My Fiancé Left Me for a Widow

"Everyone." My voice carried through the speakers across the entire ballroom.

The room fell silent.

"I'm very sorry to announce that tonight's engagement ceremony is canceled."

There was dead silence before chaos erupted.

"What?"

"Canceled?"

"What happened?"

I continued in a steady voice, "Marcus just left to pick up his ex-girlfriend, Lily, from the airport. So I've decided to call off our engagement."

The murmurs grew louder.

"Ex-girlfriend?"

"During the engagement party?"

"Is he insane?"

"Thank you all for coming tonight. Please enjoy the dinner and drinks."

I handed the microphone back to the stunned DJ and walked off the stage through the uproar.

I leaned against the elevator wall, staring at my reflection in the metal doors. I was wearing a black Valentino cocktail dress, Cartier diamond earrings, and a ten-carat engagement ring on my left ring finger.

With a bitter, self-mocking smile, I slipped the ring off and dropped it into my clutch. I pushed through the hotel's revolving doors. The cool night air hit my face, and a chill spread through my chest.

The valet recognized me, his eyes flickering. "Ms. White, do you need your car?"

"No, I'll walk."

I walked two blocks before stopping. Leaning against a building's wall, I finally pulled out my phone.

There were 22 missed calls, from my mom, Diana, a few friends, and Marcus. He'd sent five texts.

"Claire, I'm at the airport."

"Lily's in bad shape. The doctor says she needs to be hospitalized for observation."

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

"We'll talk properly when I get back."

"Claire, call me back."

I turned off my phone, suddenly feeling both ridiculous and pathetic.

…

The next morning, a phone call woke me up. It was my assistant, Emily Johnson.

"Claire, have you seen the news?" Her voice was urgent.

I rubbed my eyes and opened my phone.

The highlight "Claire White Calls Off Engagement" was already trending.

I clicked on it, and videos and photos from last night flooded the screen. There were pictures of my expression on stage, Marcus's retreating figure, and one blurry photo of Marcus at the airport, holding Lily Bardot.

The comments kept multiplying.

"Did you see that airport photo? He's holding her so tight!"

"So he really abandoned his fiancee for his ex?"

"Claire did the right thing. You can't keep a man like that!"

There were people criticizing me too.

"Isn't that too impulsive? He went to help someone, and she just flipped out?"

"I think Claire's quite calculating. She deliberately made a scene in public."

"Claire?" Emily was still on the line. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said. "What's on the schedule today?"

"There's a video conference at 10:00 am." She paused. "And Marcus wants to see you."

I frowned. "Tell him I'm busy."

"I did," Emily said. "But he said Ms. Bardot wants to apologize to you in person."

I laughed coldly. "Apologize?"

"They're downstairs right now. They've been waiting for an hour."

I glanced at the time. It was only 9:00 am. "Send them to the conference room."

Marcus looked terrible. His eyes were bloodshot, stubble covered his jaw, and his suit was wrinkled. He clearly hadn't slept.

Lily sat beside him. She wore a beige dress, her hair falling softly over her shoulders. Her face was pale, and her eyes were red and swollen. She looked fragile and pitiful.

"Claire." Marcus stood up the moment he saw me. "We need to talk."

I sat down across from them. "You have ten minutes."

"Last night was a misunderstanding, Claire. Lily really did collapse. The doctor said her blood pressure was dangerously low and her pulse was unstable. If I hadn't gone..."

"Marcus," Lily interrupted weakly, her voice soft. "Stop. This is all my fault."

She turned to me, tears pooling in her eyes. "Ms. White, I'm so sorry. I had no idea last night was your engagement party. If I'd known, I never would have called Marcus."

Her voice trembled. "I suddenly felt sick at the airport. I was dizzy and couldn't breathe. I didn't know who else to call.

"Marcus is the only person I know in this city. I really didn't mean to cause trouble."

Tears streamed down her cheeks. Marcus immediately handed her a tissue. "Lily, don't get worked up. The doctor said you need to rest."

"No." Lily shook her head, tears flowing freely.

"I need to apologize to Ms. White. This is all my fault. If I hadn't called, Marcus wouldn't have left, and you two wouldn't have..."

She couldn't even finish and buried her face in her hands as she sobbed.