Rachel arrived within minutes and hugged me fiercely while saying, “Tell me what happened Audrey,” so I explained the messages and the betrayal before she immediately helped me pack clothes and documents while repeating firmly, “You are not staying here to clean up his mess.”
That same night we decided I would use the honeymoon ticket to travel alone to Maui, and by the next morning I returned to the apartment while Colin slept on the couch before leaving a note beside the coffee machine that simply read, I will not be attending the wedding, you made your choice and I made mine.
The flight to Hawaii felt like a strange kind of rebirth as the city lights faded beneath the plane, and when I reached the ocean resort I spent the morning that should have been my wedding day watching the sunrise while my phone filled with angry messages from Colin’s relatives demanding explanations I no longer felt responsible for giving.
Colin called once during the ceremony hour, his voice cracking as he begged, “Please come back Audrey everyone is here,” but I answered calmly, “I am not ruining the wedding Colin, you already did,” before ending the call and blocking his number.