Rachel stood at the altar, staring at Henry, her fiancé, the man she was about to marry. Inside, she felt nothing but emptiness. It was as if she was looking through him, not at him. Her ears were filled with a strange ringing, drowning out all other sounds.

Everything around her seemed distant and unreal. Suddenly, through the fog in her mind, she heard her name. “Rachel!” The voice was urgent. “Rachel!”

The voice called again, pulling her back to reality. It was Henry, looking at her with concern. She blinked, trying to focus on his face.

Rachel shook her head slightly, trying to clear her thoughts. “What?” she said, her voice barely her own.

“The priest is asking you something,” Henry repeated, his eyes searching her face for a sign of understanding.

Rachel turned to the priest, who was looking at her patiently. “Rachel, do you agree to marry Henry?” he asked again.

The words echoed in her mind, each syllable pounding like a drum. Inside, everything screamed “NO!” But when she opened her mouth, all she could say was, “Y-yes, I agree.”

The words felt foreign and heavy. Deep down, she knew she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.

Two Months Earlier…

Rachel was heading to a meeting with the wedding planner, who was organizing her wedding. She was nervous because the planner, Max, was a man. Rachel doubted that a man could handle all the details of a wedding.

She had wanted to hire someone else, but her fiancé, Henry, insisted. Henry had heard rumors that Max was the best in town. With only two months left to prepare, they couldn’t afford any mistakes.

Rachel entered the café where she was supposed to meet Max. She glanced around, searching for him among the people. As she walked, she accidentally bumped into someone.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Rachel said, stepping back quickly. The man turned around, and Rachel’s eyes widened in shock. It was Max, her best friend from school. She had secretly been in love with him back then. “Max?” she said with a smile.

“Rachel, hey!” Max said, his face lighting up as he hugged her. “What brings you here?”

“Oh, I’m here to meet the wedding planner,” Rachel explained, still a bit dazed from the surprise.

“You’re getting married? Well, congratulations!” Max said, his smile warm and genuine.

“Yes, by the way, the planner’s name is also Max…” Rachel started, and then it hit her. “Wait, you’re Max… Are you the wedding planner?”

Max laughed. “Looks like it. Small world, huh?”

Rachel couldn’t help but laugh too. “I guess you’re my new client,” Max said, still smiling.

“Better prepare yourself; I’m quite the bridezilla,” Rachel joked.

“I highly doubt that,” Max replied with a wink.

They sat down and started talking. Three hours flew by as they discussed wedding plans and caught up on old times. It felt like they were back in school, working on a project together.

Max understood her without needing to explain much, and she felt comfortable with him.

After a while, Max leaned back and said, “We’ve been talking for three hours, and you haven’t mentioned your fiancé.”

Rachel hesitated. “Well, I don’t know what to say,” she admitted.

“So in love you can’t even talk about him without missing him?” Max teased gently.

“Um, no, our relationship is a bit different,” Rachel replied, looking away.

“Different? You don’t love him?” Max asked, his tone more serious.

“Of course I do, he’s my fiancé,” Rachel said quickly. “It’s just, I don’t know. Our siblings set us up, everyone said we were a good match, and after two years of dating, we decided it was time to get married.”

“I see. So you’re practical,” Max said, nodding.

“Yeah, in a way. But everything’s fine between us,” Rachel insisted, trying to convince herself as much as Max.

“Of course, as long as you’re happy,” Max said softly.

Rachel smiled awkwardly, feeling a bit unsettled by Max’s questions. They made her think about her beliefs about love. She had never believed in the fairy-tale kind of love that everyone talked about.

To her, love was about finding someone you were comfortable with and building a life together. It was about practicality and stability.

As Max continued to share his wedding suggestions, Rachel listened attentively. Despite her initial doubts, she felt relieved that Henry had chosen Max as their planner.

With less than three weeks to the wedding, Henry and Rachel were driving to the flower shop to choose flowers for the big day. Max was supposed to meet them there.

“I was thinking about our honeymoon. Maybe we could go to Europe for the summer and travel around?” Rachel asked, her voice hopeful.

Henry glanced at her briefly before returning his eyes to the road. “Oh, I don’t know. I was thinking we could just go to Florida for a few days and swim,” he replied. “I need to work.”

Rachel frowned. “I can’t remember the last time you took a vacation. You must have plenty of days off accumulated.”

“I can’t just leave everything. I have responsibilities,” Henry said flatly.

“But it’s our honeymoon,” Rachel insisted.

“And we’ll go for a few days. I don’t see the problem,” Henry responded.

“It won’t be special; we always go to Florida,” Rachel said, feeling frustrated.

“So why break the tradition?” Henry asked, clearly uninterested in changing his plans.

Rachel sighed, realizing she couldn’t convince him. He simply didn’t understand her. Finally, they arrived at the flower shop and went inside. Max was there waiting for them, smiling warmly.

“How was the drive?” Max asked.

“All good,” Rachel replied, forcing a smile.

“Great. Let’s see what flowers they can offer us and choose the ones you like best,” Max said, leading them to the display.

Henry looked at his watch impatiently. “How about we just go with white roses and not waste time on this? I need to get to work,” he said.

Rachel looked at him, puzzled. “Why roses?” she asked.

“They’re your favorite flowers,” Henry replied confidently.

“Her favorite flowers are peonies,” Max said quietly.

Rachel was surprised by his answer. She had told Max this in school, and he remembered her favorite flowers after all these years.

