"Xav, it's been over an hour. Your wife's already pinned the flower in her hair. If you don't show up soon, I can't hold the line!"
Robert was on the phone with Xavier.
Xavier was breathing hard. "Hold on a little longer. Lauren Simmons won't let go of me—"
In the background, Lauren purred, "Don't stop, Xav."
"See? She's starving for it today. How can I just walk away before I've fed her?"
Xavier tossed the phone aside and gripped Lauren's chin. "Don't think I don't know. This is exactly the kind of thrill you're into."
"Not any earlier, not any later—you come for me on the exact night I'm meant to light Crystal's final lantern!"
"That's me," Lauren said, melting into him. "You want it or not?"
Xavier's voice shook. "I want it. I'm going to take you hard."
Robert couldn't listen anymore. "You really need to wrap it up! From the look on your wife's face, something's off."
"She's just upset. That's normal," Xavier said, certain. "Trust me. The second I show up, she'll be so overcome she'll cry."
"That's our Xav for you. The night the rite's supposed to be sealed, you leave Crystal standing there alone, and she doesn't even dare to call and rush you."
"Xav, how many rounds in over there already? You going to have anything left to deliver to Crystal later?"
The guys howled with laughter on the line.
A confident smile curled at Xavier's lips. "Think about it. Crystal's almost twenty-nine, the small-town spinster of that fishing town. She's been praying for me to marry her for five years. You really think she'd dare cause a scene?"
"I won't be done for a while here. Figure something out on your end. Stall a little longer."
I carried the tray over to top off their tea.
The chattering, joking crew went strangely silent.
Robert covered, awkward. "Crystal, Xav bought a ton of food and gifts. We'll go bring them down."
I opened my phone.
Lauren had just posted to her feed.
"A man who throws everything aside to come to me. Nothing sexier."
In the photo, a man's bare back, with a familiar black mole.
A ring box tossed carelessly on the pillow.
The diamond ring Xavier had bought to propose to me.
The truth went in through my eyes like an ice spike, and the cold ache of it spread until my whole head throbbed.
"Crystal, we're at the hospital. We don't see Xavier here."
The hospital was just a lie he'd tossed off, so of course my friends were never going to find him there.
"Let me give him a call. Don't wait for him. Come on back first."
The man who would light a lantern for me was almost here.
How could I let my oldest friends miss the moment I was finally chosen?
I opened my chat with Xavier.
The last message still sat there from the afternoon.
Xavier had written: "Two hours until the lanterns, baby. I miss you so much."
By custom, on the day of the lighting, the groom isn't allowed to see the bride.
Xavier was pouring out how much he missed me.
At that very same time, Lauren had posted a sweet little photo of herself out for afternoon tea.
Her "husband" was wearing the exact same watch as Xavier.
Back then I'd just assumed it was the same model.
Once trust cracks, the wind comes pouring in and never stops.
Xavier's betrayal had left a trail all along.
The first time he met Lauren, he kept asking me about her.
I'd thought it was only natural curiosity, since Lauren was a lifestyle influencer like him.
It never crossed my mind that his betrayal had been planned for a long time.
My video call went through, and Xavier cut it off.
A message came back fast: "Babe, I'm in the bathroom."
The last time, he'd cut off my video call too.
He said he was in the shower.
I'd even teased him, "It's not like you've never picked up my video calls in the shower before."
Xavier said he wanted to keep a little mystery.
So his "mystery" was Lauren, in his bed.
"Pick up the phone."
The moment I sent that, Xavier called me himself.
"I'm sorry, babe. Sorry to keep you waiting. I'll be there soon."
There was an echo on his end.
He really was in a bathroom.
Watching him work so hard at the act, I decided to just cut through it.
"My friends went to pick you up. No sign of you at the hospital—but they did watch you and Lauren walk into a hotel."
