Lena patted her chest, beaming.

"Trust me, sis. I've got it all set up perfectly for you."

I glanced around. The whole bridal apartment was beautifully done.

If I were still the woman who'd been so set on marrying Sid,

I'd have been over the moon.

But now all I felt was a faint regret, knowing that in a few hours every bit of it would be reduced to rubble and trash.

"It's nice."

I turned to look at the two of them. "You've both worked hard. Go home and rest."

"I'll take care of the rest."

Lena looked a little reluctant, still wanting to stay and help, but seeing how calm my face was, she had no choice but to pick up her bag. "I'll get going, then."

"My phone's almost dead, though, so it's hard to call a cab. Mind if I borrow your boyfriend to give me a ride?"

Back when Sid was short on budget, he'd bought the bridal apartment out in the suburbs, a bit far from downtown.

Before I could even say anything, Sid was already taking her bag for her.

"Penelope, it's dark out, and this area isn't safe. I'll go drop Lena off first."

"I'll come back for you after."

It wasn't a question. It was a notification.

Without waiting for my answer, they left, one after the other.

And once they were gone, I pulled up the security feed for the apartment.

I'd had the cameras installed during the renovation.

To keep an eye on the workers and stop them from slacking off.

After the work was finished, they'd served no further purpose.

But on some strange impulse I opened the footage, and sure enough, I saw the scene that shattered my heart.

At half past, the moment the door opened, Lena's voice came through.

"What a dump of a rental. It got high ratings because it's right by the beach, but who knew the bed would be that hard? Worst stay ever."

Then came Sid's voice, warm with a smile.

"That's my clever Lena, thinking to come to the bridal apartment. It's out of the way. Penelope would never come over here."

On the feed, Sid loosened his tie with one hand while pinning Lena against the wall.

"Two and a half hours until nine. A moment of a spring night is worth its weight in gold…"

But Lena laughed and pulled him toward the balcony.

"It's just gone dark out there. Want to… try the balcony?"

The two of them shoved the balcony door open.

Kissing, stumbling backward.

I closed my eyes for a moment and exited the feed.

I already knew what was happening. Why torture myself by watching on, only to shame myself?

I watched the workers haul out all the new soft furnishings they'd just arranged in the apartment.

Only once it had all been thrown out as garbage did I let out a breath.

The workers looked dismayed. "Miss Henson, these all look freshly installed. Weren't they meant for the wedding? Why throw them out?"

"Because they're dirty."

Besides, I was the one who'd paid the down payment on this place. Since the bride had been swapped out for someone else,

it had no business being tied to me anymore.

The worker hesitated, wanting to say more, but I took out my wallet and gave them a little something for their trouble.

"Thanks for your hard work. Take the sofa and the bed too. They're yours, free of charge."

Through the cameras I'd seen that Sid had brought Lena to the apartment in secret, more than once.

The bed and the sofa were dirty too.

Even if they hadn't used them, just looking at them turned my stomach.

By past nine that night, Sid still showed no sign of coming to pick me up.

This was the suburbs, and cabs were hard to come by. Every other time we'd come to the apartment, Sid had always driven me there and back himself.

I was about to message and ask him when Lena's post popped up on my social media feed.

"Watching the night view, watching the ocean~ It really does feel different when someone's here with you."

Below it was a single photo of the sea, and in the bottom right corner you could just make out a man's hand caught in the frame.

I opened the dating app and pulled up Sid's location.

Sure enough, the two of them were still together.

My mind went back six months, to the night my appendix flared up. The pain was unbearable, and I begged Sid to take me to the hospital.

But every message I sent vanished into nothing, and he wouldn't pick up the phone.

I called Lena too. She was just as unreachable.

It wasn't until a neighbor heard me crying for help that I got hauled into an ambulance.

Only after I came out of the operating room did I see the post Lena had put up five hours earlier.

“One mention of wanting to see the aurora, and he flew me to the Arctic overnight.”

The next day, Sid finally strolled in, fruit basket in hand.

“I'm so sorry, Penelope. There was an emergency project last night, a sudden business trip, and I had to hand in my phone. I never saw your messages……”

Over and over he apologized, eyes red, and for a moment my heart softened. But later I saw the photo of the two of them in the Arctic in his album, and once again I understood.

It was just another lie.

I walked almost a mile and a half near the wedding apartment before I finally caught a cab back to my rental to pack.

I showered and went to bed alone.

Sid never came back the whole night. He didn't message me until the next morning.

“After I dropped Lena off last night, I was going to come get you at the apartment, but the company called me in for overtime out of nowhere.”

“That damn client insisted on changing the proposal again. Over and over, never-ending.”

On the video call, Sid raked a hand through his hair, agitated.

He looked like a man genuinely worn down by his work.

But I just watched, calm.

Marveling, inside, at how flawless his acting was.

“It's fine. You're busy with work. I understand.”

Sid seemed to breathe easier, and coaxed me with a soft little laugh.

“I'm not doing overtime tonight, no matter what. The second I'm off, I'm coming back to be with you. Oh, right, isn't there a movie you've been wanting to see? Let me take you……”

That movie.

I'd brought it up to Sid five times.

And every single time he'd brushed me off, saying he was too busy with work.

Until I saw in his album that he'd watched it three times with Lena.

