Chapter 3

Victoria chased me to my parents’ house.

"Daniel, why did you move all your stuff out? Are you angry?"

I pressed my lips together. "Victoria, I sent you a breakup text. You probably didn't see it."

Victoria’s eyes were a little red. "Daniel, it was wrong of me to be late for the wedding today. It was all because I accidentally drank too much with some girlfriends yesterday. It won't happen again, ever."

I didn't speak.

She sounded like she was talking to herself, repeating, "It's all over, Daniel. Nothing like this will ever happen again."

Over?

Half an hour ago, I had personally seen her drive Leo back to our apartment complex.

I reiterated, "Victoria, we've broken up. You don't need to make promises to me."

Victoria reached for my hand. "How can we be broken up? We were about to get married! After today, we’re husband and wife. A little spat won't break a marriage, right? Come back with me, please?"

She pressed close, brushing against my arm. I caught the strong scent of Leo's cologne on her.

Leo liked to groom himself; he was a completely different style from me.

I pulled my hand away, unable to resist asking her, "Where's Leo?"

Victoria looked at me in shock, her hand dropping guiltily. "What do you know, Daniel?"

So much. Those thousand condoms, that breakup note, those nine hundred ninety-nine videos, the missed wedding…

Where should I even begin?

Finally, I spoke. "What were you doing bringing him to our wedding home?"

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief.

"Daniel, we were about to get married. He just came to pick up some things he’d given me before."

"I made him take everything that had anything to do with him. That's my statement, Daniel. Since I decided to marry you, I won't have anything messy with anyone else."

"I'm truly sorry about being late for the wedding. I swear on my life I'll never stand you up again. If I ever do, I, Victoria, don't deserve to marry you, and I deserve to be single forever."

Sweet words couldn't erase anything.

I pushed her towards the door, wanting to rest.

Victoria suddenly pulled out an old almanac and waved it at me, her face full of smiles.

"Daniel, I've picked a new wedding date! This time, I had a master fortune-teller calculate it. They said our stars aligned perfectly, and seven days from now is a truly blessed day! We'll get married then, and we're sure to have a beautiful, long life together!"

"Last time, I was fooled. Today wasn't suitable for us to get married at all! The snag and the delay were actually a blessing in disguise."

The first time we picked a wedding date, Victoria had chosen that day too.

She said a friend had given her an almanac, and it said today was auspicious for marriage.

Yesterday, I learned that even our wedding date had been picked by Leo. He had deliberately chosen an unlucky day, just to provoke me.

But ironically, I felt that the fortune-teller was worse than Leo, because we had no future. No seven days later, no beautiful, long life together.

I gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Did the master not calculate that I've already married another woman?"

Victoria's face hardened. "Daniel, don't say things like that. You'll always be mine. Who else could you marry, besides me?"

We had been dating for three years, but I had liked her for ten. She was naturally confident that I was just being childish with her.

But she didn't know that ten years ago, I had made a bet with myself: if Victoria still didn't like me after ten years, I would give up on her.

Today marked exactly ten years. I had accumulated enough disappointment that it almost felt numb now, not as painful.

Victoria refused to leave my parents' house.

I had no choice but to say, "The bride and groom shouldn't see each other before the wedding. It's bad luck."

She finally beamed, visibly relieved, and patted her chest.

"Oh, is that it? I knew you couldn't bear for me to go through the trouble of moving, so you deliberately moved out yourself."

"Daniel, get some good rest. Remember to pick me up in seven days."