Bridesmaid in My Own Love Story

After ten years of love, my boyfriend—now honorably discharged from the military—had finally returned to marry me. But while going through his old phone, I stumbled upon 512 gigabytes of messages filled with longing for someone else.

Even though she had blocked him, the red exclamation marks didn’t stop him from sending long letters and love confession videos to her.

With a bitter heart, I headed to the hospital to collect my premarital checkup report, only to see him down on one knee, holding a ring and proposing:

“Zolenn, I gave up my dreams for you. All I ask is that you keep the child! If you agree, we can go get our marriage certificate right now!”

His desperate pleas, filled with deep affection, made me tear up both the premarital and pregnancy test reports right then and there.

Since he wanted to give another woman and her child a home, I decided I didn’t want to be a part of that picture anymore.

After I miscarried and fled from our engagement, he abandoned the love of his life—Zolenn Smith—and her child. He went mad trying to find me.

And now, in the bustling hospital lobby, Yzail, who had always hated being the center of attention, had already been kneeling for ten minutes. His tall, upright frame was a reflection of his resolve to marry.

The ring in his hand was exactly what I had imagined in all those dreams of proposals.

“Zolenn, please keep the child and marry me. Will you?” he begged.

Zolenn gently touched her stomach with her right hand and extended her left hand toward him.

The ring, the one I had long admired, was now on her finger.

They embraced and kissed passionately while the cheers and whistles from onlookers cut through my heart like a knife.

I ripped up my premarital checkup and pregnancy test reports and turned away.

Three years ago, Yzail said that an out-of-wedlock pregnancy would damage his career, and so he abandoned our first child.

When he returned to the military, I went through the surgery alone, stayed in the hospital alone, and grieved alone.

The child had left three years ago, and my love for him had died three years ago, too.

He never paused for a moment for my child, but for Zolenn and hers, he gave up on his lifelong dream.

Me and my child? We were nothing but a joke. The child in my womb now felt like an even crueler one.

After scheduling an abortion, I got into my car, only to spot Yzail and Zolenn in the parking lot.

“Yzail, if you really want to marry me, you have two options: either cancel your engagement or make Lanaya your bridesmaid.”

“Canceling the engagement isn’t right. I don’t want you to be gossiped about.”

“Then make Lanaya my bridesmaid!”

I eased off the accelerator, curious to see if Yzail, the man who always prided himself on being moral and upright, would agree to such an outrageous demand.

“Alright, you little trickster. Now you can rest easy and marry me, right?” he chuckled.

“But you have to tell her on the wedding day. If she runs away, I won’t have a bridesmaid!” Zolenn added.

“Don’t worry, she owes me her life. I’ve protected her for ten years. Now that I’ve found someone I want to protect for a lifetime, asking her for this small favor will surely save her face. She’ll agree!”

They pressed against the pillar, kissing like the world around them didn’t exist, shredding the last bit of my heart.

I took the key out of the ignition and sat quietly, too weak to drive.

They kissed all the way to their car and drove off.

Struggling to hold my emotions together, I called my uncle.

“Uncle, does your company still hire useless people? I need you to take me in.”

Surprised but happy, he asked, “You no longer want to wait around for the man you’ve been holding out for?”

I glanced at the pile of Chinese medicine prescriptions I had been taking to prepare for pregnancy, my heart heavy with grief.

“Getting married and having kids isn’t everything. Building a career and being with family—that’s what really matters.”

My uncle, who had witnessed my ten-year marathon of love, teased,

“Then I’ll arrange your trip abroad. Once you’re here, I’ll keep you so busy you won’t have time to think about anything else.”

“The man you waited ten years for—a man who promised you a home—how much could he really love you? You were just his backup plan all along.”

“With us by your side, there’s no obstacle you can’t overcome!”

Had I not seen those love messages, I would have confidently told my uncle that Yzail was my soulmate.

But the truth was, those ten years of love? They were nothing more than a cruel joke.

On my way to the hospital to collect my premarital checkup report, I couldn’t wrap my mind around the betrayal.

But when I saw him proposing to the very woman who had nearly killed me, it all made sense. He had retired from the military to marry her.

I had feared for years that during our long separation, Yzail might have fallen for someone else, but I never imagined it would be Zolenn.

And to win her over, he had agreed to humiliate me at their wedding.

I was so consumed by these thoughts that I couldn’t focus on the road. I slammed the brakes and was rear-ended.

Gripping the steering wheel, my heart raced in panic. Just then, Yzail’s call came through.

“Lanaya, the doctor said you’ve already picked up the premarital checkup report. Where are you?”