His Engagement Was My Final Goodbye

I pushed open the hotel's grand doors, which creaked softly as I stepped inside, wearing the white dress Adrian Ludlow had picked out for me himself. The whole hall was decked out with red roses that blazed so brightly they made my eyes burn. Emblazoned across the massive LED screen were the words: Happy Engagement to Adrian & Vivian Hale. Three days prior, he'd zipped up this very dress for me, then wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. "Keep Saturday free. I've got a surprise for you." We'd been dating for six years, and both our families had long assumed the only thing left was for us to go and get our marriage license. Just then, Vivian walked straight toward me. Her dress was identical to mine. The only difference? Hers was bright, fiery red. Two of our childhood best friends spotted me in the crowd and called out, grinning and teasing, "Perfect timing! Vivian was just looking for a bridesmaid." Adrian sauntered over as if nothing were out of the ordinary and reached out to tuck my slipping dress strap back into place. "Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling sick?" I stared straight into his eyes. "Then what am I to you?" His gaze darted away for a split second. "You're part of the family, of course. You're family." At that moment, the whole ridiculous situation almost made me snort. What none of them knew was that I'd just passed the selection process for the nation's top-secret deep-earth exploration project. For the next ten years, I'd be stuck living and working deep in the heart of the Vast Wastes, at a drilling base nearly 12 miles underground. Adrian pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. "No fever. Why are your hands so cold?" His tone was as familiar as it had been throughout the six years we'd been together, as if nothing were wrong at all. Vivian linked her arm through mine, her smile sweet and completely unashamed. "Don't get the wrong idea, Emily. I get the wedding and the marriage license. You still get to live your life with Adrian like always." I blinked in stunned silence for two full seconds, unable to believe the words coming out of her mouth. Four years ago, the four of them, along with Vivian's older brother, James Hale, had gone on a road trip, and their car had flipped into a reservoir. James had pulled all four of them to safety, but he'd never made it out himself. His last words had been, "Take care of Vivian." Ever since then, they'd given her almost everything she asked for. But this time, she wanted Adrian. Adrian tugged me off to one side, out of earshot of the crowd. "Vivian's grandmother, Margaret, has terminal cancer, and she's always thought Vivian and I are a couple. The old lady just wants to see her get married. Two years, tops. I'll get a divorce, then marry you." I stared right at him, and a bitter, disbelieving laugh bubbled up in my throat. This was absurd. "Adrian, is marriage some kind of toy to you? Hand it out like a gift one minute, toss it aside the next just because you feel like it?" He frowned, clearly anxious about causing a scene in front of the guests. "There are so many elders here today." I took a deep, steadying breath, forcing my voice to stay even. "Call off the engagement right now, and we go home together. Step onto that stage and go through with this, and we're done. For good." Adrian's face darkened instantly, his jaw tightening with irritation. "Emily, you know I hate it when people threaten me." Vivian tittered beside us, her voice sickly sweet. "You two have been living together for three years already. It's just a stupid ceremony—he's not actually gonna leave you over this, right?" Ethan Lynn, one of the two guys I'd grown up with, chimed in to try to talk me around, too. "James traded his life to save the four of us. We owe him everything. You and Adrian are rock solid. What's the harm in letting her have two measly years?" Lucas Hart's take was even more outrageous. "She gets the official title, you get the actual guy. It's no big deal, right? The two don't even overlap." I stared at these two guys I'd grown up with, my chest tightening with cold, sharp disappointment. 'How could they say that?' When Ethan launched his startup in his first year, I'd pulled all-nighters redoing all his data for him, which was the only reason he'd held on to his very first order. When no one was willing to sponsor Lucas to shoot his documentary in the uninhabited wilderness, I'd put my own project liability agreement on the line to vouch for him. I never asked either of them for a single favor when I was going through my hardest times. Did they seriously think that meant I'd put up with anything they dished out? All of a sudden, the lights in the hall snapped off. The big screen flared to life, bold text blazing across it: Adrian & Vivian: Our Six Years. The first photo popped up—fireworks lighting up the sky on New Year's Eve. I was the one who took it. The second showed a group of them at the top of a snow-capped mountain. I took that one, too. New Year's Eve countdowns, startup success celebrations, birthday parties—every single frame came from my camera. The speakers even played a clip of my laughter. But I was nowhere to be seen in any of the footage. A photo of four people had been cropped down to three, and the shot of Adrian standing shoulder to shoulder with me had been cut so that only half his shoulder remained, my entire figure edited out. For the second half of the montage, Vivian had been photoshopped into every single old picture. The host gushed into his mic, "All these years, Ms. Hale has stuck by Mr. Ludlow every step of the way, from awkward teen to the successful man he is now!" The room erupted in thunderous applause. I sat frozen in the dark, watching as my voice and six whole years of my life were sliced up and stitched into someone else's love story. Vivian took the mic, and a spotlight swung straight onto my face. "Actually, all this footage was taken by Emily. You don't mind, right? We're going to be family soon, anyway." Ethan raised his glass in my direction, grinning. "Wanna say a few words?" Lucas laughed, too. "Come on, smile. We don't want Vivian losing sleep over this tonight." The photographer called out from the side, "All right, family, gather up for a group photo!" Adrian grabbed my wrist hard and started pulling me toward the stage. "Don't throw a fit. Be good." Flashbulbs popped all around us. Vivian tilted her head and smiled at me. "Emily, today's my big day, you know?" Every guest in the hall was staring, waiting for me to force a smile. I swatted away the microphone someone held out to me and stayed rooted to the spot. Adrian wrapped his hand around mine, his voice softening as if he were trying to soothe a tantruming kid. "I'd let you yell at me and hit me as much as you wanted once we got home. Just let me pay back the life debt I owe James today, okay?" Right then, Margaret was wheeled in by a nurse. Adrian squeezed his eyes shut for a second. When he opened them again, he let go of my hand and turned to walk toward the stage. I slipped the plain silver band off my ring finger. "Adrian. We're done." His expression finally shifted. "Emily!" I turned and walked away. Behind me, I heard Vivian ask in a small, worried voice, "Is she angry?" Adrian went quiet for two seconds. "It's fine. She'll get over it in a couple of days." The second I shoved the hotel door open, an email pinged onto my phone. Email: All first-batch on-site staff must sign their contracts within 48 hours. Ice-cold wind sliced down my collar as I tapped Confirm.