On the day of my wedding, my fiancée was taken away for allegedly assaulting her male student.

I chased after her in my wedding suit, desperate to clear her name.

Only to learn she had turned herself in.

She looked at me apologetically and said:

"Eustace's family found out that he was forced into it. They think he's a disgrace and are threatening to pull him out of school and marry him off to some widow back home."

"I couldn't bear to watch him end up like that, so I stepped forward and took the blame."

"Don't worry, it's all just an act for his parents. The charges will be dropped soon. Oh, and the university inquiry, the rumors—handle all of that for me, will you?"

"Eustace and I have an agreement. A fake marriage, three years. After three years, I'll marry you. Just wait for me, okay?"

I calmly pulled the veil from her head—the one I had placed there with my own hands just moments ago, the symbol of a lifetime of devotion—

and draped it over a stray dog on the side of the road.

Sabina Delgado. What made you think I would wait?

——

Sabina ordered me to go back to the venue immediately, smooth things over with the university officials, and squash the rumors.

I did two things instead.

First, I called her university and informed them I was pulling my investment from her project and shutting down her lab.

Second, I left the wedding venue and went straight back to our apartment.

One by one, I erased every trace of Sabina Delgado from that home.

The matching mugs we'd shaped together on that pottery trip. The couple's pajamas we wore every night.

The wedding portrait we'd just picked up yesterday, freshly and lovingly framed.

I threw it all into the bathtub, flicked open a lighter, and set it ablaze until nothing was recognizable.

Watching the flames climb, I called the hotel that was hosting the reception.

"The wedding's off. Send the remaining bill to the bride. And have my belongings delivered to my home."

The hotel manager's voice came back stunned.

"But the bride just told us the wedding is still on—just pushed back a day. She also said we printed the wrong name on the photos and banners and asked us to replace the groom's name with Eustace Simmons."

A thorn drove itself deep into my chest.

That wedding was something I had spent ten years building for Sabina, piece by piece, detail by detail.

Every flower, every decoration—I had spent six months crafting them by hand.

Sabina knew full well that it was our dream wedding.

And she was handing it to her student?

I drew a long breath, forcing down the pain.

"Fine. Whatever. Just send my things back. Especially the bracelet in the safe."

The manager sounded even more bewildered.

"But the bride already took the bracelet from the safe. She said it was her dowry—a gift for the groom."

My skull rang like a bell had been struck inside it.

I hung up immediately and called Sabina. Over and over.

Every call was rejected. It wasn't until the eighteenth attempt that she finally picked up.

Her voice carried a weary, irritated edge.

"Didn't I already tell you? Don't contact me right now. I need to focus on playing the part with Eustace. I was just chatting with his parents and you nearly blew my cover."

My throat locked shut. I managed to force the words out.

"Sabina—did you take my bracelet?"

She paused for a second, then laughed.

"Oh, that. Eustace's mother said it's their family tradition—the dowry has to include a bracelet. Yours was heavy enough and pretty, so I grabbed it to present as part of the dowry to their family."

The pain tore through me as if my heart were being ripped apart.

"Sabina!!"

My voice cracked into a raw, shattered scream.

"That was a keepsake from my mother! What gives you the right to hand it over to your boy toy as a dowry!"

"Give it back! Right now! Bring it back to me this instant! Or I'm calling the police! I'll make sure you two hold your wedding behind bars!"

I was shaking with rage, every word barbed.

Sabina flinched, then fired right back:

"Watch your mouth! I already told you it's all an act! I'm just borrowing it! It's not like I'm keeping it! Besides, didn't you say it yourself? That you were giving it to me? Well, if it's mine, I can do whatever I want with it. You don't get a say!"

My voice went cold.

"That was my mother's heirloom bracelet, meant for her future daughter-in-law. You married someone else. You have no right to take it."

"Come on, I already told you it's a fake marriage..."

I couldn't stand to hear her voice for another second.

I hung up, walked out the door, hailed a cab, and gave the driver Eustace's address.

I grabbed Sabina's luggage on my way out.

On the ride over, my phone buzzed nonstop. Texts from Sabina.

"I got a little worked up just now. I said some things I shouldn't have. Stephen, I'm sorry."

"How about this—I'll return the bracelet tomorrow, but you have to come to the wedding and be Eustace's best man."

"Think about it. We were supposed to get married, and then I suddenly got my marriage license with Eustace instead. That's not a good look for him."

"If you show up as the best man tomorrow, nobody will think Eustace came between us. And if anyone asks about us, just cover for me... Tell them you cheated, that you fell for someone else, that you'd been wanting to break up with me for a while. Just don't drag Eustace into it."

I stared at her messages and started laughing. The sheer absurdity of it pulled the laughter right out of me.

But somewhere in the middle of laughing, tears had soaked the hem of my coat.

The driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror and silently held out a tissue.

I thanked him quietly, opened the car door, grabbed the suitcase, and stormed upstairs.

I went straight to Eustace's front door and hammered on it with everything I had.

