He Chose His Best Friend, So I Ruined Him at the Altar

Grandma had a severe brain hemorrhage and needed an immediate $25,000 for emergency surgery. The card holding the down payment I spent three years saving for our future home was in the hands of my fiancé, Ethan. Instead of being with me, Ethan was at his childhood best friend’s birthday party. Not only did he ignore my frantic calls, but he also swiped $26,000 from our joint savings to buy her a designer bag. Soaked in the pouring rain, I rushed to the venue to take the bag back and save Grandma's life. Yet, in front of the entire crowd, Ethan slapped me across the face, shielding his best friend as he warned me coldly: "She’s an old woman. Even with surgery, there's no guarantee she'll survive." "Daisy’s birthday, on the other hand, only happens once a year." Grandma took her last breath that night. The next morning, Ethan stood outside the morgue and asked me, "Is Grandma okay?" Wiping away my tears, I looked up at him with a calm smile. "Grandma’s fine. The wedding will go on as planned." "And I've prepared a special gift for you." A gift that would drag him, his precious best friend, and the entire family straight into hell. "Family of the patient? She has an intracranial hemorrhage. We need to operate immediately." "The deposit is twenty-five thousand dollars. It must be paid within half an hour." My throat constricted. "I'll pay it right away!" I called Ethan over and over, but the line just kept ringing out. Cold sweat dripped down my forehead as I paced toward the end of the corridor. The red light outside the ER was still on. Grandma was inside. My parents died when I was young, and Grandma raised me all on her own. Just two hours ago, she had stepped on a small stool to reach the top shelf for ingredients to brew the sweet broth for my wedding rehearsal. Her foot slipped, and she fell hard onto the kitchen floor. When I rushed in, her forehead was covered in blood, but she still gripped my hand tightly. "Chloe, don't be scared." "I'm fine. Don't let this ruin your big day tomorrow." Even in that state, all she cared about was my engagement. Tears spilled from my eyes, splashing onto my phone screen. The phone finally vibrated. It wasn't a call from Ethan, but a bank notification. $26,000 charged to our joint account. Location: Maison Luxe. I froze in shock. That card was our joint savings account. Every penny in it was the down payment for our future house—money I had spent two years scraping together. Every payday, the very first thing I did was transfer half my paycheck into that account. I couldn't bring myself to buy new clothes or upgrade my phone. When Grandma offered to buy me a necklace for the wedding, I told her no. We had been together for five years, and I honestly thought we were a team. Yet here Grandma was, clinging to life while waiting for that money. And he had just swiped twenty-six grand at a luxury boutique. A chill ran through my entire body. I dialed his number again. This time, he finally picked up. The background was deafening. Loud music, laughter, clinking glasses, and the flirtatious giggle of a woman. "Ethan, does this bag look better carried by the handle or worn crossbody?" Ethan's voice finally came through the receiver. "What is it?" I bit down hard on my lip, choking back my tears. "Grandma fell. The doctor says she has bleeding in her brain and needs emergency surgery right now." "Transfer the money back to me. Twenty-five grand. Right now!" The other end went silent for a second. Then his voice dropped. "Right now?" "Yes, right now!" "Didn't I tell you not to panic? When an old person falls, the hospital always stabilizes them first." I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Clutching my phone, my voice trembled violently. "Did you just spend twenty-six grand at that boutique?" Daisy's voice chimed in from the background. "Ethan, come back over here! My friend wants to know where you got this bag so she can get one too." My vision blurred, and my knees almost gave out. "You took my money to buy Daisy a designer bag?" Ethan's tone turned sharp and annoyed. "I'm just borrowing it for a bit." "It's Daisy's birthday, and she's been feeling down lately." "I promised I'd get her a nice gift to cheer her up." I was shaking with pure rage. "Her cheering up is worth my grandmother's life?!" His tone turned ice-cold. "Chloe, don't be dramatic." "She's an old woman. Even with surgery, there's no guarantee she'll survive." "Daisy’s birthday, on the other hand, only happens once a year."I stood frozen on the spot. To Ethan, my grandmother's life wasn't even worth a birthday party for Daisy. He hung up. A nurse rushed over. "Miss Adams, is the deposit ready? The surgical team is waiting." I