Seeing me turn around, she subconsciously let go of Harold’s hand.

“Harold drank too much tonight. He is your friend. I was worried that he would be unsafe walking on the road alone, so I brought him home. He is a good man with a sense of propriety. He was afraid that you would misunderstand, so he insisted on leaving first.”

Audrey, who was taciturn, seemed to have endless words to say when she mentioned Harold.

And every sentence was defending him.

I looked at the woman in front of me and suddenly felt strange.

Obviously, I was her childhood sweetheart who grew up with her.

Obviously, I was her fiancé who had been with her for ten years in starting a business.

Why, in the end, I became a substitute?

I suppressed my heartache and took a deep breath.

“He is not my friend. He is just a bastard born by a mistress.”

After hearing what I said, Audrey suddenly became angry.

“Chase! How could you say such vicious words to Harold? Apologize to Harold quickly! No wonder you were abandoned by your parents since you were young, no wonder everyone dislikes you. I hate your sarcastic look, you deserve no one to love you!”

Seemingly afraid that I would hurt Harold, Audrey knocked me to the side of the road and protected him.

The gentle moonlight sprinkled on Audrey’s face.

That nervous look overlapped with the little figure in my memory.

Many, many years ago, when we were still children, Audrey also protected me like this.

At that time, my mother cheated and got pregnant with someone else’s child. In order to be with the bastard, she forced my father to divorce.

My father went abroad in anger and I became a superfluous existence in the family.

Every time Audrey heard us quarreling next door, she would rush over to protect me.

She said, “Chase, you are the best person in the world. Even if no one wants you, I will love you forever and ever.”

When I grew up, I always kept Audrey’s words in my heart.

I worked hard to make money, wanting to get rid of my bad family of origin and build a happy family in my heart with her.

But when I mentioned this, she always frowned.

She said indifferently, “That was just children’s words.”

And now, Harold appeared.

She didn’t even say such euphemistic words to me.

She only used “You deserve no one to love you” to pierce the most painful wound in my heart.

I turned my head away and didn’t want to look at her again.

But my eyes couldn’t help but redden.

Audrey’s eyes trembled slightly.

I didn’t know if she realized that she had said too much or noticed my bleeding feet.

She sighed and said, “Tonight I will treat you as drunken nonsense and in the future…”

“There will be no future,” I said lightly.

“What?”

Audrey didn’t understand and wanted to continue asking, but suddenly saw Harold running away in tears.

She no longer cared about the questions in her heart and hurriedly chased after him.

She walked too fast and didn’t notice that the star necklace in her pocket fell off.

I picked up the necklace on the ground and thought of the small star tattoo on Audrey’s left chest.

All the details that I ignored were connected at this moment.

Childhood sweethearts couldn’t resist the gift of heaven.

The so-called ten years of love was just my wishful thinking.

In this case, there was no need for me to struggle for an unworthy woman.

When I turned around and went home, I received a message from my father.

He booked a flight abroad for me.

The time was exactly half a month later, the day of our wedding.

The wedding countdown in the living room had now become my departure countdown.

I smiled bitterly and threw away all the wedding room decorations and couple supplies.

God’s will was to use this last half month, to say goodbye to everything in my past.

After daybreak, I was woken up by the ringing of Audrey’s cell phone.

“Chase, are you awake? I ordered your favorite soup dumplings for you. I won’t go back today. There’s something urgent at the company. Let’s take the wedding photos another day. You don’t have to worry about what happened last night. I apologize to Harold for you.”

“Okay.”

Audrey didn’t expect me to agree so readily.

A little embarrassed, she added, “The wedding is just a face-saving project. We have such a good relationship that we don’t need to use these to prove anything. Just keep it simple.”

“Okay.”

Keep it simple.

There was no marriage certificate, no wedding photos, no emcee and no groom at this wedding.

After hanging up the phone, I used a marker to cross out the “wedding photos” schedule on the calendar.

Audrey was very busy at work and didn’t have time to accompany me.

So I wrote down all the things I wanted to do most on the calendar.

I wanted to take advantage of the time of marriage to realize all my wishes at once.

Unfortunately, each wish was covered by thick markers.

