A week before our wedding, my fiancée successfully got pregnant using my brother’s frozen embryo. She posted the pregnancy test results on social media with the caption: “Fortunate to let our love continue in another way.” My brother commented below: “Meeting you is my greatest luck.” My mother quickly added: “Thank you for your hard work, Jocelyn White. Oscar Jones should put that apartment solely in your name!” I quietly commented: “Congratulations.” My fiancée immediately called to berate me: “Your brother can’t have children anymore. It’s just one child, and the baby still carries your Jones family bloodline! How can you be so petty as his older brother?” I chuckled softly and casually dialed a number: “Want to get married?” The person on the other end went silent for a moment, then erupted in jubilation. “Really? You finally came around! I’ll book my flight back right now! No backing out now—I’ll see you at the registry office next week! Honey~” That last coquettish “honey” caught me off guard, making even the tips of my ears inexplicably warm. The slight regret I felt about being too impulsive instantly vanished. Perhaps this was for the best. Meanwhile, my fiancée Jocelyn updated her Facebook again. I clicked to find photos of her massaging Hugo Jones’ legs. In the pictures, she was all smiles, without a trace of disgust. The comment section was filled with teasing remarks from Jocelyn’s friends. Sharp-eyed, I spotted a comment from my brother Hugo: “If only we had met before you were promised to another.” The implication was crystal clear. Jocelyn showed no restraint in her reply: “It’s never too late to follow your heart.” Below, Jocelyn’s girlfriends chimed in with more teasing and congratulations. Apparently, everyone around her knew about her affair with Hugo behind my back, yet whenever they saw me, they still criticized my every move. I used to think I wasn’t good enough, but now I realize it was simply because they all knew Jocelyn’s heart belonged to Hugo. My heart throbbed with pain. I felt like a complete fool. Just then, I received test results from the hospital. They showed a tumor in my stomach with risk of malignancy, requiring immediate surgery. The procedure needed a family member’s signature. I couldn’t count on my mother or Hugo. After much hesitation, I called Jocelyn. “Could you come to the hospital tomorrow? I need surgery—” Before I could finish, Jocelyn impatiently cut me off. “Oscar, aren’t you being a total pain? Just because I’m pregnant with your brother’s child, you’re making up stories about needing surgery to get attention? How pathetic for a grown man to use such tactics! Do you know that because of your comment, Hugo feels so guilty he’s depressed? He’s your own brother—can’t you be more generous and treat his child as your own? I’m busy comforting Hugo. You’re not dying, so stop bothering me, or the wedding is off!” She hung up furiously, giving me no chance to explain. I let out a bitter laugh, having lost count of how many times she’d threatened to call off our wedding. Whenever I showed the slightest disapproval of her relationship with Hugo, she would use our marriage as leverage. Especially after Hugo’s car accident that left his legs disabled. “If it weren’t for you, how would Hugo have injured his legs? How can you be so selfish?” “Hugo is your brother, and I’m his sister-in-law. What’s wrong with taking care of him? Why are you, a grown man, so petty?!” “If Hugo hadn’t kept persuading me, I wouldn’t want to marry you at all. You’re not even half as considerate as Hugo!” I’d heard such words too many times to count. But the truth was, Hugo had the accident while pretending to deliver medicine to me, when he was actually sneaking off to meet her. While I was working myself to exhaustion to buy her dream house and give her a better life—drinking until I suffered severe stomach bleeding and collapsed—she was secretly dating my own brother under the pretense of taking care of me. Before, I feared losing her, so I subconsciously avoided thinking about these things. I never defended myself, just apologized. But now, I decided to let her go. “Fine. The wedding is off.” With that, for the first time this Christmas, I hung up on Jocelyn first.
