I Was The Spare Seat The Spare Gift And The Spare Bride novel Chapter 04
The living room went silent for one second. Then Liam’s voice, “You won’t be alone.”
A knock came at my door. Liam was standing there, already trying to soften the blow. “Ella—this award is a huge deal for Naomi. It’s once in a lifetime.”
“What if we just pushed the wedding to the evening?”
I almost laughed. As if a wedding happened more than once?
A staff member muttered, “Who has a wedding at night? Only second marriages do that.”
Mom snapped, “Nonsense! Don’t listen to old superstitions.”
Liam’s voice was gentle and certain. “Ella, okay? You’re the most understanding.”
I looked at him. And remembered when I was little—I’d finally won an art contest and was so excited for my parents to come.
They said Naomi’s speech competition was more important, so they went there instead. Liam felt sorry for me.
“Don’t worry—I’ll definitely come watch you accept your award.” But he went to Naomi’s speech too. I stood alone on that stage, surrounded by other people’s parents and other people’s applause.
And here I was—still alone.
“Fine. Evening works for me.”
Without a bride, what did timing matter?
They celebrated. The living room rang with laughter.
At the end, Liam was drunk. They say drunk words are true. I looked into his blurry eyes and asked. “Liam. Are you looking forward to our wedding?”
He didn’t answer. The wind blew cold between us.
“Then why did you even say you wanted me in the first place?” I knew it was out of spite. But I wanted to hear him say it.
His voice was thick and slurred. “My whole life—settling for less… finding someone half like her—that’s the best I could get.”
“And you’re her sister. Being near you, I could still watch her…”
The wind stung my eyes. My tears had already dried up.
The truth was even crueler than I’d imagined.
…
Wedding day. Before dawn, the whole family was busy—but not for my wedding. Everyone was picking outfits, doing makeup, planning routes to Naomi’s awards ceremony.
I came out dressed. “I’ll skip the ceremony. I’ve got things to prepare at the venue.”
Liam didn’t look up—he was checking if Naomi had forgotten anything. “Go ahead. Don’t keep the guests waiting.”
I walked out the door with a very small bag. Then I headed to the airport.
As the car pulled away, I saw Liam’s car in the rearview mirror. The whole family piled in, smiling, driving toward Naomi’s ceremony.
The ceremony lasted four hours. Four hours later, I landed in Willow Creek.
My phone buzzed—a message from Liam. “Ella—since the wedding’s in the evening anyway, we’ll skip the pre-wedding family gathering and all that. I’ll come over later.”
“Naomi can’t handle this stuff on her own. You go to the hotel first, okay? Be good.”
I stared at those words for a long time. Then I blocked him and locked my screen.
Jade hugged me. “Let’s go.”
At the same time, Liam’s party finally wrapped up and rushed to the wedding venue. But chaos had already hit.
A friend grabbed him. “Wasn’t the bride supposed to be here early? No one’s seen her.”
Liam froze. The wedding planner ran over. “Mr. Hayes—the bride’s phone is off. We can’t reach her.”