On the day I was supposed to marry my boyfriend, Brian Simmons, the makeup artist came looking for me for the third time.

"Miss Harding, where's your fiancé? He still hasn't gotten his makeup done."

"The ceremony's about to start. We're running out of time."

I left my own makeup unfinished and joined everyone in searching for him. We looked for ages, and in the end I found him in the wedding limo, deep in a two-player match with his childhood friend.

He glanced at all the people crowded around and only said, in that half-hearted way of his, "Let me finish this round. Judy Fox says we're one match away from hitting twenty thousand intimacy points."

"Makeup won't take that long anyway."

Five years together, and Brian had brushed me off with that exact line more times than I could count.

When we used to go shopping, he'd buy Judy a skin in his game while I was in the fitting room.

When we went on a trip I'd spent two weeks planning, he wanted to stay in the hotel and grind quests with Judy.

Even the day we took our wedding photos, he had the phone in his hand the whole time, gaming while they did his makeup.

And for all of it, he had only ever had the one answer: "It can be done whenever. It won't take long anyway."

My face stayed blank. I just looked down at the countdown on my phone and knocked the number down by one. The 5,200 countdown hit zero.

He never knew that the day that countdown reached zero, we were over.

I turned and walked back to the bridal room, lifted the veil off my head, and put it in the makeup artist's hands. "Sorry about this. We're not getting married."

"But the wedding goes ahead as planned. The bills still get paid. Everything runs the way I say."

—

The moment I said it, nearly every eye in the room turned to me.

"Miss Harding, maybe you should think this over a little more?"

"The ceremony's almost starting, and the makeup's all done, and you…"

I smiled at the makeup artist.

Then I looked over at Brian.

But Brian had his earbuds in, like he hadn't heard a single word.

Like he simply didn't care.

There, with everyone in the room staring at us, he was still murmuring sweetly into his mic.

"Idiot, jump down and shield-tank already, or you'll get knocked out in a second."

"Relax~ I'll wait right here for your cooldown. I won't move an inch."

The words went into my chest like a blade.

Sharp, and bitter with it.

Every gaze in the room swung back to me.

Brian finally looked up.

When he saw the red rimming my eyes, he gave a sheepish little laugh.

"Sorry, Maggie. I'll come the second this match is over."

"Don't be mad yet. It won't take long anyway."

He didn't even take the earbuds out to say it.

I let out a laugh and clenched my jaw to force the tears back.

"It's fine. Take your time."

As I turned away, I finished the rest of it under my breath.

"We've got the rest of our lives, after all."

Then I started walking.

I made my way back to my own bridal room, and with the makeup artist's help,

I stepped out of that elaborate wedding gown.

"Miss, do you still want makeup if there's no wedding?"

"I designed this look myself. I want to finish it."

The makeup artist sighed, resigned, and picked the brow pencil back up to start on my brows.

That was when Brian, his match over, pushed the door open and came in.

Right beside him was Judy, flushed and beaming from the game they'd just played.

"Maggie, you're still not done? Why's it taking so long?"

"Oh, right, Maggie. Judy says she rushed over for our wedding and didn't have time to get ready, so let the makeup artist do her first. She's quicker."

The makeup artist's hand froze.

She shot me a startled look, then glanced at the two of them in the doorway.

But she still made a point of saying it.

"Mr. Simmons, I'm the bridal makeup artist. The full look goes with the bride."

Brian heard that and still saw nothing wrong with it.

"Right, Judy says you're the most skilled, so we'll use you first."

"It's not like we won't pay you extra."

There was no precedent for this, so no one actually said no.

The makeup artist's eyes settled on me.

And Brian's eyes followed hers to me, too.

"Maggie, don't be mad. I'll clear out your online shopping cart for you."

"Just let Judy have the makeup artist first."

I looked at myself in the mirror for a long moment.

In the end I smiled and nodded.

"Fine. You go first."

Judy practically cheered on the spot.

"Yay! I knew you were the best, Maggie!"

And with that, she all but dragged Brian into the bridal room.

"Brian, let's get done together."

"That way we can take a photo after."

I moved aside to make room for the two of them.

But just as I was about to step out, Brian slung an arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.

"All right, don't be mad. You're the star today. A sour face won't look good."

"It's not like Judy's makeup is going to hold anything up."

I managed to scrape together a smile.

And turned and walked out.

This wedding was one I had no intention of going through with anyway.

The moment I walked out of the wedding planner dressing room, I found the wedding's head planner.

