I Designed My Fiancé's Wedding… With His Dead Ex

I am an AI holographic image creator. After creating a holographic image of a deceased son for a grieving parent who has lost his only child, I gain a modest following online. Every day, people message me privately, asking me to create holographic images and videos of their deceased loved ones. Occasionally, I pick out a few requests and help them fulfill their wishes. One day, as I browse through my messages, a profile picture catches my attention. "Can you create a holographic image of my late girlfriend in a wedding dress? Her dying wish was to marry me, and I promised her I would give her a grand wedding." I stare at the profile picture, feeling a little light-headed. It is a small black mongrel with a white-tipped tail, exactly like the dog my fiancé, Holden Sinclair, has had for ten years. I reply, "Do you have any photos of her?" The sender seems to have been waiting for my reply and responds almost immediately. "No, but I have a friend who looks a lot like my girlfriend. You can use her appearance and figure to recreate my late girlfriend." Then he sends me a photo. My phone suddenly feels like it weighs a ton, and I can barely hold on to it. It's a photo of me. Chapter 1 Leah's POV I stared blankly at the photo. Just yesterday, my fiancé, Holden Sinclair, and I went to the wedding venue for our menu tasting. After a long day, we had just returned home, and I'd just finished showering when Holden held up his phone and said he wanted to take some photos of me and post them on social media to officially announce our wedding in ten days. I was secretly pleased, yet I couldn't help being annoyed that he'd waited until after I'd taken off my makeup to take the photos. But he told me that I looked equally beautiful with or without makeup. Thinking that my straight-laced fiancé had finally learned to say the right things, I happily let him take as many photos and videos as he wanted. But after he was done, nothing came of it. I assumed he'd forgotten about posting them. I never expected to see my photos here. An overwhelming sense of absurdity washed over me. My fingers trembled as I typed, "Who's this?" The reply came almost instantly. "Someone irrelevant. She just happens to look a lot like my girlfriend. Will you take this job? If so, I'll send you all her photos and videos. We can decide on the price later." My heart skipped a beat, but I still clung to a sliver of hope. "Sure. We can even generate a short AI video of you and the bride for free and have it played at the wedding. Just send me your photos too." There was a pause on the other end before he sent a short reply. "Okay." He then sent me a compressed file. After I extracted it, I stared at the videos of me and the dozens of photographs inside, my mind momentarily blank. In the five years I had been with Holden, the total number of photos he had ever taken of me was nowhere near the number in this folder. But what cut even deeper were the dozen or so selfies of him mixed in. I finally knew for certain that the devoted man who had commissioned me to create a holographic wedding with his late girlfriend was none other than my own fiancé, Holden Sinclair. My movements turned stiff. The ring on my finger felt like a branding iron, burning so hot I could barely hold my phone. Then, he sent me more than a dozen messages listing various changes he wanted—remove the tiny mole on the woman's nose, elongate the outer corners of the eyes slightly, make her eyes less lively and the brows less sharp, and deepen the dimples on her cheeks just a little more. And because she had been ill, he said that she always carried a faint sadness in her expression, and her figure should be made a little thinner as well. I instinctively touched the mole on my nose. It was barely larger than the tip of a needle. I'd always liked it, thinking it gave me a distinctive look. But Holden had constantly urged me to have it removed, saying he was worried it might develop into something cancerous and risk my health. Back then, I thought it was really sweet that he was so attentive and caring, so I even went to the hospital to have a doctor examine it. Now, thinking back, when I showed him the doctor's had said no special treatment was needed, the expression on his face had clearly been stiff and impatient. I unconsciously bit down on my lip. Holden continued sending me messages. "If you need any other information from me, feel free to ask for it. I want this holographic image to be as lifelike as possible. I want her to take my arm, walk down the aisle with me, and say 'I do' with her own voice." I asked, almost masochistically, "I can't create such an interactive hologram by myself. But I have a team with me. It'll cost roughly 30,000 to 100,000 dollars per minute. "What you described would take at least ten minutes, and with the equipment rental on top of that, the entire package would come to approximately 700,000 dollars. Are you sure you want to go ahead with this?" The reply came quickly. "I'll give you a budget of a million dollars. I want it as detailed as possible, and I need the finished product in nine days." Chapter 2 Leah's POV I stared at the budget Holden had set and felt a thousand tiny needle pricks of pain spreading through my chest. When we were choosing our wedding rings, I had been considerate of how difficult things were for Holden as he was starting his business. His company was still just getting off the ground, so I deliberately chose a simple, plain band that cost only 3,000 dollars. He had been so moved that he hugged me and choked up, promising that one day, he would buy me a diamond ring ten or even a hundred times more expensive. I could clearly feel the depth of his love for me back then. But now, he was willing to spend a million dollars without even blinking, just to create a virtual wedding with his late girlfriend. The little black dog from Holden's profile picture, Piper, wandered in. Seeming to sense something was wrong, she wandered over and curled up at my feet. I picked her up and held her in my arms, grateful that at