My Husband-to-be wants his Bestie to wear white

Before the wedding, when I walked out of the bridal fitting room, I saw Ethan's childhood best friend, Serena, wearing a gorgeous white gown.

Our friends were all showering her with compliments: "Serena, you look even better in this dress than the actual bride." I stood there awkwardly.

Serena pretended to look guilty and said, "Chloe, if you don't like it, I can go change." But Ethan immediately jumped to her defense: "Serena spent a whole month preparing to be your maid of honor.

It's just a dress. You're still the bride anyway." Though my chest tightened with resentment, I kept quiet, reminding myself that our wedding was tomorrow.

That night, the wedding planner handed me a flash drive, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "Chloe, are you sure you want to play this video at the ceremony?" I opened the video.

It was supposed to be a romantic montage of my journey with Ethan. But as it played, I realized I only appeared for about ten seconds. The rest of the footage was entirely Serena.

Near the end, there was even the sound of Serena softly moaning during some private moment. I let out a cold laugh and looked at the planner. "The wedding is still on.

And yes, play this exact video." It was 1:30 AM when I finally walked out of the design studio.

Ethan chased me to the elevator, slamming his hand against the closing doors to stop them. "Chloe, stop." Serena was right behind him, her eyes red, clutching the hard drive with the wedding video.

I held down the door open button, staring at them blankly. Ethan gritted his teeth, his voice low and angry. "The wedding is tomorrow. All our relatives are already in town.

If you throw a tantrum now, you're embarrassing both of our families." "Who's throwing a tantrum?" I asked calmly. He choked on his words, unable to answer.

Serena spoke up first. "I picked the clips, and I did the editing. Ethan had nothing to do with it. I just thought those memories were precious and wanted to give him a surprise.

I didn't think you'd mind so much." She held out the hard drive, tears welling in her eyes. "If you don't like it, I'll delete it right now." Ethan immediately grabbed her hand, pulling her back. "Delete what?

Chloe didn't go to high school or college with me.

Does that mean we're not allowed to talk about those years?" Watching him protect her, my mind flashed back to two weeks ago when I was trying on my wedding dress.

Ethan had promised to come with me. I waited from morning until dusk, standing in front of the mirror in a thirtypound gown, calling him seven times.

When he finally answered the last call, I could hear the wind howling on his end. "Serena just broke up with her boyfriend.

She's drinking by the river alone." He told me to grow up, his tone full of annoyance. "You can try on the dress any day. She's emotionally unstable.

If something happens to her, can you take responsibility?" In the end, the shop assistant took a quick photo of me in the dress.

When Ethan came home that night, he didn't even look at the photo.

He just muttered a dry, "Looks good." The very next day, he took Serena to the boutique and customordered an expensive gown for her.

I pulled myself out of the memory and looked at them. "Since the video is so precious, keep it." Ethan's face softened slightly. "That's more like it.

You're just stressed about the wedding. You'll feel better after some sleep." He took the hard drive from Serena and shoved it into my hands. "Go back to the hotel first.

I'll drop Serena off and doublecheck tomorrow's schedule." "It's 1:30 AM, Ethan." Serena waved her hands quickly. "No, it's fine.

I can just call an Uber." Ethan frowned. "It's the middle of the night.

How can a girl take an Uber alone?" He turned to me, speaking as if it were the most logical thing in the world. "Your hotel is only a tenminute walk from here. Just walk back.

Serena lives on the Westside. I won't feel safe unless I drive her." Our new house was on the Eastside.

My wedding shoes, jewelry, and the silk robe I was supposed to wear tomorrow morning were all there.

We had agreed to go there together tonight to pick them up after leaving the studio. He had completely forgotten. And I didn't bother reminding him. "Go ahead," I said.

Before the elevator doors shut, Serena's whiny voice drifted in. "It's all your fault for insisting on using those photos.

Chloe must hate me now." Ethan was whispering back to soothe her. "She won't stay mad at me.

I'll just apologize tomorrow morning, and she'll be fine." As the elevator went down, I took out my phone.

I cancelled the wedding cars for tomorrow morning and sent a new itinerary to the officiant.

My phone rang almost instantly. "Chloe, are you sure you want to cancel the first look and the vow exchange?" "Yes." "But Ethan doesn't know about this yet." I looked at my pale reflection in the elevator doors. "I paid for the majority of the wedding.

Just follow the new schedule. I'll cover any cancellation or modification fees." When I got to our house, a pair of white high heels was sitting in the entryway. They weren't mine.

Next to the shoe rack was a pink suitcase, halfunzipped, revealing a champagnecolored bridesmaid dress. I pushed open the guest bedroom door.

The bed was piled with clothes and makeup. Serena's perfume was sitting on the vanity, and a halfempty glass of water was on the nightstand.

We had agreed that my parents would stay here after the wedding. I had personally changed the bedsheets yesterday. I dialed Ethan's number.

