I cut two slices.
Michael watched me.
Then he said quietly, “I should have protected you.”
I placed a slice on his plate.
“You should have respected me.”
He lowered his head.
“Yes.”
We ate in silence for a while.
Then he stood to leave.
At the door, he hugged me carefully.
I hugged him back.
But when he asked whether he could bring Cassandra to dinner the following weekend, I shook my head.
“Not yet.”
He nodded.
And this time, he didn’t argue.
***
Cassandra never gave me an unconditional apology.
She sent a message saying she regretted that I had been offended by her joke.
I replied that I wasn’t interested in debating whether the humiliation had been funny.
I asked her not to contact me again about the wedding unless she was prepared to acknowledge what she’d done.
She didn’t respond.
Michael and Cassandra remained married.
Their reception became a source of tension between them, especially after several friends privately told Michael they’d been uncomfortable with the cake incident.
The wedding itself hadn’t been canceled.
The guests had eaten, danced, and celebrated.
The hotel completed the contracted services.
The couple simply lost the optional extras I’d no longer agreed to fund.
Michael eventually arranged to pay the remaining vendor charges assigned to him and Cassandra.
I paid the final amount due under my own agreements.
Neither of us pretended the money could be magically recovered.