"Could you swap out all the photos and the boards at the entrance for me?"

He glanced at me, puzzled, in the middle of running through the program.

When he heard the request, he set the program sheet down in his hands.

I took it from him.

"Miss Harding, this... there's really no precedent for it. Maybe we should think it over?"

"If we change everything now, the quality won't match what's already done."

I shook my head, smiling.

"It's fine. Their love is solid as gold. They won't care about little things like that."

Then I lowered my head and scrolled through the photos in my album.

It's almost funny. Brian and I had been together three years.

And the photos that filled my phone the most were of Brian and Judy together.

Because I don't like having my picture taken, I'd become the two of them's personal photographer.

I picked one at random and handed it to the planner.

"Change the bride's name to Judy too."

His face turned uncomfortable.

"This... Miss Harding, a wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime thing."

"You spent more than half a year preparing for this one. Changing it all of a sudden, that doesn't seem right."

I didn't answer. I just kept my head down over the program sheet.

I took a marker and changed every part that had been about me into Judy's name.

Every single item on that program I'd designed and planned myself, so I knew it all by heart.

When I finished, I handed the sheet back to him.

"It's fine. We'll pay you the balance the same as before."

"Just keep things moving."

He studied me for a long moment, making sure I wasn't joking or acting out of spite.

In the end he nodded.

He picked up his walkie-talkie, stood, and went back to running through the program with the crew.

But it was right then that a message came through on my phone.

A screenshot from Brian.

[Cleared out your shopping cart, babe!]

And it was right then, too.

A post popped up on Judy's feed.

When I tapped it open, the first thing I saw was a photo from behind.

Judy, wearing the veil I'd chosen so carefully, using my makeup artist.

And the photo, clearly, had been taken by Brian himself.

The caption read: [It's not my wedding, but I still want to be a bride just once!]

Scrolling further down, almost every post on Judy's feed had something to do with Brian.

One had gone up just two minutes ago.

It was a screenshot of their couple account at level 99, with 5,200 matches played together, captioned:

[Anyone who loves romance needs someone who'll always have their back.]

The comments underneath were almost all just "99."

And Brian had left one too: No worries, as long as you're happy.

Right as our wedding was about to begin, another woman was showing off her couple ranking with my husband-to-be.

I'd braced myself for it, really.

But the tears slid down anyway, beyond my control.

By the time I'd steadied myself and lifted my face,

the staff had already started swapping out the photos and the other name on the wedding program by hand.

Watching all of it, I suddenly thought:

today's sun was unbearably bright. It really wasn't a good day for me to get married.

I wiped my eyes, went and splashed water on my face,

and was about to head back upstairs to pack my things and leave,

when Brian came to find me.

His face was clearly already done up.

"Maggie, there's something I want to talk to you about."

For some reason, a bad feeling rose in me.

But I still forced a smile.

"Go ahead."

Brian looked a little awkward.

He reached out and gently wiped a tear from my cheek.

"Judy says she's never worn a wedding dress before, and you two are about the same size."

"So I figured we'd let her wear yours for now. Don't worry, I've already had the makeup artist send over a backup gown."

"Didn't you say back then that you liked the other one anyway? Let Judy wear this one for now. It's just a dress, it doesn't really matter."

I looked at him for a long moment.

Then I laughed.

"Brian, you do know what kind of occasion today is, right?"

His expression shifted.

But in the end he just patted my head lightly.

"Don't be like this. Judy's young, and she's not in good health."

"You know that already, don't you? You're the one who told me to look after her."

"It's just one dress. You're still the star of this wedding."

I didn't argue anymore.

Because he had a point. It was just a dress.

But right then, the door to the dressing room opened.

Judy came hurrying out, holding up her skirt.

And there she was, wearing the gown I'd picked out so carefully.

The makeup on her face was the look I'd spent over a month working out with a makeup artist I'd found online.

Now all of it was hers.

And now, on her ring finger, she wore the diamond ring that should have been mine.

The moment she saw us standing there, she broke into a smile.

"Brian, Maggie, you're both here."

"Brian, look, my ring finger is even the same size as Maggie's!"

"I can wear her ring too!"

Looking at the ring on her finger,

I froze where I stood, my eyes going hot.

But Brian, oblivious, smiled and stroked Judy's hair. "She's right, your fingers are slimmer. It looks better on you."

I glanced down at my own hand.

My frame was big. The truth was, I couldn't even get that ring on.

So it had never been bought for me at all.