Chapter 1
I sent a message to Jack, the boy next door, and breathed a sigh of relief when he agreed to come.
I told the officiant to wait just a little longer.
This was my tenth attempt at getting married. It couldn’t be ruined again.
Jack arrived quickly, his confident aura immediately drawing attention.
He strode directly to center stage, standing beside my lonely figure with a mischievous smile.
“Well, Miss Lily, have you made up your mind?”
I nodded. It was just a marriage of convenience to appease our families. Anyone would do at this point.
Besides… Grandpa’s condition couldn’t wait any longer.
His health had started rapidly deteriorating six months ago.
Whenever I visited him, he would always talk about wanting to see me married before he died.
As the person I was closest to growing up, Grandpa’s only wish was to see me find someone worthy to spend my life with.
That way, after he passed, I would have someone to rely on and wouldn’t be taken advantage of.
Watching Grandpa grow thinner by the day, I couldn’t bear to let him leave with regrets. So I became determined to get married.
My boyfriend Kevin had promised we would get married.
But after ten wedding attempts, he failed to show up every single time.
Leaving me to become the laughingstock of the entire city over and over again.
And his excuse for missing every wedding was always because of his childhood friend Zoe.
Zoe never seemed to have any problems, except on my wedding days.
She would either claim to be having a depressive episode and threaten suicide, or say she was too scared to be alone after watching a horror movie.
The most ridiculous time was when she suddenly decided she wanted to take wedding photos while out shopping, and called Kevin to be her stand-in groom.
I wasn’t allowed to express any dissatisfaction about these absurd reasons.
If I dared to send a message asking about it, I would be met with a barrage of angry words from Kevin.
“Lily, can’t you be more understanding?! Zoe is like a sister to me. She needs me right now. We can have the wedding any day, why are you being so petty?”
But after ten times of being abandoned and betrayed, my patience had finally run out.
This time, I wouldn’t stand around waiting anymore.
After truly letting go, I found the pain in my chest had eased.
Perhaps I had become numb to it all.
Or maybe Grandpa’s words had given me strength.
“Our Lily is such a wonderful girl. After I’m gone, Grandpa hopes you can find someone who loves you and won’t let you be mistreated.”
Grandpa’s aged face flashed in my mind, immediately giving me renewed determination.
I couldn’t let down those who truly loved me.
So I took Jack’s hand, and together we walked down the aisle.
I was determined to face this wedding with my best self, so that Grandpa could watch the video later with peace of mind.
As we exchanged rings, my phone buzzed with a message from Kevin.
He was still completely oblivious to his wrongdoings, using the same careless tone as always:
[Lily, don’t make a fuss. Zoe has a stomachache today, I really can’t get away. We can have the wedding any day, I’ll make it up to you later.]
Seeing those words again, my heart couldn’t help but ache sharply.
I gripped my phone tightly.
Jack noticed and raised an eyebrow.
“Do you still want to put on the ring?”
I looked up, my gaze resolute: “Yes!”
After completing all the ceremony procedures, I was utterly exhausted.
Before leaving, Jack stared at me intently.
“Lily, I’ll give you two days to change your mind. In two days we’ll go get the marriage license. I hope you’ve thought it through.”
Those words gave me a graceful out, but I had already made up my mind to end things with Kevin.
“Don’t worry, I won’t regret this!”
After Jack left, I received a message from Kevin.
[Lily, you have 10 minutes to buy painkillers and bring them over. Don’t make me angry.]
Below was an address for a well-known lovers’ hotel in the city.
A moment later, my phone buzzed again.
It was a photo of two people lying in bed together.
The sender was Zoe.
And my boyfriend was one of the people in the picture.
[I win again!]
More than the pain of being betrayed and abandoned, what I felt most was disgust.
On my wedding day, my groom was in a hotel with another woman.
I unconsciously clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug into my palms, drawing blood.