least I had this little creature that depended on me wholeheartedly. That evening, when Holden came home from work, he brought me a strawberry cake. I took the cake from him, and a faint ripple stirred in my already ice-cold heart, but the accusations caught in my throat remained unspoken. He didn't notice my silence or the turmoil inside me. After dinner, he went straight into his study with instructions not to disturb him. At the same time, my computer began chiming with incoming messages. It was Holden's burner account messaging me. "Here are some of Summer's habits and hobbies. I thought they might be useful for making the AI short film." This was the first time Holden had ever mentioned the name Summer Kingsmill, but it wasn't the first time I'd seen it. On all his social media accounts, his username was "It's Summertime". When we first started dating, I had suggested changing our usernames to matching couple names. But he had given me an amused look and said that we were both adults now, and that it would be pretty childish to do something like that. I had been so embarrassed that my face went bright red, and I never brought it up again. So this name had been hiding his deepest longing for her all along. My heart felt painfully hollow as I quickly skimmed through the file he had sent me. It told of how he and Summer had grown up together, and how whenever they played house as kids, he was always the groom and Summer the bride. It told of how, in middle school, someone confessed to him, and Summer ignored him for an entire week after she found out. It told of how they once went hiking together, and when he fell and tumbled down a slope, Summer—small and slender as she was—had supported him all the way down the mountain. It told of how Summer had suddenly broken up with him after her college entrance exams, moved away with her family, and cut off all contact with him. Devastated, he had burned every photograph the two of them had taken together since childhood. It told of how, in his freshman year of college, Summer's mother had called him, crying, to say that Summer had a terminal illness and was dying. She had begged him to go visit Summer. It told of how Summer loved plush toys and lilies, how she secretly enjoyed snacking on chips, and how much she loved strawberry cakes. The study door remained tightly shut, and though there was only a wall between us, it felt as though there was a world between us. There in the study, he was lost in memories of her. Outside, I was weeping. … When Holden came out of the study at 11:00 pm, he frowned when he saw me still staring at the computer in the living room. "Still awake? Staying up late isn't good for you." I answered softly, "I've still got some work to finish." He let out a light, dismissive laugh. "Don't you just edit some videos and post them online? Come on, you can continue tomorrow. Don't ruin your eyes." I forced a stiff smile. I had sent him so much of my work. If he had opened even one of them, he would have realized that I was the content creator he had hired. He had never bothered to know what I actually did for a living. Or perhaps, he simply didn't care because his heart was completely occupied by someone else—someone long dead. When he noticed the strawberry cake sitting untouched on the table, he asked, "Why aren't you eating the strawberry cake I bought you?" A wave of bitterness washed over me, and anger surged from somewhere deep inside. I violently swept the cake off the table, sending it crashing to the floor. "I told you I don't like strawberries. Why won't you ever remember?" Chapter 3 Leah's POV The cake hit the floor, and the strawberries on top rolled across the floor and got dirty. Piper immediately darted over, eager to eat the strawberries off the floor, but Holden quickly scooped her up and cooed softly, "Piper, the strawberries will give you an upset stomach. Don't eat those." Still holding Piper, he looked at me. The gentle expression on his face shifted into a frown. "Weren't you always happy when I bought you things like this before?" Yeah, I used to be happy. I had told him my preferences countless times, and he always seemed to take them to heart. But he never changed a thing. Over time, I'd started convincing myself that strawberry cakes looked pretty, that the scent of lilies was actually quite nice, and that flats were really comfortable. But none of those were what I actually liked. He had been subtly molding me into the person he wanted me to be. I began to tremble uncontrollably. Holden seemed surprised. He placed Piper gently into my arms and asked softly, "Leah, what's wrong?" I shook my head, holding the warm little dog close to draw strength, and said quietly, "Holden, I don't like the decorations we chose for the wedding hall. I want to replace the lilies with roses and sunflowers." The hand Holden had been running over my back to soothe me came to a stop. He was silent for several seconds before answering coldly, "Leah, getting married isn't a game. We've already confirmed everything. Changing it now will cause the hotel a lot of trouble." Then, he frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm tired. I'll sleep in the guest room tonight. You should get some rest." This was his way of shutting down communication. I watched helplessly as he walked straight into the guest room. Just like before, whenever we had a minor disagreement, he never argued with me. He would simply ignore what I wanted. Sleeping in the guest room was his first move toward getting his way. He was waiting for me to give in and tell him, "Forget it. Let's stick with the lilies." Just like all the times before, when he wanted me to keep my hair long, and when he wanted me to wear the white dresses. I was always the one to give in first, following the path he had chosen for me. I even gaslit myself into believing this was his way of loving me. Until today, when the truth came crashing down like a sledgehammer, shattering all my illusions. I stayed up all night and used the information he'd given me to painstakingly create Summer's model, almost as if I were