opened my mouth, but not a single sound came out. A notification popped up—Daisy had just posted an Ins story. In the photo, she sat in the center of a VIP lounge. Dressed in a champagne silk dress with styled waves, she smiled radiantly. To her left was an extravagant tiered cake. To her right sat the pristine designer bag. I recognized that exact bag. Two weeks ago, Ethan and I had walked past that boutique, and it was displayed in the window. I had stopped to look at it. He asked, "You like it?" I shook my head. "It's way too expensive." He held my hand with a smile. "I'll buy it for you one day." And now, it was Daisy's birthday gift. Her caption read: [Being fiercely chosen will always feel like winning.] The very top comment was from Ethan's mother: [Daisy deserves nothing less.] Daisy deserved a twenty-six-thousand-dollar bag. What about Grandma? Grandma had spent her entire life working herself to the bone. She woke up at four in the freezing winter to buy fresh produce and stood beneath the blazing summer sun until dusk just to run her small stall. She put me through college and saved every penny so I would have a decent dowry, terrified that Ethan's family would look down on me. She was in her seventies, yet she had never once bought a piece of clothing over fifteen dollars. Didn't she deserve to live? I bolted toward the hospital exit. The rain poured down in sheets, but I didn't care. Daisy's birthday party was on the penthouse floor of The Skyline Club. When I shoved the doors open, the room was buzzing with celebration. Everyone was laughing. Except for me. Drenched from head to toe, looking like a total mess. The moment the heavy doors swung open, the laughter died down. Daisy sat at the head of the table, while Ethan leaned over her shoulder, lighting her birthday candles with gentle care. It was such a tender scene. A tenderness that sliced into my chest like a dull blade, precise and agonizing. Someone whispered, "Is that Chloe?" "Why on earth is she dressed like that?" Daisy was the first to stand up. A flash of panic crossed her eyes, quickly masked by a look of innocent hurt. "Chloe, why are you so late? I was just about to call you to come have some cake." I didn't even look at her face. My eyes locked onto the bag on the couch beside her. "Give that to me." Instinctively, she stepped in front of it. "What?" I walked toward her, step by step. "I said give me the bag!" "The one Ethan bought for you!" Tears welled up in Daisy's eyes instantly. "B-but this is Ethan's birthday present to me." "Chloe, I know you get possessive over him, but he paid for this with his own money." I glared at her coldly. "That was my money!" She bit her lip. "Even if it was yours, you're about to marry into the family anyway. What's yours is his, isn't it?" I stared at her, dumbfounded. "Daisy, have you lost your mind?!" Ethan cut me off with a harsh shout. "That's enough!" "I bought the bag! If you have a problem, take it out on me!"I snapped my head toward him. "Then pay me back right now!" I slammed my phone onto the table, the bank transaction glowing in plain sight. "$26,000." "The hospital deposit is $25,000." "Ethan, transfer the money back to me right now, and I'll walk out of here." His throat bobbed nervously. "My accounts are tight right now. I don't have liquid cash." Daisy spoke up in a soft, fragile voice. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have thrown this party." "I've just been away for so long, and I wanted to see everyone." "I didn't mean for this to happen..." Ethan immediately reached out and took her hand, his eyes filled with sympathy. "It has nothing to do with you." He turned back to me, his gaze dripping with irritation. "Chloe, do you really have to ruin her birthday like this?" It was so absurd I almost laughed. My grandmother was on the brink of death. Yet in his eyes, I was the one being unreasonable to Daisy. I lunged forward, shoving Daisy aside to grab the bag off the table. If I took it back to the boutique right now for a refund, I could still make the deposit in time! Ethan caught my wrist in a vice-like grip, squeezing so hard I felt the bones grind. "Chloe, push me any further and I'm going to lose my temper." I looked up at him, my eyes bloodshot and burning. "Then lose it!" "My grandmother is dying! You think I give a damn about your temper?!" Daisy rushed in between us. "Stop, please! It's all my fault, don't fight over me..." Sick of her act, I shoved her away. "Get away from me!" I barely pushed her, but Daisy stumbled dramatically backward, slamming into the corner of the table. She collapsed to the floor, trembling and weeping. Ethan's face darkened, and his hand flew across my face in a vicious slap. The force snapped my head