It became an unspeakable regret.

I no longer put my mind on Audrey.

After submitting my resignation to the company, I met with a few colleagues who were on good terms and said goodbye.

In the next few days, I contacted my friends one after another and told them the news of the cancellation of the wedding.

“Actually, we all guessed it…”

My friend opened Audrey’s Instagram story and showed it to me.

“During this period, Audrey has been with Harold. People who are not familiar with him think that the person in her Instagram story is you, but we recognized it at a glance.”

Audrey, who had never posted a photo of me, now had Harold’s back in her Instagram story.

They went to the amusement park to relax, went to the wedding shop to try on dresses, went to the beach to drink and watched the sunrise.

Her love for Harold was open and generous.

But she blocked me.

My friend looked at me with some concern.

“Chase, don’t be too sad. Harold is not worthy of you. If Audrey knew Harold’s true face, she would regret it.”

“It’s okay. I don’t care anymore.”

I looked at the busy streets.

In a few days, I would leave here forever.

I didn’t have extra time and energy to be sad for Audrey.

So when Audrey, who had not returned for many days, appeared, I still had no reaction.

After returning, her hands kept replying to messages and she looked around casually.

“Why is the house empty? Didn’t you decorate it?”

“Don’t you tell me to keep everything simple?”

Audrey was speechless and her eyes fell on the countdown “7”.

“Time flies so fast, our wedding will be in a week.”

I tore off two pages and said, “Our wedding will be in five days.”

The wishes written on these two pages were “ride the Ferris wheel together” and “watch the sunrise and sunset together”.

But Audrey would never notice anything about me.

At this time, my father called and I went to the balcony to chat briefly.

When I came back, Audrey was still looking at her phone and asked, “What’s the matter? I seem to have heard something about visas.”

“Nothing, it’s about work.”

“Okay, don’t prepare any honeymoon trips. I’m too busy and don’t have time to go.”

“I know.”

After Harold came back, she couldn’t bear to be separated from Harold for a moment.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little awkward, I gave the star necklace to Audrey.

Her calm eyes lit up instantly.

“I had been looking for it for a long time.”

“I know, I saw the high-priced lost item post you posted on the Internet.”

It said: [140.496 dollars, looking for an old star necklace.]

Meanwhile, the total cost of our wedding was only 28.099 dollars.

I looked at Audrey and suddenly asked, “Where is your wedding ring?”

She was stunned for a moment and then looked at her bare fingers belatedly.

“I don’t know when I lost it…”

Audrey wanted to explain, but another message came on her phone.

It was Harold’s exclusive notification tone.

She took a look, stood up and kissed me on the forehead.

“I’m sorry, husband, I’ve been too busy recently, so I’ll leave the wedding to you. After this busy period, I promise to make you the happiest man in the world.”

The taciturn Audrey suddenly spoke sweet words.

If it were in the past, I would definitely be touched and happy.

I felt that I had warmed up the iceberg.

But now, I just washed my face with disdain and continued to be busy with my own things.

Time passed by little by little.

Soon, it was the day before the wedding.

The corresponding wish on the calendar was “have a reunion dinner together”.

This was my biggest wish for more than 20 years.

But I also knew that this wish would never come true.

Dad would not forgive Mom.

I would not forgive Audrey either.

I went to ride the Ferris wheel by myself and watched the sunset on the Ferris wheel.

The sunset covered the city where I grew up and all the memories seemed to have dissipated in the evening breeze.

And Harold posted a new status.

The whole family was having dinner.

Mom smiled as she watched Audrey pick up food for her.

The caption read: [Both parents met to discuss the final wedding details.]

I wasn’t angry, I just found it funny.

Whose wedding? Mine, or Harold’s?

I blocked, deleted Harold and wanted to say something to Audrey. I edited it for a long time but didn’t send it out.

Just when I was about to go home, Audrey called me.

“Where are you? Why aren’t you home?”

“Send me your location, I miss you.”

Audrey arrived very quickly.

After getting in the car, I found that there was an extra basketball pillow on the passenger seat.

I moved it away and saw a box of unsealed condoms.

