The Wedding Bet - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chu Huai’an’s brows drew together. He watched me quietly, as if he wanted to say something.

A second later, the front door opened.

“Yiyi, I brought you your favorite matcha cake!”

Jiang Yingying came in barefoot, entirely at home.

She winked at me playfully, then gave Chu Huai’an a light punch.

“Give me your slippers!”

Chu Huai’an sighed and put the shoes on for her.

“What is wrong with you? It’s not like we don’t have slippers here. Why do you have to wear mine?”

He grumbled, but the way he helped her into them was practiced and familiar.

I watched in silence.

Chu Huai’an was a neat freak; even I was not allowed to wear his slippers.

Jiang Yingying had always been the exception.

I had once asked him about it, unhappy.

He said they had grown up together, and it had always been this way.

But it had not always been this way.

When Chu Huai’an and I first got together, Jiang Yingying — my closest friend — had smiled more brightly than I did.

She had drilled it into him that he must keep his distance from other girls,

herself included.

When the three of us ate together, if Chu Huai’an served her food out of courtesy, she would pick it right back out.

It was only later, after Jiang Yingying’s family went bankrupt.

Chu Huai’an arranged a job for her at his own company, and bit by bit, the way the two of them were together changed.

“Yiyi, you don’t mind me wearing this ring, do you?”

The probing voice at my ear broke through my thoughts.

I looked up and caught the deep, hidden gleam of triumph in Jiang Yingying’s eyes.

I curved my lips.

“It’s just a ring. What’s there to mind?”

“We’re the best of friends. If you want the man, I can give him to you too.”

Stung, Jiang Yingying’s face flickered with guilt — then her eyes reddened at once.

Seeing this, Chu Huai’an hurried to shield her behind him, his voice cold as ice.

“Qiao Yiyi, you’ve gone too far. Apologize!”

I had spoken only one truth, and he wanted an apology from me.

Yet they had wagered on my limits so many times, and not once had anyone ever said sorry to me.

I ignored him and went straight to hauling out a suitcase to pack.

Chu Huai’an stood frozen, his brows knitted tight.

“What do you mean by this?”

I did not turn around.

“I mean the wedding is yours to keep. We’re breaking up.”

Chu Huai’an’s breath caught. He stared at me, about to speak —

and Jiang Yingying walked over.

“Yiyi, don’t always use breaking up to keep Huai’an in check. I’ll give the ring back, all right?”

“No need.”

Chu Huai’an pressed her hand down. The panic in his eyes ebbed away in an instant, replaced

by a trace of infuriating certainty at the corner of his mouth.

“Qiao Yiyi, you’re thirty already and you’re still pulling this? How childish is that?”

“Besides — you don’t want your mother at the wedding?”

It was like punching cotton; even rage felt powerless.

I had grown up with only my mother, the two of us leaning on each other. Her health was poor, and her greatest wish was to see me married.

When Chu Huai’an learned of it, he had knelt by her sickbed and promised:

“Auntie, rest assured. I will give Yiyi a grand wedding.”

The promise felt like yesterday.

But the man who made it was no longer the man of yesterday.

Seeing me silent, the certainty in Chu Huai’an’s eyes deepened.

He stepped closer and smoothed my hair.

“Be good. Stop making a fuss.”

“The venue’s been told to you in the end, and it won’t hold up your ticket.”

“There’s a bachelor party tonight. We’ll go on ahead.”

With that, he led a teary-eyed Jiang Yingying out.

The door slammed shut with a bang.

The cake on the entryway cabinet toppled at the sound and smashed to pieces.

Just like the three of us — long since shattered beyond repair.

I closed my eyes, took my suitcase, and walked out too.