Yvette immediately let out a laugh, lightly punched the person’s chest when she heard that.
"Armand, how many times have I told you I’m the boss? Call me Bossie!"
One of Noah’s friends, Armand Gasly, quickly nodded his head again and again.
"Yes, yes, Bossie! My bad!"
My soon-to-be husband’s group of friends burst into laughter. They were cheering and shouting. It seemed that they completely forgot that I, the bride, was still standing there.
After Yvette finally stopped laughing, she looked at me and Armand, then nodded with a mischievous grin.
"You both have to apologize to me. But I don’t want just words. Here’s the deal. Each of you will drink a whole bottle of wine. After that, I’ll call it even!"
Noah clapped first, looking proud.
"Nice! Yvette, you’re so generous!"
The others followed, applauding loudly, while my face grew colder and colder. Not long after that, the waiter quickly brought two bottles of wine. Yvette poured herself a glass first and raised it toward Armand.
"Armand, I know you’re not feeling great today. I’ll drink this for you."
She downed the whole glass in one go, earning another round of cheers. It caused Armand to be moved to tears. He then finished the rest of his half-bottle.
"Thank you, Yvette! We’ll be friends for life!"
After they finished patting each other on the back, all eyes turned to me.
"Your turn, Noah girl!" someone shouted.
Noah slipped an arm around my waist, trying to show his dominance.
"Why are you calling me that? Just call me Noah!"
"Yes, yes, Noah, drink!"
Noah leaned close and whispered in my ear, "Evelyn, just drink it. Think of it as doing me a favor."
I stared at him without emotion, telling him, "Noah, you know that I’m allergic to alcohol."
Noah couldn’t help but freeze. His face was changing as old memories came rushing back. Years ago, he had gotten drunk at a business dinner and asked me to pick him up.
The greasy middle-aged men at the table wouldn’t let him leave unless I drank a glass with them. To get Noah out, I took the full glass of strong liquor they handed me and downed it in one gulp. While Noah was merely drunk that night, I ended up being rushed to the emergency room.
The doctor told us that my organs had almost shut down from the reaction. If I had come even a little later, I might not have survived.
The day I was discharged, Noah had held my hand, his eyes red and swore, "Evelyn, I’ll never let anyone force you to drink again!"
But now, just to please his so-called female childhood friend, Noah was asking me to drink an entire bottle. I clenched my fists, anger rising. On the other hand, Noah just lowered his voice and tried to soothe me.
"Evelyn, don’t make a scene. My friends are watching."
"Besides, it’s only wine. The alcohol content’s low. Just drink it, then go to the bathroom and throw it up. It won’t hurt you."
Hearing him say that made my heart go cold. For the first time, I wondered if marrying him was really the right choice.
Someone in the group urged me loudly, "Evelyn, hurry up! We’re all waiting!"
Before I could answer, Yvette suddenly cut in with a laugh.
"Hey, you know that saying, right? Nothing tastes better than pie, nothing’s more fun than ... well, you know!"
She gave me a pointed look and added playfully, "Your Noah might be a bit of a flirt, but don’t aim too high, alright?"
My brows drew together as I asked Noah, "What does she mean by that?"
"Noah, you’ve been teasing me out in the open for a while now and now you can’t stop, huh?"
Then, she gasped dramatically before covering her mouth as if she’d said too much.
"Oh no, did I just say what I was really thinking? Silly me!"
She tapped her temple in an exaggeratedly cute way, pretending to be clueless. Even with such an obvious act, Noah actually laughed. He grabbed Yvette’s hand affectionately.
"Alright, alright. You’ve never been the sharpest tool in the shed, so don’t make yourself look even sillier."
Yvette pretended to be furious and twisted his waist.
"Who are you calling dumb? How dare you insult your big sister! If I’m the dumb sister, then what are you? The dumber little brother?!"
The group roared with laughter again, while I stood there, feeling like an outsider at my own wedding rehearsal.
