He Invited Me to His Wedding Novel Chapter 5 – Ethan froze for a moment, clearly not understanding.
“What do you mean, Mrs. Grant? What Mrs. Grant?”
“Lily, are you daydreaming in broad daylight? You haven’t even had a drink and you’ re already talking nonsense.
“Come on, take a cab and get over here. My parents are waiting at the venue.”
“I told you again.”
I’m busy,” I said coolly. “My husband’s taking me out for Beef Wellington tonight. Don’t call
I hung up and immediately put my phone on silent. No way was I letting him bother me again.
At The Crown Steakhouse, Andrew and I had just sat down when Ethan showed up – still wearing his groom’s tuxedo.
He looked livid.
“Lily, what the hell are you doing here with Mr. Grant?!”
I raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you supposed to be getting married right now? What are you doing here?”
“How did you even know I was here?”
Then it hit me
after all these years, our location sharing had never been turned off.
I pulled out my phone and shut it off right in front of him.
His jaw dropped in disbelief.
“Don’t look so shocked,” I said flatly. “We’ re done. You don’t get to know where I am anymore.”
“What do you mean we’ re done? You’ re my girlfriend!”
I let out a laugh that sounded colder than I intended.
“Ethan, do you hear yourself? You just married Grace Miller today, and I got my marriage license with Andrew Grant. We’ve officially moved on. Whatever we had is over. Completely.”
Ethan grabbed my wrist, desperation creeping into his voice.
“Stop talking nonsense, Lily. I told you
Grace and I are just going through the motions. The wedding’s just symbolic. Once it’s over, things will go back to normal. You’ re still my girlfriend. That’s never changed.”
Andrew calmly reached over and pulled Ethan’s hand off me.
“I’d appreciate it if you showed some respect to my wife.”
“Your wife?” Ethan’s voice cracked. “Mr. Grant, what are you even talking about? Lily’s my girlfriend. When did she become your wife?”
“Today,” Andrew said simply.
He pulled out the marriage certificate and handed it to Ethan.
“See for yourself. It’s official. We’ re legally married.”
Ethan’s face went pale. His voice rose, trembling with disbelief.
“Lily Bennett, how could you just marry someone else out of the blue?”
Then he turned to Andrew, his voice breaking.
“You knew she was my girlfriend! She’s been with me for ten years can’t pretend you didn’t know that!”
she was pregnant with my child! You
Andrew’s fist came down before Ethan could even finish. The punch sent him stumbling backward.
“You still remember she carried your child?” Andrew’s voice was sharp, controlled, but full of rage.
“Then why did you leave her bleeding on the side of the road to go chase your mistress? You call yourself a man?”
“Ethan Cole, you’ re nothing but a coward.”
Ethan clutched his jaw, his face burning red.
“Mr. Grant, she was pregnant with my child! How could you accept that?”
I rose slowly to my feet, smoothing the front of my dress.
Then I turned in a small circle, my voice calm – almost too calm.
“My stomach’s flat now, isn’t it?”
Ethan’s eyes widened as if he’d been slapped again.
“Where’s the baby? Lily
where’s our baby?”
I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes.
“The moment you told me to get out of your car, Ethan, that baby was gone. Maybe he realized this world
this family – wasn’t worth coming into.”
I took a breath, my voice soft but steady.
“Maybe it’s fate. You and I were never meant to be tied together in the first place.”
Ethan’s face drained of color, fear creeping into his expression for the first time.
His phone started ringing again. I gave him a pointed look.
“Go on, answer it. I’m guessing that’s Grace. You’ re probably late for your big ceremony.”
“She’s probably losing her mind right now,” I added, a faint smirk tugging at my lips. “You running off mid-wedding what will the guests think?”
Hands trembling, Ethan finally picked up.
“Grace, I-I had something come up. Tell the hotel to start serving dinner first-”
Grace’s furious voice erupted through the phone.
“Dinner? The ceremony hasn’t even started! You can’t just leave – this is completely out of order! Where the hell are you, Ethan? Get back here right now!”
“What could possibly be more important than our wedding? Do you want to make me a laughingstock in front of everyone?”
I leaned over, took my phone, and sent Grace my live location – with my live location attached.
Come pick up your husband. He’s being really annoying.
It didn’t take long before Grace showed up still wearing her strapless, floor-length wedding gown.
She must’ve rushed straight from Empire Hall at Skylight Spire, because in her panic she kept stepping on the hem, nearly tripping several times. The once-pristine white fabric was now streaked with dirt and footprints, a mess of lace and mud.
The moment she spotted me inside the restaurant, she stormed forward and raised her hand to slap me.
But before it could land, Andrew caught her wrist midair.
“Ow! You’ re hurting me – let go!”
He shoved her hand away, his voice sharp.
“Control your woman, Ethan.”
Ethan scowled.
“What are you doing here, Grace? It’s our wedding day what kind of scene is this with both the bride and groom gone?”
Grace turned on him, furious.
“Oh, so you do remember it’s our wedding day! Then why did you abandon me at the ceremony to come chasing after Lily Bennett?”
Ethan’s temper snapped.
“What’s wrong with that? She’s my real girlfriend!”
“You wanted a wedding and a white dress fine, I gave you that much. But because of you, Lily went and
married someone else!”
Grace blinked, stunned at first and then she burst out laughing.
“Lily Bennett actually married someone else? You mean this slick-looking guy here?” She tilted her chin toward Andrew, her voice dripping with mockery.
“Wow, you’ re really something, huh? Do you even know what kind of woman you just married? She’s been sleeping with Ethan for ten years! She even got pregnant with his kid!”
“Tell me, Mr. Grant – You really don’t mind being someone’s second choice’ ‘?”
Her words were venomous, and for a brief moment, I thought I might actually slap her myself.
Then she noticed my flat stomach – realization dawning in her eyes.