Henry shrugged. “Well, whatever. I need to go.”

“How about this, I’ll stay with Rachel, and we’ll choose the flowers, and you can go to work,” Max suggested.

“Perfect, that works for me. Rachel?” Henry said, not really waiting for an answer.

“Yes, that’s fine, go ahead,” Rachel replied sadly.

Henry gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left, leaving Rachel and Max to choose the flowers. They spent the next hour picking out beautiful peony arrangements, and Rachel felt a sense of relief.

After they finished and left the shop, Max suggested, “How about we get some coffee and go to that hill like we used to in school?”

Rachel’s eyes lit up with the memory. In school, Max and Rachel had a secret place that no one knew about, and they often hung out there. “Sounds great,” Rachel replied.

They got coffee from a nearby café and walked to the hill. The familiar path brought back memories of their carefree days. They climbed up, found their large rock, and sat down with their coffees. The view was just as beautiful as Rachel remembered.

During the time Rachel was planning the wedding, they had grown very close again, and she felt like they had never stopped talking.

Rachel broke the comfortable silence, surprising even herself. “What do you think of Henry?” she asked, staring at her coffee cup.

Max looked thoughtful. “It doesn’t matter what I think; what matters is what you think,” he said.

Rachel sighed. “I don’t know, he seems to only care about work. I’m not even sure he wants to be with me. That he—”

“Loves you?” Max finished for her. “Do you love him?”

“I don’t believe in love,” Rachel said quietly.

Max shook his head. “Oh, come on. That’s not the Rachel I know.”

“Well, Rachel isn’t 16 anymore,” she replied, feeling defensive.

“But you haven’t really changed that much,” Max insisted.

“Come on, you don’t know me that well,” Rachel countered.

Max smiled gently. “Let me remind you, we used to be best friends.”

“That was a long time ago,” Rachel said, her voice softening.

“Yes, I often think about that time. Especially about how my life would have turned out if I had confessed my love for you then,” Max admitted.

Rachel’s eyes widened. “You were in love with me?”

“Head over heels. Do you think I would wake up at 5 a.m. for someone I didn’t like just to watch the sunrise?” Max said, a smile playing on his lips.

“I had no idea,” Rachel said, shaking her head.

“That’s strange because I thought you were just ignoring me,” Max said, looking down.

“What? No, I would never,” Rachel said firmly.

They were silent for a few minutes. Rachel also thought about what would have happened if she had confessed her feelings for Max back then. Her mind wandered to what might have been.

Suddenly, Max spoke again. “Alright, if you want to know what I think about Henry, I’ll tell you. I think you deserve someone who knows your favorite flowers, who knows you love Taylor Swift,” Rachel laughed at Max’s words.

“Who knows you adore fresh strawberries but hate anything with strawberry flavor, someone who notices the little wrinkle between your eyebrows when someone says something silly,” Rachel was no longer laughing; tears welled up in her eyes.

“Someone who will wake up with you before sunrise to watch a beautiful dawn and who smiles when they realize your perfume lingers on their clothes after a day spent together. Someone who will play along when you say you don’t believe in love, knowing you’re a hopeless romantic, someone—”

But Rachel didn’t let Max finish. She pulled him close and kissed him. She felt emotions she had never felt with anyone before, but after a few moments, she came to her senses and pulled away from Max.

“Oh my god, what am I doing? I’m getting married soon,” Rachel said, her voice shaking.

“It’s not too late to call it off,” Max said softly.

“What? No. That’s wrong,” Rachel said, stepping back.

“But Rachel…”

“We shouldn’t see each other anymore. I’ll handle the planning myself,” Rachel said firmly and turned to leave.

“Rachel, wait!” Max called after her.

“Don’t follow me, or I’ll scream,” she said and quickly walked down the hill, tears streaming down her face.

Rachel tried to forget about the incident with Max, and she almost succeeded. The days passed quickly as she buried herself in wedding preparations.

But now, standing at the altar, staring at Henry, her fiancé, the man she was about to marry, she felt nothing but emptiness.

It was as if she was looking through him, not at him. Her ears were filled with a strange ringing, drowning out all other sounds. Everything around her seemed distant and unreal.

Suddenly, through the fog in her mind, she heard her name. “Rachel!” The voice was urgent. “Rachel!” The voice called again, pulling her back to reality. It was Henry, looking at her with concern. She blinked, trying to focus on his face.

Rachel blinked and shook her head slightly, trying to clear her thoughts. “What?” she said, her voice barely her own.

“The priest is asking you something,” Henry repeated, his eyes searching her face for a sign of understanding.

Rachel turned to the priest, who was looking at her patiently. “Rachel, do you agree to marry Henry?” he asked again.

The words echoed in her mind, each syllable pounding like a drum. Inside, everything screamed “NO!” But when she opened her mouth, all she could say was, “Y-yes, I agree.”

Suddenly, the church doors flew open, and a breathless Max walked in.

“Stop! I object to this marriage!” he shouted.

The priest looked startled. “I haven’t asked that question yet,” he said.

Max shook his head. “I don’t care. Rachel, please, don’t do this,” he said, walking towards the altar.

Rachel’s heart raced. “Why?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“Because you deserve to be happy,” Max said, his eyes pleading.

Henry stepped forward, looking angry and confused. “What makes you think she’s not happy? Rachel, tell him you’re happy,” he demanded.

Rachel opened her mouth but found herself unable to speak. “I…” she stammered, her voice trailing off. She couldn’t lie, not now.