He took a long time to answer.

Loud music blasted in the background, and I could hear Serena laughing, telling him to skip the song. "What is it now?" Ethan snapped. "When did Serena move in?" The other end went quiet for a second. "Her place is too far.

She has to get her makeup done at 4:00 AM tomorrow, so I told her to put her stuff here first." "She didn't just put her stuff here." "We worked late last night, so she just slept in the guest room." His patience was clearly wearing thin. "I was home too.

Do you have to make everything sound so dirty?" So that was why he didn't reply to my texts last night. He wasn't busy hosting relatives.

He was sleeping in our house with Serena. "Where are my parents supposed to sleep tomorrow night?" Ethan had clearly forgotten about them.

After a few seconds of silence, he brushed it off. "There are plenty of hotels nearby.

Can't they just stay at one?" "Serena is definitely going to drink tomorrow, and it's not convenient for her to go back to the Westside.

It's better if she stays here." I gripped my phone, suddenly feeling completely empty. When we bought the house, he said it was our home.

When we renovated it, he said the guest room was for our parents.

But the night before our wedding, Serena got to sleep here just because it was "inconvenient" for her, while my parents had to drag their luggage to a hotel. "I get it," I said.

I hung up, packed Serena's things back into her suitcase, and booked a local courier service. The delivery address was Ethan's parents' house.

By 3:00 AM, the driver sent me a photo confirming delivery. After that, I logged into our shared wedding fund.

To make it easier to pay the vendors, I had transferred $30,000, and Ethan had put in $10,000. There should have been $16,000 left. But there was only $4,000.

A $12,000 withdrawal was labeled as "hotel venue final payment." But the hotel manager had sent me the receipt three hours ago, showing everything was fully paid.

I clicked on the recipient's details. Serena's Floral Studio. Registered owner: Serena. Last month, Serena's lease was up.

She had posted on her Instagram Story about how the landlord suddenly raised the rent and how she might have to close down.

Ethan had comforted her right in front of me: "If it closes, it closes. Don't stress yourself out over money." I thought he was just being a supportive friend.

But behind my back, he had taken $12,000 from our wedding account. He even tried to hide it under the guise of a hotel payment.

If I hadn't checked the account tonight, the expenses would have been mixed up after the wedding, and I would have never found out.

I took screenshots of the transactions and sent them to my lawyer along with the hotel receipts.

The lawyer called me back quickly. "The house is currently registered only under your name, and there's no coownership agreement.

So there's no dispute over the property." "But Ethan did pay $20,000 for the down payment and some renovations. We need to calculate that.

Do you want to settle it or go to court?" "Calculate it and pay him back." "What about the $12,000 taken from the joint account?" I stared at the transaction history. "Keep it as evidence for now." After hanging up, I called the bridal shop and cancelled the wedding gown rental.

Ethan wanted his ten years of youth with Serena? He could have it. But every single penny he took from me, I was going to get back.

At 5:30 AM, the makeup artist knocked on the door.

She stared at my casual clothes in surprise. "Chloe, aren't you putting on your silk robe first?" "No need." I asked her for a simple makeup look and pulled a red dress from my closet.

I wasn't going to wear a wedding dress today.

At 7:00 AM, Ethan finally realized the wedding cars hadn't shown up.

My phone started blowing up with Snapchat messages. "Where is the driver?" "Why aren't they here yet?" "Chloe, today is our wedding.

Can you stop being petty?" Serena sent a voice note right after. "Chloe, if you're still mad at me, I can back out of the wedding.

Please don't let me get between you and Ethan." Several of our mutual friends chimed in. "Chloe, let's get through the wedding first.

We can talk about everything else later." "Serena and Ethan have known each other for ten years.

If they wanted to be together, they would have been a long time ago." "She already offered to back out.

Don't push her too hard." Nobody asked why my story wasn't in the wedding video. Nobody asked why Serena had been sleeping in my house.

Everyone just assumed that because I was the one expressing discomfort, I was the one ruining the mood. I muted the group chat. When I walked downstairs, my dad's car was waiting.

He opened the door for me, asking no questions. My mom was sitting in the back seat, her eyes swollen. I had sent them the bank records, the video, and the audio clip last night.

She squeezed my hand, her palm trembling. "Chloe, it's not too late to back out." I leaned against her shoulder and nodded. "Because it's not too late, I can't take another step forward." There were over three hundred guests at the venue.

By the time I arrived, the reception was almost over. Ethan was standing at the entrance of the ballroom in his tuxedo, his face dark. Serena stood right next to him.

She wasn't wearing her champagne bridesmaid dress. Instead, she had changed into a white silk gown with a long train, a corsage pinned to her chest.

From a distance, she looked much more like the bride than I did.

Before I could even get close, a relative who didn't know me walked up and handed her a wedding gift. "Congratulations!

I hope you guys have a beautiful family soon!" Serena blushed. "Oh, you misunderstand. I'm not the bride." Despite her words, she didn't step back.

