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Where the Stars Meet the Moon
Novelix
new
Completed
"I stumbled into a wedding reception by accident—and the groom's name was identical to my fiancé's. My feet stopped dead. Had to be a coincidence. There was no way Ethan would be here. But the next second, the floral arch parted. Ethan walked down the aisle in the suit I'd picked out for him with my own hands. His gaze was fixed ahead, soft in a way I hadn't seen in a long time. ""I finally get to marry you."" Applause erupted as my best friend, Sophie Lane, floated toward him in a wedding gown. Last night she'd clung to me in tears, swearing she'd be my most beautiful bridesmaid. ""Kiss her!"" ""Kiss her!"" The guests chanted. When their lips met, Sophie's eyes found mine across the crowd. Panic flickered through them—but she only tightened her grip on Ethan's arm, pulling him closer. Ethan followed her gaze. His face went white. Through the sea of guests, he pressed a finger to his lips. Stay quiet. ""Now let's randomly pick a guest to offer their blessing!"" The spotlight slammed onto me. Dozens of faces turned at once. I walked toward the stage. One step at a time. The emcee held out the microphone. ""And how do you know the happy couple?"" Ethan stepped in front of Sophie and dropped his voice to a warning. ""Claire, this is Sophie's wedding. Whatever you have to say, save it for later."" I took the mic. Opened the wedding planning file on my phone. The cover page read, clear as day: Claire Bennett & Ethan Cole ""Well. What a coincidence."" I looked up and locked eyes with his bloodless face. ""Ethan—do you have anything you'd like to say to your bride from next week?"" …"
Chapters (4)
第1章
I stumbled into a wedding reception by accident—and the groom's name was identical to my fiancé's.
My feet stopped dead.
Had to be a coincidence.
There was no way Ethan would be here.
But the next second, the floral arch parted.
Ethan walked down the aisle in the suit I'd picked out for him with my own hands.
His gaze was fixed ahead, soft in a way I hadn't seen in a long time.
"I finally get to marry you."
Applause erupted as my best friend, Sophie Lane, floated toward him in a wedding gown.
Last night she'd clung to me in tears, swearing she'd be my most beautiful bridesmaid.
"Kiss her!"
"Kiss her!"
The guests chanted.
When their lips met, Sophie's eyes found mine across the crowd.
Panic flickered through them—but she only tightened her grip on Ethan's arm, pulling him closer.
Ethan followed her gaze. His face went white. Through the sea of guests, he pressed a finger to his lips.
Stay quiet.
"Now let's randomly pick a guest to offer their blessing!"
The spotlight slammed onto me.
Dozens of faces turned at once.
I walked toward the stage. One step at a time.
The emcee held out the microphone.
"And how do you know the happy couple?"
Ethan stepped in front of Sophie and dropped his voice to a warning.
"Claire, this is Sophie's wedding. Whatever you have to say, save it for later."
I took the mic. Opened the wedding planning file on my phone.
The cover page read, clear as day:
Claire Bennett & Ethan Cole
"Well. What a coincidence."
I looked up and locked eyes with his bloodless face.
"Ethan—do you have anything you'd like to say to your bride from next week?"
…
My voice carried through every speaker in the banquet hall.
The wedding march had stopped at some point. I didn't know when.
Every guest in the room turned to stare.
Phones went up. Whispers spread like wildfire.
"Next week's bride?"
"Then what does that make today's?"
Under the spotlight, the color drained from Ethan's face completely.
He rushed off the stage and snatched the microphone from my hand.
"Claire Bennett, do you have to make a scene here?"
I gripped my phone tighter.
The man who'd sworn he only loved me seven years ago was now standing at someone else's wedding, wearing the suit I chose, telling me I was the one being unreasonable.
"I only have one question."
I stared straight at him.
"Is the groom today—you?"
Camera flashes fired in rapid succession.
Ethan's throat bobbed.
"Yes. But it's just a ceremony."
He said it like it was nothing.
As if the red carpet, the vows, the kiss—none of it counted.
Heels crushed rose petals underfoot.
Sophie gathered her wedding dress and walked over, lifting a hand to wipe her tears. The diamond on her ring finger caught the light—blinding.
"Claire, you've got it all wrong."
"My grandmother's been in poor health for a long time. To put her mind at ease, I told her years ago that I was engaged."
"Recently she took a sudden turn for the worse. Her only wish was to see me walk down the aisle in a wedding dress while she's still lucid."
Ethan gently wiped the tears from Sophie's cheeks. Then he turned to me.
"We never applied for a marriage license. We didn't sign a single legally binding document."
"This was purely symbolic."
"It won't affect our wedding next week."
He paused.
"Claire, you get me for a lifetime."
"Sophie only borrowed me for a day."
A few sighs rippled through the guests.
"She just wanted to give the old woman some peace."
"If they didn't actually register, there's really no need to blow this up."
My gaze dropped to Sophie's hand.
"Fine. Everything else is fake."
