【Bowl number 158 this year. My midnight snacks are officially covered by a certain someone~】
I tapped into the account.
A couples' account with fifteen thousand followers.
Every day the blogger posted the noodles her boyfriend cooked for her.
And the bowl on camera today was one I'd shaped myself in Charleston.
I read through every single post like I was punishing myself.
Trying to find the man he used to be in the scraps another woman put on display.
So his love had never disappeared. He'd just given it to someone else.
The next day I called an agent and put the house and car up for a rush sale at half the market price.
Anything tainted, anyone tainted, I didn't want it anymore.
It wasn't until the bridal studio called that I remembered today was the day for the wedding photoshoot.
I was about to cancel when the voice on the line spoke first.
“Miss Mann, Mr. Mason changed the outdoor location you'd booked.”
“Changed it to where?”
She clearly found it hard to get out.
“To a spot next to a junkyard……”
“Mr. Mason said it's to promote an eco-friendly message.”
……
“I know you always wanted that castle look, Miss Mann, but our wasteland style photographs beautifully too.”
“I'm sorry, Miss Mann. Mr. Mason really paid us a lot.”
I didn't say anything. I just hung up.
If I didn't pull myself out now, this secondhand wedding would become the biggest joke in New York.
A text came in from James:
【You've got ten minutes. If you're not here by then, forget the shoot.】
I didn't reply. Half an hour later, Janet sent me a photo.
She was wearing my couture gown, kissing James beside a dumpster.
【Rosa, if you don't come the deposit won't be refunded either, so to save you two some money I had no choice but to sacrifice myself and step in. ~】
【Mr. Mason says we can just AI face-swap it later.】
【PS: and I even managed to talk Mr. Mason into letting you wear the couture gown for photos without all the hassle. Don't thank me too much.】
On her feed, she started showing off the freshly printed wedding photos.
【Accidentally got married.】
As I scrolled, I liked it by accident.
James's call came in at once.
His ringtone was a voice clip I'd recorded.
【Baby, hurry and pick up.】
The tenderness of the ringtone made his cold voice now feel all the sharper.
“What's that like supposed to mean? Do you know you made Janet cry?”
“Just because I liked it?”
“Rosamond, how many times do I have to say it? Janet and I are just normal friends. Stop being so petty and paranoid.”
“Fine.”
My short answer left James at a loss for words.
After a moment, he added: “Go apologize to Janet.”
I didn't apologize. Seeing that I wouldn't listen, James was so angry he blocked me outright.
Before he did, he left me one message.
【You're being so unreasonable. I won't be coming home until the wedding. Think long and hard about what you've done.】
All the better. With him gone, it was easier for me to sell the house and car, and easier to get the next wedding ready.
……
On the day of the wedding, James finished his morning meeting and got ready to drive to the venue.
Janet had packed his schedule so tight that he could only spare the two hours at noon to get married.
As for the customary rituals, the door games, fetching the bride, he'd cut all of that long ago.
Rosamond loved him too deeply to ever care about those empty formalities.
Before he even reached the car, James ran into Janet, her eyes rimmed red.
She showed him a photo of the welcome area.
The bride's face was still Janet's.
“Mr. Mason, the AI face-swap failed, and the bride's name got printed as mine too.”
James fell for this act of hers, and he soothed her:
“It's all right. So, would you be willing to take Rosamond's place and go through the ceremony with me?”
“Of course I would. It's just that Rosa will be upset, won't she.”
James frowned and pulled Rosamond out of the block list.
“Leave the gown behind and head home first. Janet hates to see you worn out playing the bride, so she's willing to take the weight off you.”
He was pressed for time. He fired it off and shut his phone, never seeing the bright red exclamation mark.
It was only when he reached the venue that he found Rosamond, dressed in full splendor, standing in the welcome area.
That magnificent gown, he'd never seen it before.
His first reaction was that she'd gone and wasted money again.
But that lush beauty stirred something in him, too, and brought back the first time they'd met.
These past few years, maybe he'd been too hard on her about spending.
She loved looking beautiful, and yet she'd given up dressing up for his sake.
He was just about to speak, to win her back, to have Rosamond go through the ceremony with him instead of leaving it to Janet.
Then his gaze caught the groom standing beside her, and his pupils shrank in an instant.