torturing myself. When I looked at the person on the screen, my eyes suddenly stung with tears—both for this beautiful young woman, as pure as a lily, who had died too young, and also for my false and sorrowful love. I sent Holden the model and asked if it was what he wanted. In less than five minutes, his reply came. "It's good." At the same time, a small sob came from the guest room, followed by the sound of running water. Half an hour later, he came out of the guest room. His eyes were a little red, and water droplets still dripped from his hair. He held me somewhat excitedly, his voice soft and tender again. "I'm sorry about last night. With the wedding so close, it's not just you who has pre-wedding jitters. I do too. Leah, let's go out for lunch today. I'll ask Delaney to come too." In the five years we'd been together, this was the first time he had ever apologized first after a disagreement. I managed a half-hearted smile and pushed him away. Then, under his excited gaze, I shook my head. "No. I didn't sleep at all last night. I need to catch up on sleep in the morning. You and Delaney go ahead." I didn't sleep well and woke up at 11:00 a.m. When I checked my phone, I found that Delaney had sent me a whole string of voice messages. "Leah, did that rascal bully you?" "You need to tell me if he did. You know he can never go against me, right? If he does anything to hurt you, I'll beat him to a pulp!" "Are you sleeping? If you're hungry when you wake up, come over and join us for lunch. Or if you don't feel like going out, just wait at home. I'll pack some food and bring it over to you." Chapter 4 Leah's POV I felt a wave of warmth washing over me. Delaney Sinclair was Holden's older sister and a close friend of mine. Back when Holden first introduced us, Delaney and I had hit it off right away over shared interests. Even if things ended with Holden, Delaney was an unexpected gift from the relationship—one I didn't want to lose. I got dressed and followed the address she had sent me to the restaurant. Before I even entered, I heard Delaney's heated voice coming from the private room. "Are you out of your mind? You're going to hold a wedding ceremony with a hologram? On the day before you marry Leah? And in the exact same banquet hall? Holden, have you lost your mind? What if Leah finds out?" Holden's voice remained calm and composed. "Delaney, how can you stop me from having a wedding with Summer? Don't get things backward. The only reason you're so close to Leah is because she reminds you of Summer, isn't it? "Anyway, remember to bring Piper on our wedding day. Summer and I raised her together. Our wedding wouldn't be complete without her." He paused for a moment before his voice turned resolute. "Leah will never find out. I'll make it up to her in the future." Delaney let out a deep sigh. After a long silence, she finally said softly, "Okay. I understand." In that moment, I felt as though my heart had stopped beating. So none of it had ever really been mine. Holden was going to hold a wedding ceremony with someone else in my wedding hall, just one day before he was going to marry me. The man I loved wasn't really mine, the wedding wasn't mine, the friend I treasured wasn't mine, and even Piper was something Summer had left behind. I was nothing more than a substitute for someone they missed. I stood outside the door, feeling the world spinning around me, and fled in a panic. When I returned home, Piper came running toward me. I'd been raising Piper for all five years I'd been with Holden. I'd still been clinging to one tiny, unrealistic hope. I had wondered if Holden would let me take Piper with me if we broke up, if we ever broke up one day. And if he wouldn't, would he at least let me visit her from time to time? But that last bit of hope had come crashing down outside the private room. … At 2:00 pm, Delaney and Holden came back together. Delaney was carrying the food she'd packed for me. She came over with a stern expression and patted me on the head. "I heard you stayed up all night. With the wedding so close, you'll look worn-out before your wedding at this rate." I flinched and ducked away from her hand. "The team took on a big project. It's pretty urgent, and I can't hold everyone back." I tried my best to keep my voice steady. "I think I'll move into the studio with the team for the next few days. It'll be easier for us to communicate and work together. I'll be back in time for the wedding." Holden's brows drew together, and his voice turned cold and dismissive. "Huh? The team?" I pulled out the suitcase I had packed beforehand. Delaney looked anxious and hurried to stop me. "Leah, what job could possibly be more important than your wedding?" Holden probably thought I was still upset about what had happened the night before, so he let out a cold laugh. "Let her go. She said she'll be back on the wedding day, didn't she? It's just a ceremony anyway." With my back to him, I nodded and said softly, "Yeah. It's just a ceremony." … When I arrived at the studio, I worked with the team for a few days and finally finished the project. I handed over all the coordination with Holden and the hotel to my team, then ended up at a mall wandered around until I found myself at a mall. In a large glass window, my reflection stared back at me—long hair down to my waist, a flowing white dress, a gentle expression… Holden had molded me into this version of myself, but none of it was the real me. I stood there staring blankly for a long time. In my mind, I saw Summer's hologram standing beside me this morning, looking almost like my reflection in a mirror. A message suddenly popped up on my phone. It was from Holden's burner account. "Thank you for the hologram you made. I just went to the rehearsal, and it's exactly what I imagined. I heard from your team that the deadline was very tight, and that you stayed up several nights without sleep to get it done. Thank you for that. "Will you be free tomorrow? I'd like to invite you to witness my wedding with Summer." A smile tugged at my lips, but tears streamed down my cheeks. "Okay," I replied.