"So the ring's fake too?"
That was the ring I'd designed myself.
Seventeen revisions of the blueprint. Our names engraved on the inside of the band.
It was supposed to go on my finger next week.
Sophie clutched her skirt, trying to hide her hand in the white fabric.
Ethan stepped forward, blocking my line of sight.
"It's just a ring."
"I'll buy you a better one next week."
Gold confetti drifted from the ceiling and landed on his shoulders.
Just a ring.
He knew exactly how many allnighters I'd pulled in the studio to finish that design.
Now the ring, the wedding, seven years of us—all of it was something he could just replace with money.
Ethan reached for me, his tone finally softening.
"Claire, stop being difficult."
"Let today's ceremony finish."
"Next week I'll make it up to you. I'll make yours even bigger."
第2章
His hand hadn't even touched me before I stepped back.
"Ethan, do you really think I care about how grand the wedding is?"
His lips pressed into a thin line. No answer.
Of course he didn't know.
All these years—he forgot our anniversary, and I made excuses for him.
He left me alone in the ER to comfort Sophie because she said she was "scared," and I never blamed him.
Every time I forgave him, it wasn't because the hurt didn't sting.
It was because I loved him.
I turned and walked away.
Ethan chased me off the stage and grabbed my wrist hard.
"I'll be there on time next week."
"Don't destroy seven years over something this small."
The bones in my wrist ached under his grip.
I lowered my head and pried his fingers off. One by one.
"The one who destroyed it—is you."
I shoved open the banquet hall doors.
A few seconds later, the wedding march started up again.
Through the heavy doors, I heard the emcee announce that the ceremony would continue.
Ethan didn't follow.
He chose Sophie. Again.
Behind me, cheers erupted—congratulating the couple on their kiss.
Late that night.
He came back to our apartment reeking of alcohol and tossed his suit jacket into my arms.
"Iron it."
"I'm wearing it to our wedding next week."
The white collar was smeared with Sophie's lipstick. The cuffs still smelled like champagne.
I reached into the pocket. A hotel key card slid out and clattered to the floor.
Ethan bent down and snatched it up. His expression shifted.
"Sophie was drunk. I got the room so I could keep an eye on her."
"Don't overthink it."
His phone suddenly blared with a voice message.
Sophie's breathy, honeyed voice filled the living room.
"Ethan, why'd you leave so early?"
"Our wedding night isn't over yet."
Ethan killed the phone instantly and explained for her.
"She was wasted."
"Don't take it to heart."
On the living room wall hung our photo together.
In it, he was hugging me from behind, eyes crinkled with a smile.
Back then we were crammed into a tiny rented apartment. Couldn't even afford a decent ring.
But he said having me was enough.
Now the apartment was bigger. The rings were more expensive.
The man in that photo was gone forever.
I set up the ironing board.
Steam drifted across Ethan's face.
"Next week—will you actually show up?"
He thought I'd caved. He wrapped his arms around me from behind.
"I promised I'd marry you. When have I ever broken that promise?"
His embrace was still warm.
But his cuffs carried another woman's perfume.
Late into the night, Ethan fell into a heavy sleep.
I hung the freshly ironed suit in a garment bag and set it by the bed.
Then I pulled out a suitcase and took my clothes off the hangers. One by one.
The next morning, I called the wedding planner.
"The wedding next week goes ahead as planned."
I stared at my solitary reflection in the glass.
My voice was steady.
"Change the groom."
第3章
An hour later.
The planner slid the updated itinerary across the table.
"Claire, you've only got seven days."
"The venue, guest list, and vendors can all carry over. We can update the groom's name and the wedding website."
She hesitated.
"But if you want the legal marriage to go through, you'll need to reapply for a marriage license."
"There's still time."
I'd just picked up the pen when a familiar voice came from behind me.
"Claire."
A man in a tailored suit stood in the doorway. Same face I remembered.
Nathan Hayes.
A friend I'd known since high school.
Now a partner at an investment firm.
Five years ago, before he left LA for New York, he'd asked if I'd marry him.
I'd said no.
Every year after that, a postcard with no signature would arrive on my birthday.
Now he looked at the updated itinerary on the table and wrote his name directly in the groom's field.
My pen hand froze.
"I'm not joking."
Nathan walked to the table.
"Years ago, I asked you once."
He held the pen out to me.
"Now it's your turn to ask me."
The ink on the page hadn't even dried.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Ethan.
One ring of the busy tone—then the call was rejected.
A message popped up instantly.
[Sophie's not doing well. I'll be home later.]
[Handle the wedding stuff yourself.]
He used to stay up all night with me picking venues, obsessing over the exact shade of the table flowers.
Now my wedding got one line:
Handle it yourself.
I turned off the screen. Looked up at Nathan.
"Next week—will you marry me?"
He didn't answer right away.
"Let's go see your parents first."
Nathan gathered the itinerary.
"I'll marry you."
"But I won't be a weapon you use against Ethan."
