“It’s late. Get some rest now.”
I gave a soft hum and hung up.
He’d heard the disappointment in my voice.
But he didn’t call back.
Five minutes later.
Eugenia sent over a screenshot of a chat.
Then unsent it.
“Summer, I sent that to the wrong person, you didn’t see it, did you?”
One minute.
Long enough for me to read every word.
Charles, complaining to Eugenia.
“She called and wanted me to come to the hospital.”
“I told her no.”
“After all these years of taking care of her illness and her moods, I’m a little worn out.”
Eugenia sent a comforting little hug emoji.
Charles sent back a crying face.
And one more line.
“If only everything we have right now were real.”
A screenshot can be unsent.
But the brain can’t delete a memory.
My hand tightened around the phone.
I typed back.
“What did you send? I didn’t see it.”
Eugenia sent a tongue-out emoji.
“Just an unimportant picture.”
But I knew. She wanted me to see it.
She and Charles didn’t want to be the villains. They wanted me to step aside on my own.
The day before the wedding.
Charles came to the hospital to pick me up.
He didn’t take me home. He sent me and all my luggage straight to a hotel instead.
“The house is being turned into the wedding suite for tomorrow. Sorry to make you put up with one night at a hotel.”
I blinked, the corner of my mouth twisting into something bitter.
Nothing they did now, no matter how far it went, surprised me anymore.
After tomorrow, it would all be over.
Tomorrow afternoon I’d be going in for surgery.
If it worked, I’d never have to depend on Eugenia’s blood to stay alive again.
If it failed, I’d just call it a fresh start in the next life.
Whether or not I came off that operating table, I was done with this love and this friendship. Both of them.
The next day, I stood behind Eugenia as her bridesmaid.
The venue was beautiful.
Exactly the way I’d imagined it.
Only the bride wasn’t me.
Charles and Eugenia stood up on the stage.
The vows.
The exchange of rings.
The kiss.
Both of them with red-rimmed eyes.
As if reaching this happy ending had cost them everything.
I still remembered how, right before we went up, the two of them had each said a line to comfort me.
“Summer, don’t be sad in a bit, okay? We’re only acting.”
“Right, just think of it like we’re playing one of those murder-mystery games.”
I’d smiled and nodded back then.
Hadn’t told them.
I didn’t care anymore.
The officiant suddenly held the microphone out in front of me.
“I hear this bridesmaid is the bride’s best friend since childhood. Do you have any words of blessing for the newlyweds?”
There was no such moment scheduled in the ceremony.
I glanced at Eugenia.
She kept her head down, not daring to meet my eyes.
Charles shot me a warning look not to say anything out of line.
I looked at their ten fingers laced together, and inside I was strangely calm.
“I wish you a love that lasts, happiness forever, growing old together. Congratulations on your marriage!”
The next second, warm applause broke out from the floor below.
Then came the bouquet toss.
Charles was just about to take the bouquet from Eugenia’s hands to pass it to me.
But Eugenia abruptly raised it and flung it into the crowd.
In the scramble, the flowers hit the floor and were trampled to a pulp.
Charles froze for a moment, then gave a helpless little laugh.
He came to my side and lowered his voice.
“Eugenia got carried away, she just forgot.”
“I’ll buy you a new bouquet once the wedding’s over.”
With that.
He stepped forward, slid his arm around Eugenia’s shoulders, and went off with her to make the toasts.