to the side. My ears rang with a deafening buzz. Slowly, I turned back to face him. Ethan and I had been together for five years. He used to tell me that since I had lost my parents and Grandma was getting older, he would never let anyone treat me badly. And now, he had just slapped me for Daisy. My cheek burned, but the agony inside my chest hurt a thousand times worse. It hurt so much I could barely stay on my feet. Ethan's hand remained frozen in mid-air. He clearly hadn't expected himself to actually hit me. A second later, Daisy threw herself into his arms, sobbing. "Ethan, don't. Chloe's just panicked, please don't be mad at her." He wrapped his arms around her, and the brief guilt in his eyes hardened into cold fury. "Apologize." I stared at him in disbelief. "You want me to apologize to her?" "You ruined her birthday and you hurt her." "You should get on your knees and apologize to her right now!"Right then, my phone began vibrating uncontrollably. It was the hospital. I picked it up immediately. The nurse's frantic voice sounded over the line. "Miss Adams, where are you? The patient's vitals are dropping fast!" "The doctor says any more delay will drastically increase the risks of the surgery." My legs buckled. I nearly fell to the floor. "I'm coming! I'm coming right now!" Hanging up, I grabbed the bag off the sofa and made a run for the exit. Before walking out, I glared at Ethan. "If anything happens to my grandmother, I swear to God I'll make you pay." He frowned. "Don't use an old woman to curse people." I sprinted out of the room. Behind me, Daisy's muffled sobs echoed down the hall. "Ethan, you should go check on Chloe..." Ethan's indifferent voice replied, "She's getting completely out of hand. Let her cool off." I bolted into the nearest high-end consignment store and sold the bag on the spot. Because it was considered resale, they only gave me $20,000, but I didn't have time to haggle. Rushing toward the hospital, I frantically called everyone I knew to borrow the remaining $5,000. I didn't dare slow down. Grandma was waiting for me. She had spent her whole life waiting for me. Waiting for me after elementary school, waiting outside the exam hall, waiting for me to come home from work for dinner. And now, she was waiting for me to bring back the money to save her life. I couldn't let her down. When I finally threw open the hospital doors and ran to the operating room, the red light was already off. The surgeon pulled down his mask, looking at me with heavy eyes. At that moment, my feet felt glued to the floor. After a few painful seconds of silence, he spoke in a low, somber voice. "Miss Adams... we did everything we could." My entire world shattered into pieces. I stood there, soaked to the bone. The doctor handed me Grandma's personal belongings. A worn canvas pouch, a keyring, and an old savings passbook. Tucked inside the passbook was a piece of red paper, with Grandma's shaky handwriting: [For Chloe's wedding.] I opened the passbook. $4,580. That was every ounce of dignity she had saved over a lifetime. She refused to buy a five-dollar sandwich for lunch and wore the same patched winter coat for a decade. All so she could save a little dowry for me. Clutching that passbook, I collapsed outside the operating room doors, sobbing until I had no voice left. I sat on the cold floor outside the morgue all night. A compassionate nurse draped a warm coat over my shoulders. "Miss Adams, you should get some rest." I shook my head. Grandma was afraid of the dark. When the power went out during storms when I was a kid, she would always hold me tight and say, "Don't be afraid, Chloe. Grandma's right here." Now it was my turn to keep her company. Even though I knew she couldn't hear me anymore. As dawn broke, Ethan appeared down the hallway. He was still wearing the suit from last night, his hair ruffled, his eyes bloodshot. When he saw me, his footsteps faltered. Seeing the state I was in, the color slowly drained from his face. "Chloe." I looked up at him. His Adam's apple bobbed. "How... how is your grandmother?" I stood up, my expression frighteningly calm. "She's fine now." He froze. "Fine?" I nodded. "She's fine. The wedding is going ahead as scheduled." Ethan let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank God." Uneasy, he added, "Where is she? Let me go see her." I shook my head. "She's resting. You can see her in a couple of days." "Okay, whatever you want." He gave me a fawning smile. "I've got a surprise wedding gift for you tomorrow, Chloe. I promise I'll make everything up to you." A slow, cold smile tugged at the corner of my lips. "I have a gift for you, too." A gift that will send you, your little best friend, and your entire family straight into hell.