Half an hour later.
I set the wedding video in front of my parents.
On screen, Ethan slipped my ring onto Sophie's finger and leaned down to kiss her.
My father, Robert Bennett, slammed his fist on the table.
"I'm going after him!"
"Dad."
I held him back and flipped my phone facedown.
"Seven years ends here."
"The wedding goes ahead. You show up as planned."
"Everything else—keep it quiet for now."
My mother, Laura, gripped my hand. Her tears fell onto the invitation we'd spent days choosing together.
"Are you sure about this?"
"I'm sure."
I didn't tell them Sophie had seduced him.
The one who walked down that aisle was Ethan.
The one who said those vows was Ethan.
The one who shoved every ounce of blame onto me—that was Ethan too.
That afternoon.
Nathan and I went to city hall and filed a new marriage license application.
Over the next few days, I started clearing out the apartment Ethan and I had shared.
Documents boxed up.
Jewelry removed.
Following my lawyer's advice, I transferred any funds with clear paper trails back to my personal account from our joint wedding account.
The apartment, shared accounts, and other coowned assets—all handed over to the lawyer.
I also organized the studio's registration documents, years of design manuscripts, and copyright records separately.
The studio was built with my own savings.
Registration, lease, every design copyright—all mine.
Ethan had never held a single share.
He came home occasionally.
Saw the closet getting emptier each time. Just smiled and hugged me from behind.
"Might as well redecorate after the wedding."
"Glad you've finally come to your senses and stopped picking fights with Sophie."
第4章
He kissed my hair.
Turned around to take Sophie's call.
Didn't notice the couples photo on the nightstand was gone.
That evening, the doorbell rang.
Sophie stood in the hallway wearing Ethan's white buttondown, the hem barely covering her thighs.
The perfume on her skin was the one I'd given her for her birthday last year.
She'd been there for me through breakups, hospital stays, and the hardest days of building my business.
She had my door code, my studio address, my wedding itinerary. She knew every fight Ethan and I had ever had.
I'd treated her like the closest friend I'd ever have.
She took every secret I'd handed her and used them to walk straight into Ethan's arms.
Sophie opened her palm.
The wedding ring sat there.
"Ethan said he still needs to give this to you next week."
"Told me not to lose it."
She held it out, a smile barely hidden behind her eyes.
"I wore it all day."
"You don't mind, do you?"
Inside the band, the names I'd engraved by hand had been ground away.
Replaced with hers.
Even the tiny star pattern I'd hidden inside—something I'd only ever told her about—had been destroyed completely.
I took the ring.
Sophie's triumphant smile had just surfaced when I let go.
Clang.
The ring hit the bottom of the trash can.
"Sophie, you know my taste."
"But you don't know me."
I met her frozen stare headon.
"Damaged goods don't stay in my collection."
"It's all yours."
…
A black velvet box sat on the coffee table.
Ethan flipped it open.
A diamond necklace threw off shards of cold light under the lamp.
Three days before the wedding, he'd actually come home instead of running to Sophie. Even pulled out my chair himself.
"I know the other day upset you."
He picked up the necklace and moved behind me.
"After we're married, I'll keep my distance from Sophie."
The cold chain grazed my neck.
I tilted my head away.
"You think a necklace cancels out that wedding?"
Ethan's hand hung in midair. The patience drained from his face.
"We never even applied for a marriage license."
"That wedding had zero legal standing."
"I was just helping her fulfill her grandmother's dying wish."
"Claire, you didn't used to be this cold."
The table was covered in wedding vows, dress catalogs, and the guest list.
Two cups of coffee had gone stone cold.
He hadn't looked at a single page since he walked in.
"If on our wedding day, Sophie and I both needed you at the same time—who would you choose?"
The living room went silent.
Ethan looked away, absently flipping through the guest list.
"That's a ridiculous hypothetical."
"Sophie already agreed to be a bridesmaid."
"Once we're married, everything goes back to normal."
I pressed my hand down on the pages he'd scattered.
"Answer me."
His phone screamed to life.
Sophie's name pulsed on the screen.
Ethan picked up immediately.
Her tearful voice leaked through the speaker.
"Ethan, Grandma just got worse."
"The doctor says a family member needs to stay with her tonight."
"I'm scared to be alone… can you come?"
The chair scraped across the floor with an ugly screech.
Ethan grabbed his car keys and headed for the door.
I pushed the vows to the edge of the table.
"We still need to confirm the dress, the schedule, and the guest list today."
"We'll do it when I get back."
"The wedding is three days away."
His hand was already on the doorknob.
He turned back, irritation all over his face.
"A wedding's just a ceremony."
"A human life matters more."
"Claire, don't be selfish. Not now."
The diamond necklace still glittered on the table.
Like some absurd consolation prize.
I looked at him.
"If you walk out that door, don't bother coming back."
Ethan blinked. Then frowned.
"Stop this."
"I'll be back once I've handled it."
"Wait for me at home."
