Before the wedding, I came across my boyfriend Liam’s engagement video with his secretary Chloe online. Furious, I went to find him and overheard his conversation with a friend. “If I don’t marry Chloe, her family will force her to marry some old, ugly man!” “What about your girlfriend Mia?” his friend asked. “She’s been with me for seven years. She can’t live without me.” I sneered and walked away. Later, Liam and I got married on the very same day — but he wasn’t my groom. Our wedding cars passed each other. When he saw me — he completely lost it! “Mom, I’ve agreed to the arranged marriage.” My mom was surprised when she heard I’d agreed. “Didn’t you say you weren’t willing before? Why the sudden change of heart, Summer? Marriage isn’t a game. Whether it’s arranged or not, what matters is your happiness. You need to think carefully, don’t be impulsive.” Hearing my mom’s words, my eyes welled up. “Mom, I’ve thought it through. You can start preparing for the wedding.” Mom knew I was hurting. She paused for a moment, then quickly tried to comfort me. “You and Leo have been together for so long, and he never wanted to make things public, always delaying meeting your dad and me. Your father and I knew you two wouldn’t last.” Mom’s words felt like a thorn piercing my heart. It turns out everyone else saw it clearly; I was the only one blind. “This is the match your father and I picked for you a long time ago. Your parents would never pick anything less than the best. His character and family background are absolutely top-tier. My Summer deserves nothing but the best.” I took a deep breath. “Thank you, Mom. I trust your judgment, and Dad’s.” My mom continued, “So, should we arrange for you two to meet in the next couple of days?” “No need. Just go straight to preparing the wedding.” After I hung up, Leo appeared behind me, I don’t know when. He looked confused, asking, “What wedding? Who’s getting married?” *I am getting married.* I answered him silently in my heart, but the words never made it past my lips. I calmly shook my head. “Nothing, just a friend.” As soon as I spoke, I noticed his expression visibly relax. A bitter pang shot through my heart again. Was he that tense because he thought I was pressuring him into marriage? Or did he think I’d found out about him and Serena getting married? “I brought you your favorite cake from that bakery. Want some now?” In the past, Leo would always bring me something tasty after work. Even if many things weren’t to my taste, I still felt like I was drowning in sweetness. Because I felt the attention of being cherished and fed by the one I loved was far more important than the food itself. But now, looking at that box of cake, I felt nothing but utter mockery. Just moments ago, I’d seen Serena switch her previously private posts to public. After only a few scrolls, I couldn’t bear to look anymore. Only now did I realize how utterly ridiculous I was. That cake, it turns out, was Serena’s favorite. Not just this cake, but all the other nuts and snacks were also Serena’s favorites. Even more tragically, I discovered that Leo’s habit of bringing me food after work only started *after* Serena joined the company. So, Leo, who exactly did you take me for? Was it Summer, or Serena? I swallowed the bitterness and spoke flatly, “I don’t like sweets. They’re too rich. Don’t buy them anymore.” Leo didn’t expect such a reaction. His eyes showed a hint of surprise. “What? You always ate them before.” After all these years together, if he truly cared about me, how could he not have noticed my food preferences? Some words, repeated too many times, lose their meaning and eventually become simple compromise. I didn’t argue further, just casually shrugged. “My tastes have changed recently.”
