienna was more than happy to provide the cure.

I couldn't understand why. We had been together for seven years.

2.

Looking back, the signs of her cheating were everywhere.

Her workload had seemed lighter lately. She spent all her time obsessing over one white cat.

She gave that cat more attention than our own pets.

The cat's name was CeeCee.

That was the cat she was holding in the clinic.

I had asked her why she was so attached to it once.

"I just like her," she had said with a sweet smile.

I was a fool to believe her.

She didn't love the cat. She loved the owner.

She even named the cat after himDCeeCee for Caleb.

She started going on business trips every weekend, something she never did before.

She started wearing makeup daily, even though she used to hate it.

Then there was the faint scent of men's cologne on her clothes.

And the red marks on her neck that she tried to hide.

Everything was right in front of me.

But I chose to believe her lies.

She told me she just wanted to feel pretty.

She said the cologne smell was from a client at a dinner meeting.

She claimed the marks on her neck were just skin irritation.

Standing outside the clinic, I felt a wave of nausea hit me.

Nobody should have to go through this on their wedding day.

Inside, the two of them were still locked in a passionate embrace.

I forced myself to stop shaking. I pulled out my phone and took a photo.

I'm a lawyer. I know how to handle these situations.

Anger wouldn't get me anywhere. I needed to be cold. I needed a plan.

3.

I went back to the wedding venue alone.

My eyes burned as I drove.

I looked at the wedding band on my finger and remembered the day she proposed to me.

She had dressed up in a giant teddy bear suit outside my office.

When I walked by, she pulled off the mask, sweaty and smiling.

"Rowan Vance, I love you. Will you be mine forever?"

She was a sweet girl from the South back then. Her voice was like honey.

I fell for her hard that day.

I had liked her since college, but she was with Caleb back then.

I kept my feelings buried for years until they broke up.

I thought our life together was perfect. She had a temper, sure, but I could handle it.

I thought she loved me.

I would have bet my life that she would never cheat.

I had seen the way she looked at me. I thought it was real.

But reality had just slapped me across the face.

Back at the hotel, I saw Caleb had updated his Instagram.

We were all classmates, so we still followed each other.

I usually ignored social media, but he had sent the post directly to my DM.

It was a photo of two hands locked together.

The caption read: "After all these years, I'm glad I'm still the one in your heart."

I knew those slender fingers. They belonged to Sienna.

The comments were already blowing up with people we knew.

"Whoa, Caleb! Are you and Sienna back together?"

"Omg, this is huge news!"

"Wait, isn't Sienna getting married today?"

Caleb only replied to the last one.

"She ditched the wedding for me."

He was gloating. He was rubbing my face in it.

I gripped my phone so hard I thought the screen would shatter.

Sienna had sworn she would only ever love me.

Yet she abandoned me at the altar for a man she hadn't seen in years.

She had been caring for his cat for two years behind my back.

Her heart had left me a long time ago. I was just the last to know.

I was such a damn fool.

I forced myself to stay professional. I went around to every table, apologizing to the guests.

By the time the room was empty, I felt like a hollow shell.

I sat in the corner of the silent ballroom, and the grief finally hit me.

My phone buzzed. It was a text from Sienna.

"I'm not coming home tonight. Still busy at work."

At the same time, Caleb sent me another DM.

It was a video of Sienna laughing. "Come on, baby! We're going to miss the sunrise!"

His caption: "Watching the sunrise with my favorite girl."

A chill spread through my entire body.

Her work emergency was actually a romantic trip to Lovers' Peak.

There was an old legend about that mountain.

If a couple watched the sunrise from the top, they would stay together forever.

I had asked her to go there with me a dozen times.

She always said, "I have to watch CeeCee. Her owner is very picky."

All those years of love, and I never really had her heart.

4.

I pulled out my phone, my hands shaking as I dialed her number.

The idea of divorce was already set in stone.

We had actually signed the marriage license a few days before the ceremony.

We were so happy that day. She had kissed the paper and whispered, "Rowan, you're my only husband. I love you."

Her eyes had been so full of devotion.

