Gina has spent years saving for her perfect wedding, only to arrive early and find another bride at her altar. Her sister. Stealing her venue. Stealing her moment.
The morning of my wedding, I woke up with butterflies in my stomach and a full heart.
Leo and I had spent years saving for this day.
“Gina, just think, all the money we’re going to save on takeout,” Leo laughed.
“That’s because we’re on healthy eating plans,” I grinned.
And now, after all that sacrifice, the dream came true.
I arrived at the venue an hour early, hoping for a quiet moment before the ceremony.
Instead, I saw a bride standing at my altar.
She wasn’t just any bride. She was Jessica, my sister.
Leo had wanted our closest family to arrive early for a photoshoot.
“We’re only going to get married once, Gina,” he said.
“Let’s make it magical. I have my students coming in to take our photographs. It’s going to be wonderful.”
“Is that your version of extra credit?” I asked.
“It’s more like me allowing them to give us a wedding present.”
That was one of the things I loved most about Leo.
When music started playing from somewhere, I was brought back to my nightmare.
Jessica, the bride.
And guess what?
My sister turned and flashed me a smug smile.
“Oh!” She clasped her hands together.
“You’re early! I thought I’d have everything sorted before you got here. Well… that ru:ins the surprise.”
“Surprise?” I repeated.
“Gina, come on,” she said.
“Why waste a perfectly good setup? Two weddings in one! Genius, right, sis? And you know how Ben has been pushing me to get married lately.”
“You… so you didn’t just show up in a wedding dress? You planned on getting married at my wedding? Are you insane?”
“Mom said that ‘insane’ isn’t a word we use, Gina,” she rolled her eyes. “Be nice. And come on, don’t be so selfish!”
Selfish?
Even Jessica’s own fiancé, Ben, looked deeply uncomfortable.
“Jess, you told me that Gina agreed!” he sighed. “I should have known better.”
I smiled.
Fine. If Jessica wanted a wedding, she could have one.
“Bella, did you know about this?” I asked.
“No, not at all, Gina!” she said.
“I was just making sure that the bridal suite was ready for you. Your hair and makeup team are setting up for the final touches right now.”
I nodded.
“Thank you,” I smiled at her.
“Now, let’s get to this double wedding situation. Please put my sister’s ceremony before mine. But can you pull out your tab?”
“Of course,” she said.
“Don’t forget to add the harpist’s final fee to our invoice. And as for the other issue, please make sure that Jessica gets billed for her portion first. I suggest that she pay before she walks down the aisle.”
“You added your own ceremony. If you planned a wedding, you’d know what that actually entails, Jessica. The officiant will need extra time for you, the musicians will too. Not to mention Leo’s photography students—you’ll have to pay them, of course. As for the food… I’m not going 50-50 with you there, sis. Leo and I catered for our guests only.”
“Gina’s right,” she said.
“But she did leave out a few details. We catered per head, so that means your guests are another story altogether. We’re paying the venue by the seat, literally. So, for your ceremony, we’re going to need extra seats. They’re not cheap. There’s a few other things we can go through. Would you like to sit down?”
“Wait… what?!” Jessica exclaimed.
“You added a separate ceremony, Jessica. That fee has to be settled before we proceed.”
Our mother folded her arms. She looked livid.
“You planned this nonsense behind everyone’s back, Jessica. Fix it yourself.”
She required that I “just share” because we were “family.”
“You need to calm down, Jess,” Ben told her.
“I can’t believe that you li:ed to me and told me that Gina and Leo were happy about this. I’m leaving.”
“It’s almost go-time, Gina,” my mother said. “Come on, I’ll help you.”
Mom pulled me aside, wrapping me into a hug.
“I can’t believe your sister actually thought she could get away with it,” she said.
“Honestly? Neither can I!” I laughed. “I told Leo everything after our ceremony, and he was surprised.
Before we knew it, my dad walked up to us.
“She called. She said that we should all be ashamed for ‘humiliating’ her.”
“She humiliated herself. I just made sure that she didn’t get a free wedding out of it. Leo and I worked our butts off to make this perfect. I wasn’t going to let Jessica sponge off me this time.”
“To my beautiful wife,” he said, eyes locked onto mine. “And to finally getting the wedding she deserves.”
Everyone heartened.
I felt tears well in my eyes, overwhelmed by love and support.
Jessica’s absence? It didn’t matter.
I opened it to find Jessica, standing on my porch in sweatpants and an old hoodie, her face blotchy from crying.
“Gina,” she whispered. “Can I come in?”
“Why?” I asked simply.
“I just… I need to talk to you,” she said.
“Five minutes. That’s all you have.”
“Ben left me,” her voice cracked.
“He… he said that he needed a break. That he didn’t understand why I did what I did. That he’s not sure I’m the kind of person he wants to be with.”
“Guess I finally took it too far, huh?”
I said nothing. I didn’t have any words.
“You know… I didn’t think it was that bad at first. I thought you’d be mad for a little while, then we’d move on, like we always do.”
“But then Ben left. And Mom and Dad won’t return my calls. And my friends…” Her voice wavered. “Well, it turns out that I don’t have as many as I thought.”
“I don’t know why I do these things, Gina. I don’t know why I can’t just… be happy for you. I ruin everything. And now? I’ve ruined myself.”
“Can we… start over?”
“No.”
“You’ve spent years making me feel small. Stealing what wasn’t yours. Manipulating people into thinking you were the victim. And now that you finally have to deal with the fallout,” I tilted my head. “you want a fresh start?”
I let out a quiet laugh, shaking my head.
