Chapter 2I Take Every Piece of Advice Literally

Holding the pen, I continued asking, "Call off what?"

Irene looked me straight in the eye and answered emphatically, as if she were personally taking apart our five-year relationship.

"Call off our wedding. It's canceled, so take off your ring. Don't come looking for me anymore, and don't put any more pressure on Zack."

I lowered my head and wrote her words down on the first page. Then, I looked up again and said, "Please confirm it once more."

The wind made the pregnancy test report in Zack's hand rustle loudly. His eyes were full of tears, but his grip on the paper was very tight.

Irene was silent for two seconds. In the end, still looking me in the eye, she said, "Confirmed. Gavin, I'm advising you to call off our wedding for good."

I drew a small check mark after that sentence.

I'd worn the engagement ring for three years, and it had left a faint indentation at the base of my finger. I twisted it twice but couldn't get it off.

Irene instinctively reached out toward me.

"If you can't get it off, go back and—"

Zack suddenly looked up at her.

She paused, then corrected herself. "Since you're calling off the wedding, it's best not to drag things out. Take the ring off right now."

I nodded and twisted the ring even harder. Little by little, the metal edge scraped my skin raw. Beads of blood seeped out, staining the silver surface of the ring.

Irene stared at my bleeding finger, her breath faltering for a moment. It looked like she wanted to come over and stop me. But in the end, she just held out her palm toward me.

"Give it to me."

I placed the ring in her hand. Then, in front of both of them, I dialed the wedding planner's number.

"Cancel the wedding on the 16th of next month."

The planner, Leslie Kirk, was stunned.

"Mr. Stone, if you cancel now, you'll lose the eight-thousand-dollar deposit."

"Then let it go."

"Does Ms. Parker know?"

I turned to Irene, who was supporting Zack. She didn't try to stop me.

"She knows. In fact, she's the one who told me to do it."

The moment the electronic invitation became invalid, the wedding guests' group chat immediately exploded.

Irene's phone kept vibrating nonstop, and question after question from relatives and friends popped up.

A frown finally appeared on her face.

"I told you to cancel the wedding, not to make sure everyone knows about it," she said sternly.

I didn't get it.

"There's no wedding anymore. If we don't tell the guests, are we just going to let them make the trip for nothing?"

"Gavin, do you have to make this so ugly?"

I looked down at the words in the notebook and asked calmly, "Weren't you the one who told me to do this?"

Irene clutched the blood-stained ring and said nothing more.

I quietly put a check mark on the back of the first page.