I truly didn't understand how she could flip a switch like this.

She didn't pick up. The automated voicemail felt like a hammer hitting my chest.

I went home. The house was covered in wedding decorations and flowers.

A small lamp was on in the master bedroom. The room looked beautiful.

I had wanted to give her a night she would never forget.

Well, I certainly wouldn't forget this night either.

I started packing my bags. I planned to move out the next morning.

Then I called my boss. I told him I'd take the job offer in Chicago.

Chicago was a major hub. As an elite lawyer, it was the best move for my career.

I had turned it down months ago because Sienna wanted to stay in this small town.

"Didn't you just get married today?" my boss asked, sounding confused.

"What about your wife?"

I kept my voice flat. "We're getting a divorce."

"Rowan Vance, what did you just say?"

Sienna was standing in the doorway. She looked shocked.

She had changed out of her wedding dress into a man's oversized hoodie. She was soaking wet.

It had started pouring rain outside.

I guess God didn't want them climbing Lovers' Peak after all.

I told my boss I'd call him back and hung up.

"I said I'm divorcing you."

Everything she did today had killed whatever love I had left.

"Rowan!" she screamed, rushing over to grab my collar.

"Are you trying to start a fight for no reason?"

"I told you I was busy today! Why are you being so selfish?"

"Do you expect me to let an animal die just because we're getting married?"

We had been together for seven years, and I realized I didn't know her at all.

She was a master liar.

She thought that as long as I didn't catch her in the act, she could gaslight me forever.

"Sienna, I saw you today," I said coldly.

"CeeCee belongs to Caleb. The cat wasn't in heat. Caleb was."

"You two looked pretty busy with that kiss."

Her face went pale for a split second.

Then she gritted her teeth. "So what? CeeCee is his cat. I didn't hide that. You just never asked!"

"And the kiss? It was nothing! He was upset, he's an old friend. I was just comforting him!"

I stared at her, wondering if she even had a soul.

She had no moral compass left.

I was done talking.

"If you think you did nothing wrong, then keep doing it. I don't care anymore."

"I'll have the divorce papers ready tomorrow."

I tried to walk past her, but she grabbed my arm.

"I know you're just mad about the wedding. But I told you, we'll do it another day. Don't be so dramatic!"

I couldn't even look at her.

"Sienna, it's over."

I walked out. She started blowing up my phone with texts.

"Rowan, I can't believe you. Remember your vows?"

"Come back right now and I might forgive you. Otherwise, I'm never marrying you again."

I had vowed to love her forever.

But she cheated. There was no coming back from that.

I didn't reply. I checked into a hotel for the night.

The next morning, she sent another message.

"I'm at the clinic. I'm having Caleb explain everything to you."

I decided to go. I needed to drop off the divorce papers anyway.

Plus, I wanted to get Lucky.

Lucky was a stray we found years ago. He was sick, and Sienna had been treating him at her clinic.

When I arrived, I saw Caleb wiping Sienna's face with a napkin.

He jumped up when he saw me.

"Rowan, hey. You're here."

"Sienna had something on her face and her hands were full, so I was just"

"Caleb, you don't have to explain anything to him," Sienna snapped. "We haven't done anything wrong."

She looked at me without a hint of guilt.

Caleb looked down, acting shy. "No, I should apologize. Rowan, I'm sorry I ruined your wedding yesterday."

I didn't even look at him. I threw the divorce papers onto the counter in front of Sienna.

She saw the bold letters at the top and her expression shifted to rage.

"Rowan Vance, how long are you going to keep this up? I told Caleb to explain it!"

Caleb added, "Yeah, Rowan. It was just a small misunderstanding. Don't throw away a whole relationship over this."

Sienna looked at me with disgust. "I'm giving you a way out of this fight. Stop being so stubborn."

"When we redo the wedding, I'll explain it to the guests. Is that enough for you?"

She didn't think she was wrong. She thought I was the problem.

You can't wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.

I suddenly wanted her to feel exactly what I felt.

I wanted her to know what it was like to be abandoned at the altar.