My freshly emptied stomach seized all at once, a violent cramp that had cold sweat breaking out all over me.
I clapped a hand over my mouth and shot to my feet to make it to the bathroom.
But Lucy and Ken caught me from either side and held me down.
"Mon! You can't throw up!"
The pain in my stomach was unbearable, like it was on fire.
I fought them with everything I had, but with my ribs just removed, I couldn't break free.
The wound only tore back with a stabbing pain, until the tears ran down my face.
Ken acted like he didn't see any of it and shoved me back into the chair.
He was rough about it, and my already churning stomach heaved.
I glanced at Lucy, all that smugness in her eyes, and I was certain then that she knew this diet drug was no good thing.
Fine. So I let myself throw up all over her.
That pure white mermaid gown was filthy in an instant.
The streaks of red blood mixed into it stood out sharply.
But not one person saw them.
"Ah! Mon, this is your wedding dress! How could you throw up on your own wedding dress!"
Lucy dabbed at the gown with tissues, looking heartbroken over it.
Ken turned on me, his face cold.
"Monica! You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Once I'd been sick, the worst of the cramping eased.
I looked steadily at the man in front of me, his face flushed red with rage, and said flatly,
"If that's what you want to think, there's nothing I can do about it."
Hearing that familiar line, Ken's face went from red to a sick shade of green.
Because clearly, he remembered the second time he pushed back the wedding, when I'd asked him,
"Ken, the first time we delayed, you said the date wasn't lucky enough for us. This time your parents won a round-the-world trip and it'd be a waste not to go. Do you just not want to marry me? If that's it, say so. I'm not the kind of woman who clings and begs."
Back then he'd answered,
"If that's what you want to think, there's nothing I can do about it."
And he'd added,
"Anyway, to make it up to you, I had my parents order a mermaid gown made just for you over in Ferristan."
He'd shown me the design, and it really was the mermaid gown I'd secretly saved pictures of.
So I swallowed every bit of my hurt and let myself look forward to wearing it and marrying him.
But when the dress came back, it wasn't my size.
When the zipper wouldn't even close, his parents laughed at me behind their hands.
"Mon, we were only away a month. How did you put on so much weight!"
Ken blamed me too.
"The wedding's in seven days. If you can't fit into this dress, we'll have no choice but to postpone it!"
I didn't want our wedding pushed back again.
So I went online and asked people how to get a waist tiny enough to hide behind a sheet of paper in seven days.
Everyone joked that removing ribs was the fastest way, so I actually went to the hospital and had two of mine taken out.
And now the pain in my stomach and my belly was laughing at how naive and stupid I'd been.
"Ken, what do we do! The dress is ruined, your wedding..."
Lucy really did love this gown; her tears spilled over from panic.
Ken shot me a cold look.
"Apologize to Lucy!"
I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"She got my wedding dress dirty, and I'm the one who has to apologize to her?"
"Anyone who didn't know better would think this was her wedding dress!"
I slapped my forehead, my eyes dropping to Lucy's waist, and I clicked my tongue.
"You know what, this dress fits her so well it's like it was made for her! No wonder I couldn't squeeze into it no matter what I did!"
"Monica! What's that supposed to mean? Do you even still want this marriage or not?"
Caught out, Ken flew into a humiliated rage.
I refused to back down.
"I already told you. If it comes to it, we just don't get married!"