She just held the gift and looked at Ethan. Ethan smiled and brushed it off. "She's my best friend.

The real bride hasn't arrived yet." The relative quickly took the gift back, looking between the two of them. "Oh, the maid of honor!

You two look so good together, I thought you were the couple." Ethan didn't try to distance himself at all. He just gave a helpless smile. "We grew up together.

Everyone says that." Serena looked down, playing with her corsage, unable to hide her smug grin. She was the first to spot me.

She tugged at Ethan's sleeve, and when he turned around and saw my red dress, his expression froze. "Where is your wedding dress?" "I returned it." He walked over quickly, lowering his voice. "Not wearing a wedding dress to your own wedding?

What are people going to think of me?" I looked past his shoulder at Serena in her white gown. "Isn't someone already wearing one for me?" Serena's eyes immediately filled with tears. "Chloe, I didn't mean to wear white.

You sent my suitcase away, and I couldn't find any other dress in time." "Your suitcase was delivered to Ethan's parents' house at 3:00 AM.

It's only a tenminute drive from the hotel." Her face went stiff. Ethan immediately stepped in front of her. "She's been busy setting up the venue since early morning.

How could she have time to drive back and forth?" I looked at him. "Why were her clothes at our house in the first place?" The guests around us were starting to whisper.

Ethan's brow furrowed, his voice laced with warning. "I'm not fighting with you today. The ceremony is starting.

Go fix your makeup." He grabbed my arm. "And stop throwing a fit about the video. Serena stayed up for nights to edit it.

Our families are waiting to watch it." I pulled my arm back. "Don't worry. I won't skip a single second." He assumed I was finally behaving, and his expression relaxed slightly.

As he brushed past me, he whispered, "Don't make a fool of yourself in front of three hundred people."

At 10:18 AM, the ceremony officially began. The lights dimmed. Ethan stood in the center of the stage, holding a bouquet of flowers, smiling as he looked toward the entrance.

But it wasn't the wedding march that started playing. The giant screen flickered to life.

A seventeenyearold Ethan in his high school jacket appeared, riding his bike with Serena on the back.

Serena hugged his waist, screaming into the wind: "Ethan, you have to ride with me forever!" The ballroom fell quiet for a second, followed by polite laughter.

Many guests assumed this was the couple's high school romance. But in the next scene, at their college graduation, Serena threw herself into Ethan's arms.

For the next ten years, every birthday, New Year's Eve, breakup, and business venture—they were together in every single clip. The laughter in the room began to fade.

People started whispering. "Is that the maid of honor at the door?" "Why is she in all the clips?" "Whose wedding is this anyway?" I had been with Ethan for six years.

Our first date, our first trip, our engagement, our househunting—none of it was there. In the fifteenminute video, I only appeared three times.

The first was a group photo from a dinner party where I was standing at the very edge while Ethan and Serena sat together.

The second was a splitsecond shot of my side profile during his proposal. The camera lingered on me for two seconds before cutting to Serena crying tears of joy.

The third was a photo from our engagement party. Serena stood between us, one arm around Ethan, the other on my shoulder. Six years of my life were cut down to seven seconds.

While their ten years filled my wedding screen.

On screen, a twentythreeyearold Serena leaned on Ethan's shoulder, drunk. "If we get married to other people, can we still be like this?" Ethan wiped her tears away. "No matter who I marry, you will always be the most important person in my life." The ballroom went dead silent.

Serena's face turned white. She seemed to finally realize what this "surprise" she had personally edited looked like to three hundred guests.

She rushed toward the control booth. "Turn it off!

Turn it off now!" But the staff, following my instructions, blocked her. "Chloe requested to play the whole thing." Ethan whipped his head around to look at me. "Chloe, did you do this on purpose?" I sat between my parents, calmly meeting his gaze. "Didn't you say I wasn't allowed to edit out a single frame?" The video ended with their trip to the beach when they were twentyfive.

Serena stood barefoot on the sand. "Ethan, if neither of us is married by thirty, let's just be together." He smiled and hooked his pinky with hers. "Deal.

Whoever backs out is a dog." The screen froze on that image.

A line of text appeared in the center of the screen: To Ethan and Serena, and their ten years of youth. Ethan walked toward the control booth with a grim expression, thinking the worst of it was over.

But the screen didn't turn off. From the dark screen, Serena's voice suddenly rang out. "Ethan, are you really marrying Chloe tomorrow?" Ethan froze in his tracks.

The color drained from his face as if he had just remembered something. "Turn it off!" he screamed, lunging at the controls.

But the speakers blared Serena's voice again: "Once you marry her, does that mean you can't take care of me anymore?" After a brief static crackle, Ethan's laughing voice replied: "She's suitable to be a wife.

She's soft, familyoriented, and she'll take good care of my parents." "But you're different." "If I ever cut you off, I'd regret it for the rest of my life."