For several days, Leo seemed incredibly busy—so busy he even forgot my birthday. But I no longer cared. By the time he remembered, my birthday would have long passed. To make it up to me, he bought tickets to my favorite musical. But on the day of the show, he didn’t show up. Instead, I saw Serena flaunting the tickets on her social media. “Just chilling at a concert, it’s so nice to have someone who’s always there to go crazy with you.” Though her face wasn’t visible, I instantly recognized Leo’s hand with the distinctive scar in the photo. He got that scar years ago, saving me. Suddenly, I felt like a clown. I was standing outside in the pouring rain, worrying if something had happened to him, while he and his secretary were in the VIP seats watching the concert. The cold raindrops hit my face, and my heart and body grew colder by the second. Just then, Mom texted me, saying the wedding was set for two weeks later, but if I felt it was too rushed, we could postpone it. I shook my head. “No, this is fine.” The downpour had paralyzed city traffic. I waited a long time but couldn’t get a cab. Leo’s call came much later. “Why aren’t you home?” My voice was calm, devoid of any emotion. “I’m at the theater.” He seemed to remember something suddenly and fell silent for a moment. “I’m sorry, I got held up with something this afternoon. Wait there, I’ll pick you up.” I didn’t refuse, but I also knew he wouldn’t come. Sure enough, the next second, Serena updated her feed again: “Afraid I’d catch a cold from the rain, my CEO husband personally made ginger tea. A man who cooks is the sexiest! I want to marry him!” The photo showed Leo’s back in the kitchen. I took one look and calmly closed the page. The heavy rain still left me with a fever. Using the excuse that I didn’t want to infect Leo, I moved into the guest room. Leo, uncharacteristically, put down his work and stayed home specifically to take care of me. But I felt uncomfortable. “It’s just a small cold. I’m an adult, I can take care of myself. You should go back to work.” He stared at me strangely for a long while. “Didn’t you used to wish I’d be by your side when you were sick? Why are you acting so unusual today?” I lowered my head, forcing a smile. “I was immature then. I’m not anymore.” Leo looked at me with concern. “Summer, are you okay?” “I’m fine. You should go.” He still felt like something was off with me but couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Finally, he just stared at me deeply, sighed, and said, “Okay, get some rest. Call me if you need anything.” After he left, I let out a long breath, lay down, and slept again. When I woke up, I saw Mom had sent me the detailed wedding plan. She also sent me over a dozen wedding dresses, asking me to choose. I casually scrolled through them, clicking on large images to examine them, so absorbed that I didn’t even notice Leo suddenly appearing. He snatched my phone, throwing it aside, his brows furrowed in displeasure. “Why are you looking at wedding dresses?” I thought he’d discovered my impending marriage and was about to explain everything. But his next words made me realize how ridiculous my assumption was. “Summer, are you trying to pressure me into marriage? I told you I’d marry you. You don’t need to play these games to hint at it. It’s disgusting.”
“You misunderstood, I’m not…” But he waved his hand, refusing to listen to my explanation. “I have to go. I advise you to stop pulling these stunts and wearing down my feelings for you.” The door slammed shut with a bang, and the entire room fell into a deathly silence. I stood there for a long time, scoffing at myself. Leo, how much feeling do you even have left for me? What’ is there to wear down? Before exiting SnapChat, I casually clicked on the red notification dot. I saw Leo, who never posted on social media, had updated his status. “You’re so wonderful, of course I’ll marry you and keep you by my side. Only then can I truly rest easy.” The post included a solo photo of Serena and their wedding invitation. In less than a minute, a mutual friend commented: “Dude, the bride just smoothly switched like that?” Immediately, Leo’s new post disappeared, but it quickly reappeared on Serena’s social media. Then Leo’s call came in. In the past, I would have already screenshotted it and called him to confront him. But this time, I let the phone ring until it stopped without answering. Perhaps I was just numb. By the time Leo got home, I was already fast asleep. He gently opened the door and walked to my bedside. “Summer, are you asleep? Why didn’t you answer my calls?” I had my back to him and vaguely replied, “I fell asleep accidentally. Didn’t hear it.” Leo breathed a sigh of relief, leaned in close, and reached out to check my forehead temperature. “Still have a fever?” As he got closer, the sickeningly sweet scent of women’s perfume on him made me feel a wave of nausea. I nearly gagged. I instinctively shifted sideways, dodging his touch. His hand froze in mid-air, full of surprise. He tentatively asked, “Summer, did you see something?” I buried myself entirely under the covers, my voice muffled. “No, I just feel awful with this cold. I want to sleep.” After sleeping through to the next day, I finally felt a bit lighter. I started packing my things, gradually erasing my presence in this house. Only then did I realize that, at first, Leo and I had shared our couple’s items. But at some point, he had thrown them all into a corner, collecting dust. There was also an album filled with photos from my travels with Leo, postcards we’d collected together, old train tickets from when we were long-distance, and letters he’d written to me. This album was full of all our memories from these past years. When Leo returned, I was throwing this album into a fire. He rushed over like a madman, snatching the burned album from the flames. Ignoring the pain of his scalded hands, he angrily demanded, “Are you crazy?! Don’t you know how important this album is to us? Why would you burn it?!” Leo rarely got angry with me; this was the first time he’d ever spoken to me so loudly. The concern in his eyes didn’t seem fake, but it was also true that he was secretly marrying someone else. Not wanting to argue with him, I casually said, “The album got moldy and buggy. I’ve backed up everything inside. I’ll just make a new one later.” Hearing that, his anger subsided. As I applied burn cream to his hand, Leo stared at me and suddenly spoke. “Summer, you seem a bit down lately. Is work stress getting to you? I booked a customized trip for you. Go out, relax, clear your head.”
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