Chapter 11 - The Wedding Shrunk in Real Time
Cedar Grove did not cancel the ceremony.
They offered a reduced package.
The main ballroom became unavailable without final payment.
But a smaller garden pavilion remained possible.
Fifty guests maximum.
Basic chairs.
Standard tables.
No crystal rentals.
No imported floral installation.
No premium champagne.
Catering could be reduced to plated chicken and vegetables.
The live band would be canceled.
A local DJ was available.
The celebrity photographer would not come without payment.
Julian reacted as though someone had canceled his marriage.
“This is humiliating.”
He said.
I stared at him.
“You still have a wedding.”
“That’s not the wedding we planned.”
“That’s the wedding you can afford.”
His face darkened.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“No.”
I wasn’t.
That surprised me.
I expected satisfaction.
Instead, I felt tired.
Watching someone face reality is less exciting when you spent years trying to protect them from it.
Chloe sat silently.
Then she asked.
“How much can we actually pay?”
Julian snapped.
“Don’t start.”
“No.”
She said.
“How much?”
He refused to answer.
Stephen arrived thirty minutes later with Chloe’s mother.
For the first time, both families sat around my dining table with actual numbers.
Julian’s accounts.
Chloe’s accounts.
Parents’ available funds.
The answer was brutal.
Between all of them, they could immediately contribute about $23,000 without borrowing.
Enough for the reduced wedding.
Not enough for fantasy.
Chloe wiped her eyes.
“Then we do the reduced wedding.”
Julian stared at her.
“You cannot be serious.”
“I want to marry you.”
“That is supposed to be the point.”
He stood.
“I am not getting married in some cheap garden pavilion.”
Cedar Grove’s garden pavilion cost more than many people’s entire weddings.
But Julian had spent a year pretending he belonged to a financial class that only existed because I paid invoices.
“What will people think?”
He demanded.
That sentence made me look at Dad.
Dad looked away.
Same disease.
Different generation.
Chloe’s father finally said.
“If your concern is marrying my daughter, fifty guests should be enough.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“Easy for you.”
“You didn’t build a brand.”
I stared.
“A brand?”
Julian pointed at his phone.
“I have sponsors coming.”
Silence.
“What sponsors?”
Chloe asked.
May you like
His face changed.
We had discovered another secret.