After hesitating for a while, I chose to sit in the back seat.

Audrey’s eyes were still fixed on the phone and she didn’t notice my abnormality.

She said casually, “Why did you think of playing in the amusement park? Have you finished the wedding matters?”

“Almost.”

“I remember you always wanted to ride the Ferris wheel. When I’m free, I’ll accompany you to have a good time. I didn’t want to disturb you today, but my mother wanted to see you.”

In Audrey’s eyes, the wedding was my business alone.

She would only think of me when she needed me.

I didn’t answer, my eyes were sore and I felt uncomfortable in the wind.

When we arrived at the old house, there was only a table of leftovers.

My mother was chatting with Randolph.

Katherine took my hand enthusiastically.

“Chase, I really like you. Although you don’t make much, you are simple and family-oriented, unlike those men who are full of tricks.”

When she said this, she glanced at Harold.

“Although Audrey can find a better one with her conditions, I also advise her to cherish it. After all, not all men are willing to marry into the family. But you are not young anymore. Don’t work after marriage. Have a child as soon as possible and stay at home to take care of Audrey in the future.”

I responded perfunctorily for a few words and when I looked up again, Audrey had already come to Harold.

She brought the groom’s suit and the best man’s suit for us to try on.

“I know you are busy, so I let Harold choose. His vision has always been better than yours.”

The yellowed second-hand suit had a big tear.

Harold, wearing a white haute couture suit, looked more like a groom.

Audrey was a little anxious.

“It must be the store’s mistake. It has nothing to do with Harold. It’s just that it’s too late to change it now. I’ll think of a solution tomorrow.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

I calmly wanted to take off my coat.

Harold suggested taking a group photo.

He squeezed me to the edge and stood beside Audrey.

At the moment, when the shutter was pressed, he tripped me again.

In the end, there was only a blurry figure whose face could not be seen clearly.

Audrey said she wanted to retake the photo.

I smiled and said, “Let’s talk about it later. It’s getting late.”

The wish to take a group photo together had long been crossed out by me.

Harold said sorry to me with red eyes.

“Chase, don’t be angry and embarrass Audrey. Even if I run all over the city tonight, I will find you a satisfactory suit.”

As he said that, he ran out crying.

Audrey glared at me and chased after him.

I just felt bored and left alone with the tattered suit.

Anyway, everything would be over tomorrow.

After returning, I counted my luggage for the last time.

I was busy until the early morning and I didn’t expect to find Audrey’s diary.

The diary recorded how Audrey met Harold in a youth hostel a few years ago when she was at her lowest point.

The most critical pages were torn off.

Only one sentence was left, [That was the happiest time of my life.]

The following books were one after another.

All of them were telling of their nostalgia for Harold.

On the day she agreed to my proposal, she wrote in her diary.

[I was young and ignorant and I mistook mud and sand for stars and missed the only love of my life. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t turn Chase into a star. The past cannot be pursued, for the sake of the stars, I will treat Chase well.]

Her handwriting was elegant and beautiful.

Every stroke seemed to be engraved in my heart.

The falling tears blurred the words on the diary.

I looked up at the gifts Audrey gave me over the years.

From watches, sports cars and high-end fashion.

From dolls, milk tea and game consoles.

Without exception, all of them were what Harold liked.

Looking at myself in the mirror again, with short hair and gray sweater, I looked like a magnified version of Harold.

I thought Audrey and I were childhood sweethearts and had been together for ten years.

There was always some friendship between us.

But...

She clearly witnessed with her own eyes the harm Harold had caused me over the years, but she still chose to believe him.

She clearly knew that the person I hated the most in my life was Harold, but she still chose to make me his substitute.

The feeling of grievance and anger hit my heart.

I broke the mirror in front of me and shaved off the hair that I carefully groomed every day.

After doing all this, I tore off the last page of the calendar.

My last wish was written on it.

[Hold the most grand wedding and marry my beloved Audrey.]

Now, the wedding had been ruined.

The person I once loved the most had also changed beyond recognition.

I crumpled the paper and threw it away.

I took a taxi to the airport alone without taking anything.

At 12 noon, the moment I sat down, Audrey called.