The pounding echoed through the hallway like thunder.

Hurried footsteps scrambled inside, and the door swung open.

"Who the hell—it's the middle of the night!"

Sabina stood there in a pink apron, flour dusted across her forehead.

My eyes burned red in an instant.

Sabina and I had been together for ten years.

I'd watched her climb from a dirt-poor student to a respected professor.

The deepest scar she carried came from college, when she'd been working part-time in the campus dining hall to pay her tuition. A rich girl who was jealous of her had shown up with a posse, pinned her to the ground, and dumped leftover food all over her head.

"A kitchen rat like you thinks she can steal someone's boyfriend?"

After that, she despised cooking. Loathed it.

Even when we got engaged and I brought her home to meet my bedridden mother, all I asked was for her to help me carry the dishes out of the kitchen. She went stone-faced and slammed the door on her way out.

My dying mother was left sitting there, heartbroken on my behalf.

Even then, I forced a smile and made excuses for Sabina.

After that, I walked on eggshells around her even more carefully. I'd never cooked a day in my life, but I burned and blistered my hands until I learned, all so she'd never have to step foot in a kitchen.

And now it turned out her scar had already been healed by another man.

The moment Sabina saw me, she froze. Then, instinctively, guilt made her tug at the apron she was wearing.

"Stephen, what are you doing here..."

Eustace's face appeared behind her, eyes darting nervously toward me.

"...Stephen, man, what brings you here?"

He stepped in front of Sabina, jaw set, staring me down with a look of stubborn defiance.

"Mr. Fox, if you need to take your anger out on someone, just beat me to death. Professor Delgado only did this to help me..."

Sabina looked at him with aching tenderness, then turned on me with fury:

"Stephen, how can you be so heartless? Eustace was assaulted. His own family turned their backs on him. They were going to force him to drop out and go back to his village to marry some widow with kids. I was just shielding him from that. Can't you show a little compassion?"

"No!"

My voice trembled with rage:

"If he's pitiful, that's between his parents and the people who hurt him! He could've said no! He could've gone to the police! Why does MY marriage and MY happiness have to be the sacrifice?"

"Or maybe..."

My voice cracked, thick with tears:

"Maybe nothing ever happened to him at all. Maybe you two were just—"

The slap landed before I could finish the sentence.

Sabina stood with her hand still raised, her face twisted with anger:

"Don't you DARE talk about him like that! I already told you, Eustace and I only got married on paper! Why do you insist on assuming the worst about people?"

Our shouting drew neighbors from the floors above and below, crowding the hallway to watch.

Someone called out to Eustace and Sabina:

"Eustace, who is this guy? What's his deal with your wife?"

Eustace stammered, eyes darting:

"He's... he..."

The wounded, suggestive look on his face said everything his mouth didn't.

The neighbors' expressions shifted instantly. Disgust settled over their faces as they turned on me. One of them shoved me hard in the chest:

"They're about to get married and you're still harassing the man's wife? You look decent enough on the outside. Have some shame!"

"Yeah! Someone get a picture of him! Post it online!"

I laughed in disbelief. I grabbed my suitcase and slammed it down in front of them:

"Sabina, why don't you tell them who's REALLY chasing someone else's spouse!"

The suitcase bounced open on impact. Eustace let out a shriek and crouched down.

Sabina looked at his leg, at a red welt no bigger than a fingernail.

Her expression darkened in an instant:

"Stephen! Are you DONE? Eustace and I are legally married! So tell me, who's the one harassing someone else's spouse?"

I stared at her, stunned. A bitter laugh escaped my throat:

"Sabina. This is what you call a fake marriage? You got a marriage certificate and you're still calling it fake?"

She realized her slip the moment the words left her mouth. Guilt flickered across her face before she deflected:

"All this over a stupid bracelet? You came here to assault people over a bracelet?"

"Stephen, I never knew you were this cold. This selfish. This inhuman!"

My eyes went wide as Sabina stormed back into the apartment.

She came out holding the bracelet I treasured more than anything in this world.

And she hurled it at the ground.

"You want your bracelet so badly? Take your piece of junk and GET OUT!"

"No!" I lunged forward, hands outstretched, but I wasn't fast enough.

I watched the bracelet shatter against the floor.

My head snapped up. I looked at Sabina with something she had never seen in my eyes before.

Not love. Not patience. Not forgiveness.

Hatred.

Even through her rage, it shook her. For one brief moment, panic crossed her face.

But the next second, Eustace whimpered through his tears:

"Professor Delgado, my leg really hurts. Do you think it could be fractured?"

Sabina snapped back to attention immediately. She wrapped her arm around him and swept past me toward the stairs.

"Don't worry. I'm taking you to the hospital."

She moved fast, ruthless in her urgency, and slammed straight into me where I crouched on the floor.

I tumbled down the steep staircase and hit the landing hard.

Gasps erupted from the onlookers. My voice came out weak, calling after her.

Sabina never turned around.

Before my eyes closed, the last thing I saw was—