The other was quieter.
“We’re your family, Elias. This isn’t right. You’re being cruel.”
That word cruel stuck with me like a splinter. It echoed in my head while I brushed my teeth, while I buttoned my shirt, while I poured coffee into the travel mug Mariah had given me months ago with future groom etched in gold cursive.
Cruel.
As if I hadn’t spent the past decade swallowing my pride while they celebrated Camille like she was the only child who mattered. As if I hadn’t smiled through insult after insult, been ignored through every birthday, every promotion, every meaningful moment in my life that they’d brushed aside like it was background noise to the Camille show.
Cruel?
No.
This was the first time I’d simply stepped out of their shadow.
By that afternoon, the group chat, the dreaded family chat that I’d muted long ago, lit up like wildfire.
I didn’t even open it at first. I saw the previews.
“Did anyone else get this?”
“Wait, Elias is getting married.”
“Why weren’t we invited?”
“Seline, did you know?”
One message from Camille stood out.
“This is petty, Eli. You’re acting like a child.”
Petty, right?
I typed, then erased, then typed again before finally sending a single reply.
“I’m simply respecting the boundaries you all set. You made it clear where I stand in this family. I’m not bitter, just done pretending it doesn’t hurt.”
I turned off notifications after that.
I didn’t need their approval. I wasn’t doing this to make a point. I was doing this because for once, I wanted to start a new chapter without dragging the old pain with me.
But of course, my family wasn’t going to let it go that easily.
A few days later, Mariah and I were meeting with the florist when my dad showed up. No warning, no text, just walked into the shop like he owned the place.
He looked tired, like he hadn’t slept in days. But there was that same stern tightness in his jaw that I remembered from childhood, the look that said, “You’re disappointing me.”
“Can we talk?” he asked.
Mariah glanced at me, unsure.
“It’s okay,” I said to her. “Give us a minute.”
She nodded and stepped outside.
My dad sat down across from me, folding his hands on the little round table.
“This has gone far enough, Elias.”