He leaned back and shrugged. “I don’t have any spare money right now—I sent it all to my mom. Will you pay for the wedding yourself?” I tasted blood where my cheek met my teeth, then I smiled anyway. “Fine.” Wedding morning, his car idled outside my building like nothing was wrong. My dress hung untouched. My hands didn’t shake—until the lobby doors opened and my father stepped out instead of me. He looked straight at him and said, “You’re marrying her… over my dead name.” And that was only the first surprise.
Jason Miller proposed in my favorite little Italian place downtown—candles, violin music, the whole rom-com package. I said yes because I believed him when he whispered, “I’ll take care of you, Em. Always.” Three months later, we were sitting at my kitchen counter with a stack of wedding invoices between us. Jason scrolled through his…