The next day, I went to the hospital alone. I signed the surgery consent form myself. When the doctor asked, I calmly replied, “I’m practically an orphan.” The surgery went relatively well. I stayed in the hospital for three days before the doctor said I could go home to recover. During this time, neither my mother nor Jocelyn sent me a single call or text message. Yet somehow, I felt a long-forgotten sense of peace. After being discharged, I boarded the bus home. As we passed through the university district, memories of Jocelyn and me flooded back. It might sound hard to believe, but initially, Jocelyn was the one who pursued me. Back then, she was full of youthful energy and boldness, even confessing her feelings for me in front of the entire school. Despite my repeated rejections, she never lost heart, showing me affection I’d never experienced before. Inevitably, I fell for her. During our senior year at Christmas, her father was defrauded of his business funds and fell seriously ill. Their once-privileged family was suddenly drowning in debt. During that period, I worked internships by day and part-time jobs by night, not only comforting her exhausted mind and body but also supporting both of us financially. That’s when my stomach problems began. Fortunately, her father later received help from a kind benefactor, and they recovered part of the stolen funds. Things gradually improved, and we set a date for our wedding. Until Hugo returned from abroad, and her heart changed… I got off the bus and arrived home. As soon as I pushed open the door, the scene before me left me utterly shocked and horrified. Our carefully decorated wedding home was in complete disarray. The house that had been clean and tidy when I left was now littered with takeout boxes, with cockroaches crawling over them. On the balcony, my carefully nurtured succulents had been maliciously uprooted. Through the open bedroom door, I saw Hugo sitting on my bed while Jocelyn crouched beside him, coaxing him to take medicine. My mother lounged carelessly on my new sofa. The cushion I’d specially selected—printed with a photo of Jocelyn and me—had been torn to shreds by Hugo’s dog, with stuffing spilling out everywhere. “What are you doing here?” Seeing me return, my mother merely glanced at me, snorted, and said, “Jocelyn is carrying a Jones family child. I thought this apartment of yours was quite nice—it was meant to be your marital home anyway—so I let Jocelyn and Hugo move in together.” “This is my wedding home. What right does he have to live here?!” I looked at Hugo, who was hiding behind Jocelyn with smug eyes, and took a deep breath before saying, “Besides, I no longer plan to marry Jocel—” Before I could finish, my mother rushed over, grabbed my arm, and started hitting me. “I’ll kill you, you ungrateful wretch! Hugo is your own brother. He broke his leg because of you! What’s wrong with letting him stay in your apartment? If you ask me, you should just transfer the deed to him! Besides, Jocelyn is now carrying Hugo’s child—of course the baby’s father and mother should live together. As for you, contributing nothing all day—how do you expect to support Jocelyn and Hugo’s child?!” I almost laughed bitterly at the absurdity. Since childhood, my mother never liked me. When she was pregnant with me, my father had an affair. After I was born, she directed all her resentment toward me, though none of it was my fault. As a child, I still craved maternal love, striving for top grades, handling all household chores, saving money to buy her gifts, carefully trying to please her. But none of that compared to Hugo doing nothing at all. Later, when I told her about my plans to get married, her first reaction was to make it clear I shouldn’t expect her to provide any dowry or wedding gifts, let alone help with buying a house. She even handed me an account book, telling me to repay everything once I had money. The book recorded every expense spent on me since childhood, down to erasers costing mere pennies. Most ironically, the total she’d spent on me from birth until now amounted to only fifty thousand yuan—a pittance. From that moment on, I stopped hoping for any maternal love. I felt warmth on my forehead. When I touched it, there was blood. Taking a deep breath, I looked at the three people in the room: my birth mother, my brother, and the woman I had planned to spend my life with. My mind had never been clearer. “Hugo, you know perfectly well how your leg was broken!” Hugo’s eyes darted away for a moment. I smiled sarcastically and said, “This apartment is mine. If you want it, fine—pay for it. And…” I turned to Jocelyn, “If you didn’t hear me clearly on the phone, let me say it again: I’m letting you and Hugo be together. This wedding is off, for good!”
The room suddenly fell silent, and the expressions on the three faces weren’t pleasant. Jocelyn’s face showed a rare hint of panic as she walked toward me, seemingly wanting to explain something. Just then, my phone rang. I pulled it out and saw a reminder text from the Civil Affairs Bureau about our appointment tomorrow morning at eight to get our marriage certificate. I was stunned for a moment before remembering it was Susan Hall. We hadn’t contacted each other since that phone call. I assumed she was just kidding back then—marriage isn’t a small matter, after all. But unexpectedly, she had made an appointment at the Civil Affairs Bureau, and it was scheduled for tomorrow morning at eight. Why was she in such a hurry? I couldn’t help recalling how she had sweetly called me “husband” on the phone that day, and my ears began to heat up again. Jocelyn glimpsed the message content and sighed with relief. “Oscar, I know you’re just saying these things because I’ve been neglecting you lately. