Now he was learning that paperwork traveled faster than trains.
“You said you didn’t want me there,” I continued.
“So I’m respecting that.”
“You are trying to ruin my wedding.”
I looked at the receipt folder beside me.
“Your wedding happened yesterday.
I paid for most of it.
Apparently I wasn’t important enough to attend it, but my bank account was.”
“Nobody asked you to spend that much.”
That sentence was almost identical to Mom’s.
They had rehearsed this without realizing it.
“You sent me invoices,” I said.
“You called me when deposits were due.
You gave vendors my contact information.
You asked me to cover the venue when your card limit wasn’t enough.
Would you like me to read your messages back to you?”
He lowered his voice.
“Don’t do this in front of everyone.”
There it was.
Not don’t do this because you’re wrong.
Don’t do it where people can see.
I leaned back against the headboard.
“You sent me to the wrong city in front of everyone.”
“That was a prank.”
“No.
A prank ends when both people laugh.
You excluded me from a wedding I financed and let me board a plane believing I was going to join my family.
Then you texted me that you never wanted me there.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“Then the document shouldn’t bother you.”
I heard someone nearby ask Ethan what was happening.
He covered the phone badly.
His answer came through muffled.
“Nothing.
It’s just Alyssa.”
Just Alyssa.
Those two words had followed me my whole life.
Just Alyssa could sit at the end of the table.
Just Alyssa could pay the restaurant bill.
Just Alyssa could drive three hours to help Mom move.
Just Alyssa would understand when Ethan forgot her birthday.
Just Alyssa would fix the problem.
Just Alyssa would get over it.
I opened my laptop.
“Ethan, I emailed you last night.”
“I haven’t checked my email.
I’ve been busy.”
“You should.”
He pulled the phone away.
I heard tapping, then nothing.
The email was short.
I had attached the original agreement, the ledger of transfers, and the receipts showing exactly what I’d paid.
I had also stated that because our relationship had clearly been misrepresented to me while I was being asked to fund the wedding, I would no longer handle any informal expenses, extensions, or additional payments on his behalf.
Most importantly, I was asking him to follow the repayment agreement exactly as written.
No more “after the honeymoon.”
No more “when things settle down.”
