Chapter 3: The Wedding She Believed In
500 Words
She didn’t hear it from him.
She heard it the way truths like that usually arrive—
by accident, in passing, without care for who it would break.
They were behind her, laughing softly, voices lowered but not enough.
“They’re getting married,” one of them said.
“Finally. It’s about time.
Her steps slowed.
She didn’t turn around. She didn’t ask who. She already knew.
There was only one they that could hurt this much.
Him.
And the girl he loved.
Her chest tightened, like the air had suddenly become too heavy.
“Ikakasal na sila…” she repeated in her head, slowly, as if saying it enough times would make it less painful.
Of course. That was how stories like his were supposed to end. Rich families. Old names. A woman he truly loved. Everything fitting perfectly—except her.
She walked away before they could see her face.
The rest of the day passed in silence. She moved through campus like a ghost, seeing him from afar more than once.
He looked the same as always—calm, distant, untouched by emotion. No sign of excitement. No sign of love.
But she didn’t question it.
Men like him didn’t show things openly.
She stood behind a column once, watching him laugh lightly with friends.
The sound felt wrong now, knowing what she believed was coming.
“So ganito pala ang ending,” she thought.
“Ako lang pala ang hindi nakakaalam.”
That night, she didn’t dress up.
For the first time in years, she skipped the club. No short dress. No loud music. No pretending. She stayed in her room, lights off, phone untouched.
She removed her makeup slowly, like she was erasing a version of herself she no longer needed to be.
“Tama na,” she whispered to the mirror.
“May mapapangasawa na siya.”
The next days were worse.
The whispers grew louder. Congratulations passed around. Smiles. Speculation about the wedding—how grand it would be, how perfect the bride was.
Each word felt like a quiet cut.
She avoided places where she might see him, but still, she saw him. Across the courtyard. At events. Always from a distance. Always unreachable.
She noticed something she hadn’t before.
He didn’t look happy.
He looked… tired.
But she ignored it. It wasn’t her place to question anything. Love wasn’t her place at all.
She began to pull away without anyone noticing. She stopped showing up. Stopped trying. Stopped standing where he could see her.
People noticed the change.
“Where did she go?”
“She used to be everywhere.”
But he didn’t notice.
Or maybe he did—
and just didn’t care.
She accepted what she believed was the truth: that he would marry the woman he loved, and she would fade quietly, like she was always meant to.
What she didn’t know—
what she couldn’t imagine—
was that the wedding everyone talked about was not his.
- Writer
