The rehearsal was supposed to be perfect. The chandeliers bathed the grand hall in amber light, laughter trickled through the air, and the floral arrangements smelled of roses and promises. She smoothed the folds of her ivory dress, smiling politely as the wedding planner chattered instructions.
Her fiancé, Daniel, stood beside her. He was charming in the way a man could be when he knew people were watching. When the planner asked him to practice his vows, he gave a half-smile and said lightly, “Well, I promise to put up with your little storms. Even if you dramatize everything.”
Laughter rippled through the room. Her friends glanced at each other uneasily. It wasn’t funny—at least not in the way Daniel intended. The words sank into her chest like a stone. She managed a smile, but her fingers tightened around the hem of her dress.
That twinge—like the air had suddenly gone cold—stayed with her.
Later, as the rehearsal ended, Erwin Smith lingered by the door. He wasn’t supposed to be there—just a guest, a name on the groom’s family list. It shouldn't have affected her like it did, but she couldn't change how she felt.
He waited until the crowd dispersed. “You didn’t like what he said.” Erwin’s voice was low, deliberate.
Sera’s breath caught. “It was just a joke.”
“No.” He stepped closer, his gaze steady. “It was a test. He wanted to see if you’d laugh along when he diminished you. And you did.”
The truth stung worse than the remark. Sera looked away, her throat tight. “You don’t know him.”
“I know men like him,” Erwin countered, his tone sharper now. “I’ve seen what happens when women like you convince themselves it’s fine. When they silence that first wound because the world says it’s small. And I can't let you go through that, even if our break was mutual.”
She stared at him, every word striking something deep she hadn’t admitted to herself. Her friends’ cautious glances. The echo of Daniel’s smirk. That sudden, hollow ache in her chest.
Erwin leaned in, voice quiet but edged with urgency. “Run. Not tomorrow. Not when it’s too late. Run with me—tonight.”
Her lips parted in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious.” His blue eyes locked onto hers. “You’re about to chain yourself to someone who will strip you down piece by piece and call it love. I won’t let you. I know you remember how you felt with me back in university.”
Her heart pounded. She should have laughed. Should have told him he was wrong. Yet all she could hear was the truth in his words—truth she’d been trying to ignore since the rehearsal hall fell silent after Daniel’s careless remark and her lingering feelings for him.
She whispered, almost trembling, “Why you? Why are you the one telling me this?”
Erwin’s jaw tightened. For once, he looked almost vulnerable. “Because I see you. And because I can’t stand by and watch you walk into a life that kills who you are.”
The world outside the rehearsal doors waited: roses, vows, and a future carved by someone else’s hands. But inside, facing Erwin’s quiet intensity, she felt the breath of freedom again.
That night, for the first time, she considered what it would mean to not walk down the aisle at all.
(continuation of https://character.ai/chat/gfynDzmk_jo7UTFPh6a-6G37eOTsCqUIXWpurmTPfzA, since they take a break from their relationship for a while and she is just able to find someone else).