I'd even brought a hidden camera—tucked it right into my bag so I could catch the exact moment surprise lit up Marvin's face.
And now.
I was standing on that same bag, listening to the photo frame's glass shatter inside it, cracking apart the way three years of loving Marvin Delgado had cracked apart, until nothing was recognizable anymore. I pressed my hand to my chest, the pain so bad I could barely stay on my feet, and heard him say:
「Sybilla and I built everything from nothing. She's my first wife. She's the only partner I'll ever have.」
「If you hadn't kept pushing for a wedding, kept insisting on a marriage certificate,」 Marvin looked at me, his expression twisted with pain：「I never would have forged one to deceive you!」
「If I'd known that lying to you would cost me Sybilla, cost me the life I already had, I never would have chosen you!」
「Zoe!」
「You were never worth giving up a stable life for!」
「Zoe!」
「Don't you get that?!」
Marvin severing every tie between us, throwing everything he had into shielding Sybilla—it was like a dull blade hacking into my chest, again and again, until the pain went numb and all I could do was watch myself come apart. Then Sybilla broke into sobs, begging me.
「Zoe!」
「Please!」
「Let Marvin go!」
「I can't live without him!」
Her voice hammered straight into my nerves.
「I'll die!」
「Without Marvin!」
「I'll die!」
I finally believed the absurdity of everything in front of me.
I finally accepted that the husband I'd loved for three years was nothing but a liar, through and through.
And I.
I was just the most forgettable piece in his lie—a pawn he could throw away the second I threatened his real life.
I started laughing. The laughter got louder, wilder, more absurd, and the tears wouldn't stop. I walked up to Marvin, saw him tense and guarded, and just stood there laughing, looking at him.
「Marvin.」
I bent down and picked up the filthy, ruined bag.
「We're.」
I brushed the dust off.
「Done.」
I slung it over my shoulder and turned to go. Marvin's eyes flickered with panic and he reached for my wrist, but Sybilla grabbed onto him, holding tight. She was on guard against me. But I no longer felt the terror I'd walked in with.
「Sybilla.」
I didn't look back at either of them, didn't look at anything in that room. I just turned my head.
「If you want him.」
「He's yours.」
I pushed through the door and walked into the corridor. Behind me, Sybilla's sobbing shattered into pieces. I heard Marvin comforting her.
「Everything's going to be fine from now on.」
「We'll be okay.」
Everything around me was strange—the hospital, the hallway, the faces of strangers turning to stare—and then a vicious cramp tore through my lower belly. The pain buckled my knees, and someone was asking me:
「Miss?」
「Are you all right?」
I looked at the concern on a stranger's face and tried to force a smile, tried to hold myself together long enough to say 【I'm fine.】
But the words locked in my throat and wouldn't come out. The moment I tried to stand back up,
I heard someone shout.
「Someone fainted!」
「Someone fainted!」
I lost consciousness completely.
What rose up to meet me was the night Marvin proposed—rain coming down hard, but he'd built a clear dome on the rooftop just for me. My friends led me inside, and it was overflowing with flowers, a banner strung above them, and there he stood in the middle of it all, smiling at me, asking:
