I'd just lain down when my childhood friend started blowing up my phone with one frantic call after another.

"Albert Gilbert, where the hell did you disappear to? The wedding's about to start! Why aren't you here yet?"

I blanked. "What wedding?"

He was losing it. "Your wedding with Cassandra Sullivan!"

I figured he was messing with me, but then he turned the camera toward the wedding venue.

The ballroom of Rivermont's top hotel. My parents and a whole crowd of relatives and friends were seated at the tables.

The welcome sign at the entrance read, in bold letters:

【Albert Gilbert & Cassandra Sullivan — Wedding Ceremony!】

My scalp prickled all over in an instant.

Cassandra Sullivan? Wasn't that the goddess I'd had a crush on for years?

She was the richest woman in Rivermont. I was a workhorse pulling in three grand a month.

I hadn't seen her once since we graduated high school. I didn't even have her number.

Married? Married to who, exactly?

But my friend was dead certain, and everyone was urging me to hurry to the venue.

To get to the bottom of it, I rushed off to the hotel.

But the moment I stepped outside, a runaway truck plowed into me and killed me on the spot.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the exact moment my friend called me.

——

When I opened my eyes again, my whole body was soaked in cold sweat.

The pain of being struck dead in my past life was still there. Right up until I died, I couldn't make sense of it.

Why was everyone saying today was my wedding with Cassandra Sullivan?

I quickly searched the term: Cassandra Sullivan wedding.

But there wasn't a single piece of news about her dating or getting married!

My contacts, my chat history, even my social media and photo albums—

none of them had anything about her either!

My phone buzzed like crazy, and my friend's anxious voice came through:

"Albert Gilbert, the wedding's about to start. Where are you?"

"Everyone's getting impatient. Hurry up, it's time for you to walk in!"

His voice was pure burning urgency, but I'd gone cold all over.

Face hard, I screenshotted everything I'd dug up and sent it to him.

"Kent Fox, there's a limit to how far you take a joke! Cassandra Sullivan and I have nothing to do with each other. How could I be marrying her?"

He froze, then turned the phone toward the hall on the spot.

Cassandra Sullivan, in a trailing white gown, appeared before my eyes along with a crowd of guests.

"Dude, are you okay? You already signed the marriage certificate, and you're saying you're not married?"

"The ceremony's about to start, and you switch to a burner account and pull up some news from years ago to play single? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Quit stalling, everyone's waiting on you to walk in!"

The groomsmen crowded in too.

"Albert, where on earth did you go? You just vanished, and we've all been losing our minds looking for you!"

"Your goddess proposed to you ninety-nine times, and this wedding alone cost tens of millions. What more could you possibly want?"

Cassandra Sullivan proposed to me ninety-nine times? You've got to be kidding!

She was the famous ice-queen beauty, off-limits to strangers.

What did a guy like me have that could move the heart of a tech titan worth hundreds of billions?

Cassandra Sullivan's cool voice suddenly came through:

"Did you find Albert? Did the call go through?"

"No, not yet……"

My friend quickly clapped a hand over the phone and answered, guilt all over his voice.

Her eyes darkened. She turned, face cold, and gave the order to her bodyguards:

"Pull the hotel security footage. Find Albert Gilbert right now!"

Seeing this, my friend immediately dropped his voice and warned me:

"You little punk, did you hear that? Cassandra Sullivan's been looking for you all this time!"

"Stop fooling around and get out here! No matter how much she dotes on you, today, in front of all these people, you leave everyone hanging like this—where's she supposed to put her pride?"

"If you don't come, I won't be able to cover for you anymore!"

As he spoke, he lifted the camera again.

My parents stood at the entrance, anxiously looking around, while the guests murmured among themselves.

Beside him, Cassandra's expression grew darker by the second.

Everyone wore the same frantic, worried look. None of it seemed faked.

But in my last life I'd believed them too, and I'd ended up dead on the road.

The thought made me clench my fists.

"Kent, I never dated Cassandra Sullivan, let alone married her!"

"Pull this AI-video stunt one more time and I really am going to lose it!"

My old friend went quiet for a beat, then laughed in pure exasperation.

"AI? Albert, did a horse kick you in the head? Look closely. Does this look like AI to you?"

"Get it through your skull, this is your wedding today, not mine! Marry her or don't, I'm done caring!"

With that he fired a screenshot at me and hung up.

I sat there stunned.

In the screenshot, I'd apparently announced my own marriage to the world.

And the marriage certificate showed a photo of me and Cassandra, plain as day!

I studied it several times. No trace of Photoshop, no trace of AI.

But I'd never posted a marriage certificate, and I sure hadn't seen this announcement go up just now!

My head was a tangled mess.

Kent had been my friend since we were kids. The guy stutters the second he tries to lie.

And that tirade just now? That was no act.

My parents had even less reason to gang up with them and trick me.

If all of this was real, why did I have zero memory of ever dating Cassandra?

Why was everyone insisting today was my wedding to her?

Right then, one person popped into my mind.

My aunt was a marriage registrar. If the certificate was fake, she'd be able to confirm it!

I sent her the certificate at once.

"Aunt Phoebe Gilbert, quick question! Is this marriage certificate real?"

My aunt blew up on the spot. "You little brat, sending me a fake certificate to mess with me, you're doing this just to set me off!"

"After all the matches I've set you up with, you didn't like a single one! And now you've got the nerve to wind me up!"

Listening to her familiar grumbling, the knot in my chest loosened a little.

"So the certificate's fake?"

"Obviously!"

She shoved her computer screen right up to the camera.

"See for yourself. Which word in your spouse field says 'married'?"

"And the registrar listed here is my own name. If you were registering a marriage through me, you think I wouldn't know?"

I stared hard at the screen. Sure enough, it said single.

One of her coworkers leaned in too, teasing, "Honestly, that fake's pretty convincing!"

"Albert, your aunt's worried herself sick over your love life, so quit pulling her leg! Go find someone and come get the real thing, she'll register it for you herself!"

Listening to their familiar chatter, I let out a long breath.

Right. My aunt had doted on me since I was little. There was no way she'd skip my wedding.

The government system listed me as single, so I definitely wasn't married!

But the very next second, a group chat on my phone called "Wedding Squad Assemble" exploded.

Countless people were tagging me like crazy.

"Albert, where on earth did you go? The officiant has called for you a dozen times, why aren't you walking in yet?"

"Hurry up! If this doesn't start soon, the guests are going to riot!"

My head buzzed.

When had this group chat even appeared? Why couldn't I remember a thing about it?

Right then, a voice message dropped in.

"Albert Gilbert, are you marrying me or not?"

It was Cassandra.

The irritation in her voice was unmistakable.

My parents sent voice messages too.

"Albert, what are you doing? Marriage isn't a game, how could you vanish at a time like this?"

"Get in here now, everyone's waiting! Cassandra's circled the whole place looking for you. Whatever stunt you're pulling, don't pull it now. Hurry, or your mother and I are going to be furious!"

I was so worked up that I forwarded the video of my call with my aunt straight to them.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on? Why are you in on it too, lying to me?"

"I'm not married at all. Why would you pull a joke like this? It's not funny in the slightest!"

I thought they'd quit while they were ahead, but instead my mother's scolding came through.

"Phoebe Gilbert, what are you playing at! The kid's lost his head, and now you've gone senile too? Is this something to joke about?"

Then my aunt's voice came, begging off:

"Oh, all right, all right, I was wrong!"

"I thought Albert had a case of cold feet, so I wanted to tease him a little! How was I supposed to know he'd go and hide instead of showing up to his own wedding!"

"Albert, your aunt was wrong! You really did get married, I'm the one who filed your marriage certificate myself! Hurry up and get in here, I've been waiting ages to drink to your happiness!"

I stared, eyes wide with disbelief.

Wasn't my aunt at work at the county clerk's office? How could she be at the wedding venue?

I hurried to make a video call to her.

But there she sat, prim and upright at the marriage registry, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"You kid, can't you see I'm busy right now? What are you calling for again?"

A chill swept through me all at once.

What was happening? How could there be two of my aunt at the same time?

Neither one looked fake. Which one was the real one?

My head felt like it was about to split open. Shaking, I forwarded the call record into the group chat again.

"I'm not married at all. What exactly is it you people want?"

The group chat, so lively just a moment ago, fell dead silent.

That was when Cassandra Sullivan sent a voice message:

"Albert Gilbert, you keep sending AI-generated pictures over. What are you trying to prove?"

"My patience has a limit. I'll give you five minutes, that's all. If you still don't come, you know the consequences..."

Her words sent a jolt through me.

Cassandra Sullivan, the living tyrant who could turn Rivermont upside down with a flick of her hand. Who would dare cross her?

And yet someone like that would put on a play for a nobody like me?

This wedding was lavish beyond all reason. The imported peonies filling the hall alone, the same kind the casino magnate's family used, had to run into the millions.

Who pulls a prank and bleeds that kind of money for it?

The group chat kept pushing, the calls kept coming.

The defenses inside me loosened, bit by bit. I wanted nothing more than to rush over and see for myself.

But the terror of being thrown through the air by that truck in my past life closed around my throat once more.

No! I couldn't gamble on this.

Just then my phone rang, shrill and urgent. Cassandra Sullivan!

My pupils contracted in an instant, the phone nearly slipping from my hand.

Impossible!

I'd searched countless times just now.

There was no Cassandra Sullivan anywhere in my contacts!

So why was her name showing up on my phone now?

My heart slammed against my ribs. Trembling, I pressed accept.

Cassandra Sullivan appeared on the screen, her face cold as frost.

"Albert Gilbert, time's up. You... still won't come?"

A strange ache twisted in my chest. Carefully, I spoke up.

"Ms... Ms. Sullivan, we aren't... we aren't married, are we?"

The moment the words left me, her lashes trembled for several seconds.

She let out a bitter, mocking little laugh. "Albert Gilbert, you really are something!"

"We've been together three years. I thought if I was good to you without conditions, gave you everything you wanted, it would be enough to win you over..."

"But now I see I was wrong..."

Watching her face go hollow with loss, I denied it almost on reflex.

"No, it's not like that..."

Married to her? I dreamed of it!

I'd had a secret crush on her since high school.

All these years I never dated anyone, and it was because she had never left my heart.