He Married Her While I Waited at the Altar, I Called My Mother While She Called Me Back Chapter 03
“Stella, don’t go online today.”
Riley’s message was sent at 2 a.m., but I didn’t see it until 7 a.m.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your photos are all over Twitter.”
I opened Twitter.
The #1 trending topic: [The Sterling Engagement Farce: Bride-to-be Left Alone in Ballroom for
Three Hours]
The attached photos were secretly taken by guests.
In a borrowed dress, sitting at an empty head table, I was smiling and toasting people by myself.
The comments were brutal.
“Renting a dress for her own engagement? So tacky. Why force it if you don’t have the money?”
“Lmao, getting ghosted in front of 200 people and still trying to cover for him saying he’s on a
business trip.”
“The ultimate clown of the year award goes to her.”
I locked my phone.
Two minutes later, I opened it again because a call was coming in.
It wasn’t Julian.
It was his mother.
“Stella, dear, I need to discuss something with you.”
Her tone was far more polite than usual-so polite it gave me the creeps.
“Don’t look at the nonsense online. I’m having people take it down.”
“You can’t take it down, Mrs. Sterling.”
“Then let’s handle this another way.”
She paused.
“Stella, let me be honest with you. When Hailey came back from abroad the year before last, she was hesitating, so Julian came up with an idea.”
“What idea?”
“To find someone to stage an engagement with, just to push Hailey a little.”
My ears were ringing.
“Are you saying the engagement was fake?”
“I wouldn’t call it fake, exactly… just going through the motions.”
I looked down at the silver ring on my finger.
It cost $30 at a little stall on Cobblestone Lane.
I picked it out. I bought the pair.
He wore his for two days and took it off. I had worn mine for three years.
“Mrs. Sterling, I printed the two hundred invitations. I paid the deposit for the ballroom.”
“Julian will pay you back for the money.”
“When?”
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end.
“When his finances loosen up a bit. By the way, Stella, about that $200,000 you fronted for his
company-
“What about it?”
“The company’s cash flow is really tight right now, could you possibly…”
I didn’t let her finish.
I hung up, opened my banking app, and checked the joint savings account I had with Julian.
Balance: zero.
The last withdrawal was three days ago, the day he and Hailey got their marriage license. He took
The memo read: Honeymoon Fund.
That $300,000 was what I had saved up from doing freelance work for half a year.
He said a joint account was convenient and that it would become marital property once we got
married anyway.
I believed him.
My phone buzzed. It was Riley.
“Stella, there’s something I shouldn’t hide from you anymore.”
She sent a screenshot.
An iMessage group chat screenshot.
The group name was “Julian’s Exclusive Prep Team.”
Julian had sent a message in it the night before the engagement party.
“Once tomorrow’s play is over, we wrap it up. Don’t let anything slip to Stella.”
The replies below were uniform:
“Copy that.”
“Julian, you’re a legend.”
“I can’t believe Stella, that clown, actually bought it.”
The last message was sent by Julian himself.
A snickering emoji.
Riley sent another message:
“I’m so sorry. I only found out yesterday that you were actually dating him. He told everyone you were just stepping in temporarily to help out. If you don’t have a place to stay, come to mine.”
I stared at that screenshot for a long time.
“Clown.”
They called me a clown, and he replied with a snickering emoji.
At 9 p.m., Julian finally called.
“Stella, don’t take what my mom said to heart. She’s just bad with words.”
“What about the screenshot in the group chat?”
Silence for three seconds.
“Who showed you that? That was just my friends messing around.”
“Was the snickering emoji also just messing around?”
He sighed, clear impatience in his tone.
“Stella, can you stop obsessing over these little things? I said I’d come back and explain.”
“When have you ever not said that?”
“Then what exactly do you want?”
I gripped my phone and didn’t speak.
He waited a few seconds, his tone softening slightly.
“Don’t get emotional right now. It’s not what you think.”
“I’ll come back and explain everything face to face.”