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be on time for our appointment tomorrow.” Then, noticing the medicine bag in my hand, she took my hand and softened her tone. “Were you really sick? I thought you were lying. But seeing you standing here just fine, it can’t be anything serious. I promise I’ll make time for you from now on.” I didn’t explain. She took my silence as agreement and pulled me into the study. “Where’s that amulet I gave you before? Give it to me—Hugo wants it.” Her words struck me like lightning. “What did you say?” Though the amulet wasn’t valuable, it was something Jocelyn had gotten for me when she was pursuing me, kneeling at every third step on her way to the temple, a traditional act of devotion. She had even fallen ill because of it. It was precisely because of this that I vowed never to let her down, and I’d kept the amulet with me at all times. Jocelyn became irritated. “If you want one, I’ll buy you another one later. Right now, Hugo’s in a bad mood because of his broken leg. As his brother, you should be more accommodating!” Accommodating? Haven’t I been accommodating enough all these years? When has Hugo ever not gotten what he wanted? I’m even expected to give up my wife for him! I took off the amulet I had carefully worn around my neck, but didn’t immediately hand it over. “Jocelyn, did you ever really like me?” Jocelyn snatched the amulet from me. “Don’t be ridiculous! I’ve already agreed to marry you tomorrow, what more do you want? If you can’t even part with an amulet, how can I expect you to treat me well in the future?!” With that, she yanked open the study door and left. I stood there, watching drops of blood from my forehead fall onto the light oak floor, and whatever feelings I had left for Jocelyn completely vanished. After leaving, I immediately put the house up for sale. There was something I hadn’t told them—I’d been promoted, but needed to be transferred to another province. I had been hesitant before because I didn’t want to leave Jocelyn, but now I only felt relieved. I checked into a nearby hotel and soon received a video. In the video, the lights were flashing and the music was deafening, clearly at a bar. Jocelyn, dressed scantily, was sitting on Hugo’s lap. They were feeding each other mouth-to-mouth while people around them cheered. Someone nearby asked her, “Didn’t you say you’re getting your marriage certificate with Oscar tomorrow? Won’t he be angry if he finds out about you and his brother?” Jocelyn pressed her entire body against Hugo and replied confidently, “Even if he knows I’m carrying Hugo’s child, he’ll just throw a little tantrum, then rush to make an appointment at the Civil Affairs Bureau for tomorrow morning. Besides, Hugo is his own brother—what’s there to fuss about between family? The child will still be a Jones either way. If he were a real man, he’d be more generous about it!” Everyone around them roared with laughter. “Jocelyn is so impressive, keeping men wrapped around her finger!” “Men should be trained like dogs!” After the video ended, another message came through: [Oscar, you were born to be trampled under my feet!] Of course, I didn’t need to guess who sent the video. But my mood was surprisingly calm, and I even began looking forward to meeting Susan at the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow morning. I wonder if after all these years, she’s still the same as before…That night, I enjoyed the best sleep I’d had in a long time. When I woke up in the morning, the thought of seeing the little girl who used to follow me around years ago—and that we were going to get our marriage license—made me inexplicably nervous. I almost arrived late as a result. However, as soon as I reached the civil affairs bureau, I saw Jocelyn, dolled up excessively, pushing Hugo in his wheelchair. She looked me up and down, eyeing my suit with contempt before letting out a scornful laugh. “Seems like you’re taking this marriage license thing quite seriously, cleaning yourself up nicely!” She then pulled out a document from her bag. “But before we get the license, sign this agreement first.” I frowned, about to tell her that she wasn’t the one I was getting married to, but she had already forced the agreement into my arms, adding, “I’m only thinking about our future happiness. This way, you can’t say I took advantage of you later!” Hugo chimed in from the side: “That’s right, bro. Jocelyn stayed up all night working on this agreement. She even consulted Mom to make sure you wouldn’t feel it was unfair!” Not wanting to argue with them in public, I bit back my anger and glanced at the agreement. That one glance was enough to make me laugh sarcastically. [Agreement 1: After marriage, Oscar must treat the child in Jocelyn’s womb as his own, assume parental responsibilities, and pay no less than 10,000 yuan monthly for child support.] [Agreement 2: After marriage, Oscar must allow his brother Hugo to live with them and promise not to interfere with Hugo’s interactions with the child in Jocelyn’s womb.] [Agreement 3: After marriage, Jocelyn has the right to decide whether to have more children, and Oscar cannot interfere.] [Agreement 4: After marriage, Oscar must promise to leave his assets to the child in Jocelyn’s womb…] I couldn’t be bothered to read the rest. Calling this a one-sided agreement would be an understatement—they weren’t even treating me like a human being! Seeing me laugh, Jocelyn frowned and urged, “Oscar, what are you waiting for? Do you still want to get the license or not? Sign it now!” I looked up defiantly and, right in front of them, deliberately tore the agreement to shreds, throwing the pieces in their faces. “What do you take me for? Did you really think I’d sign something like this?” Jocelyn’s expression changed dramatically. She tried to threaten me again, starting to say, “You—” But I cut her off coldly, giving her a sidelong glance. “And who told you I was getting a marriage license with you?” Jocelyn’s face froze. Hugo quickly tried to smooth things over. “Bro, don’t be difficult. Everyone knows you won’t marry anyone but Jocelyn. We’ve finally made it to this day—don’t joke about something as serious as marriage. Besides, your appointment is at eight, right? If not with Jocelyn, who are you getting married to?” Jocelyn recovered her composure, crossing her arms and looking at me arrogantly. “Oscar, you’re just putting on this act to get my attention, aren’t you? I already told you, as soon as you sign this agreement, we can get our license!” I checked the time—it was already 8:10. Yet Susan still hadn’t shown up. Did she have an emergency, or had she changed her mind? Regardless, Jocelyn and I would absolutely never have any relationship again! Just as I was about to speak, a car horn sounded nearby, followed by a clear, sweet female voice: “Honey, I’m sorry I’m late.”
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