The Wedding Was Never Mine

Chapter 2

I set my phone aside and pulled an old photo album out from beneath my bed.

In the pictures, Serena and I stood side by side in identical dresses, looking every bit like two sisters in matching outfits.

But only I knew that hers had been bought brand-new from a department store—soft and comfortable—while mine was a cheap imitation picked up at a market stall.

We wore matching hair bows, too. Hers was satin and shimmered in the sunlight. Mine was synthetic and lost its shape in the slightest breeze.

On the surface, we received the same amount of allowance. But I had discovered long ago that my parents had opened a separate bank card for Serena.

When I came first in my class, my parents told me not to get cocky.

When Serena came thirtieth, they prepared a whole table of dishes to celebrate her improvement. They even said that some people only knew how to bury themselves in books.

They called that fairness.

Their fairness meant that whenever two things looked the same, one was genuine and the other was an imitation.

I simply hadn't wanted to admit it before. I had always thought that if I were understanding enough, grateful enough, they would eventually care about me a little more.

Now I knew they never would.

And they would never change.

One day, I came home unexpectedly and found Adrian and Serena embracing.

In front of me, they had always pretended not to know each other well.

Adrian's voice was rough. "You were the one who asked me to pursue her."

"Yes," Serena said softly. "But I never told you to truly fall in love with her."

I stopped where I was.

After a while, Adrian said, "I didn't. Marrying her was only a way for me to stay by your side and take care of you openly."

Serena looked up at him, tears falling from her eyes. "I have nothing left. I only have you."

Adrian closed his eyes.

"Maisie won't find out, will she?"

It was my mother's voice.

"If she comes and sees Serena in a wedding dress, she'll definitely make a scene." My father's tone was contemptuous. "But don't worry. She's soft-hearted. She won't make a big deal out of it."

"I don't want to humiliate her too much," Adrian said hoarsely.

"Adrian, you're too kind," my mother sighed. "But you need to understand—Maisie only had a place in your life because Serena was gone these past five years."

My father added, "You and Serena were so close back then. If she hadn't insisted on building her career abroad, you never would have separated. Now that she's back, it's time for the two of you to return to the life you were meant to have."

I leaned against the wall, cold spreading through my entire body.

"But Maisie..." Adrian's voice trailed off.

"Maisie won't know that this wedding, which has been in preparation for so long, is really for Serena. The rehearsal the day after tomorrow will be your real wedding. She's always been considerate. She won't do anything."

"I'll hold another wedding for her as compensation." Adrian paused. "I can't let her go without a wedding altogether."

Serena spoke again, her voice gentle enough to sound almost charitable.

"Once we've had our wedding and registered our marriage, we can rehearse it again and pretend that it's her real wedding. That way, she'll have a wedding too. I don't blame her."

Then she added softly, "As long as I can return to Adrian's side, I don't feel wronged at all."

I stood outside the door, frozen to the bone.

So they had known each other all along.

Adrian had originally been Serena's boyfriend.

The past five years had merely been the gap while Serena was away, and I had been allowed to fill her place.

Everyone knew.

Everyone except me.

For five years, I had been the joke.

I stood outside the door and pressed the record button on my phone. My fingernails dug into my palm, leaving crescent-shaped marks.

If Adrian didn't love me, he could have simply told me the truth.

"Maisie, let's break up. Serena and I are still in love."

But instead, they chose to deceive me together. They watched me plan the wedding with hopeful excitement. They watched me try on wedding dresses, choose wedding favors, and write invitations. They watched me look forward to a future like a complete fool.

Then, when I was happiest, they planned to tell me the truth.

How could they smile at me while hiding this from me for five years?

My mother's voice came from inside again.

"Adrian, once the wedding is over the day after tomorrow, you and Serena will register your marriage. After that, let Maisie go through the ceremony once, so we have something to tell the relatives."

"Okay," Adrian said.

I closed my eyes.

My tears fell onto my phone screen, landing directly on the words: Recording in progress.

Fine.

If this was what they wanted, then I would keep playing along.