And I wasn't waiting on him anymore.

“No need. I've already seen it.”

Sid sounded a little let down. He fussed over me with a few more reminders before he finally hung up.

Not long after, my father called again, a sob in his voice.

“Sweetheart, your dad really doesn't have much time left. Could I beg you……to come abroad and see me, just once?”

“Back then, I failed to protect your mother.”

“It was my fault……”

Listening to that aging voice on the other end, I couldn't keep the ache from rising in my chest.

My father had an affair when he was young. It blew up into a divorce, and my mother, distraught, ran out and died in a car accident. He'd regretted it ever since.

He'd fled abroad, to the place where they first met, chasing the past in vain, again and again.

For years I'd hated him for getting my mother killed.

I held firm, refusing to forgive him.

But now, with him dying, with everything we'd been as father and daughter, I couldn't bring myself to be that cruel.

“All right. I've booked a flight three days out. I'll come see you.”

Since I was done with this wedding anyway.

Taking the chance to travel abroad for a while wasn't a bad thing.

I quit my job. The day I handed in my resignation, my boss tried again and again to keep me.

“Penelope, I think very highly of your work. I didn't expect you to be so set on leaving. All I can do is wish you the best.”

“If you ever regret it and want to come back, our door is always open to you.”

My coworkers came one after another with farewell gifts, telling me how sorry they were to see me go.

Someone asked,

“Penelope, aren't you getting married next week? Why are you suddenly going abroad?”

I looked down and smiled a little.

“I want a change of scenery.”

“As for the wedding, I'm not the bride anymore.”

My coworkers exchanged glances, sympathy in their eyes, and asked nothing more.

After walking out of the office, I took a cab straight to the bridal shop.

They saw the crimson wedding gown in my hands.

A few onlookers nearby snickered under their breath.

“What century is this? Who still wears something this dated? Aren't you embarrassed to be seen in a color like that?”

“The cut, the color, all of it's so tacky. I have no idea what this bride was thinking.”

Another clerk beside her cut in.

“You don't know the half of it. Her husband's the one who insisted on it.”

“Don't you remember, a couple of days ago her husband brought her best friend in to try on gowns? Anyone who didn't know better would've thought those two were the ones getting married.”

“Maybe there really is something going on between them……”

“Shh, keep your voice down.”

Even the clerk beside me watched me with a complicated look.

I ignored it and walked straight up to the counter. “Hi, can I return this gown?”

“Miss Henson, but this gown is final sale, no returns or exchanges. If you don't want it, I'm afraid we can't refund the cost……”

The clerk looked uncomfortable.

“That's fine.”

I smiled politely. “Consider it a little something for your trouble.”

Under everyone's startled stares, I walked out of the bridal shop.

At eight that evening, Sid came home, and sure enough he was carrying half a mango cake.

“I ran into a little kid and gave her some. Penelope, you've always loved kids, so you won't mind, right?”

I looked at him, quietly wondering: was it really a kid, or was it Lena?

For as long as I could remember, Lena had loved snatching snacks from me.

She always had to take two bites of my cake before she'd hand it over, satisfied.

She always had to tuck a few packs of my snacks into her arms before they tasted any good to her.

At first, it bothered me enough to make me frown.

“Lena, I clearly bought two cakes. Why do you insist on biting mine?”

“Cake only tastes good when it's somebody else's.”

Lena leaned on my shoulder, giggling.

“We're best friends. You wouldn't mind, would you?”

I could only sigh, helpless, and over time I got used to it.

Now, looking at the mango cake on the table with a few bites taken out of it.

Even an idiot could see there was no little kid.

It was nothing more than Lena's leftovers.

“Why are you packing?”

Sid noticed the suitcase in the bedroom. “Got another business trip coming up?”

“It's nothing,” I dropped my head. “Some things I don't wear anymore. Just clearing them out.”

Sid's phone rang. He cupped it guiltily and pointed toward the balcony.

“Penelope, it's work. Let me take this.”

He hadn't put it on speaker, but I still heard Lena's voice.

“Sid, come take a look. There's a little problem with my gown……”

“Penelope, something urgent came up at the company. I have to head out for a bit.”

After hanging up, Sid grabbed his coat and hurried out the door, tossing one last line before he left.

“Don't forget to eat the cake on the table.”

The moment the door shut, I picked up the cake and dropped it in the trash.

Once Sid left, he was gone another two days.

In those two days I successfully sold the wedding home, bought my plane ticket, and erased every trace that I'd ever existed in the rental.

As I walked into the airport with my suitcase, a message came in from Sid.

“Penelope, tonight's my bachelor night. The guys insist on celebrating with me, so I won't be back early.”

"I'll come collect the bride first thing tomorrow morning..."

Sid knew my mother had died young and that my father had cut all contact and lived overseas, so he'd always treated my rental as my "family home."

That was how it had always been arranged before. But now, I replied to him calmly.

"There's no need to come for the bride. Just go straight to the banquet hall tomorrow."

Sid let out a heavy breath of relief. "Penny, I knew you were the most considerate. I'll see you at the wedding tomorrow!"

Right before the call ended, I faintly heard people egging him on, telling him to give Lena a kiss.

See me tomorrow?

Sid, we are never going to see each other again.

I took a deep breath, gripped my boarding pass, and walked into the airport.