At 35, Mark had been my world for the last six years. We met through mutual friends, fell in love, and built a relationship I thought only existed in fairy tales. He wasn\u2019t the most romantic guy, but he was reliable, steady, and everything I thought I wanted.<\/p>\n
We had been planning our wedding for over a year, and everything seemed perfect. That night, I was at the hotel with my bridesmaids, doing the usual pre-wedding routine\u2014laughing, sipping wine, and going over last-minute details. The excitement was palpable. Then, around 10 p.m., there was a knock at the door.<\/p>\n
It was a hotel staff member with the bouquet\u2014red, fresh, and fragrant. \u201cLooks like someone\u2019s breaking the rules of no contact before the wedding!\u201d my maid of honor, Kelly, teased.<\/p>\n
I laughed, feeling a swell of affection. This wasn\u2019t like Mark, but maybe he was feeling sentimental. As I reached for the note, expecting something sweet like, \u201cI can\u2019t wait to marry you,\u201d what I found left me breathless.<\/p>\n
The note simply said: \u201cI don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
I froze. The room fell silent as my heart raced. Kelly grabbed the note from my hand, her face contorting in confusion. \u201cWhat does this mean? \u2018I don\u2019t\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
Panic gripped me. I grabbed my phone, called Mark, but no answer. I tried again. And again. Voicemail. I started texting him, my heart pounding in my chest. Something was wrong. This wasn\u2019t a joke.<\/p>\n
By midnight, I was unraveling. My bridesmaids were trying to calm me down, throwing out wild theories\u2014maybe it was a mistake, maybe it was a prank. But who would pull a prank like this the night before my wedding?<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to see him,\u201d I said, throwing on a hoodie. Kelly grabbed her purse, insisting on coming with me. We drove to Mark\u2019s apartment in near silence, my mind running through every terrible possibility. What if he was calling off the wedding? What if he wasn\u2019t even home?<\/p>\n
But his car was parked outside when we arrived, a sight that filled me with equal parts relief and dread. I pounded on the door. When it finally opened, Mark stood there, groggy and confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarly? What are you doing here?\u201d he asked, glancing at the clock. His brother, Eric, stood behind him, equally puzzled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"