A week before my wedding with Troy Malone, I suddenly found out that he had been officially married to someone else. They even held a wedding ceremony.

After being with him for eight years, I had become an outsider instead.

Standing on the balcony with my back to him, Troy lit a cigarette and said, "I can't say no to Jessa. We grew up together."

"What about Nancy? How would I know?"

Troy glanced at me, who was lying on the bed, and said in a low voice, "The wedding will be held as scheduled. As for the marriage certificate, please keep it a secret for as long as possible."

"It's all my fault. I owe Nancy."

I rubbed the silver ring, which wasn't my size, on the middle finger of my right hand. It was never up to Troy to decide what happened between me and him.

So, on the day of the wedding, he dressed up and attended to beg me, "Nancy, I was wrong. Can you give me another chance?"

"We grew up together. We've been together for eight years. I beg you."

***

Upon touching the marriage certificate in his pocket, I was stunned.

"Troy, are you married?"

"How could this be?"

Panicking, I cried. I quickly wiped the tears away.

My heart was beating uncontrollably.

"Certificate holder: Troy Malone."

"Date of registration: July 18th, 2024."

...

I tried to find a trace of fraud in the notebook, hoping that it was Troy's prank to scare me.

However, it wasn't.

The bulging steel seal indicated that all of this was true.

Troy did have been married to someone else.

On the certificate, the name alongside Troy's was Jessa, his first love.

I rubbed the steel seal between the two names. My fingertips began to shake uncontrollably.

A week later, it would be my wedding with Troy. We, who had been together for eight years, had met each other's parents, relatives, and friends.

Even the wedding date was discussed and settled by our families.

"But why did Troy get a marriage certificate with Jessa without telling me?"

"I can't figure it out."

The sound of the shower stopped. I quickly stuffed the marriage certificate back into his coat before wiping away my tears.

I tried my best to restrain my trembling body to make myself look natural.

I was shocked, astonished, and frightened.

By the time Troy came to me, I had calmed down.

...

Troy came out of the bathroom, asking me with a smile while drying his hair, "Nancy, why are you standing there in a daze?"

The way he looked at me always mesmerized me.

"What's wrong? Are you fascinated by me?"

Troy put his hand in front of my eyes and waved it, saying, "Silly girl. Go take a shower."

I blinked and suppressed the weirdness in my heart, saying, "Alright."

As soon as the bathtub was filled with water, I dived myself right into the water. Then I couldn't help retching because of the itch in my throat.

It wasn't until I felt like I was on the verge of death that I got out of the water. Only then was I convinced that all that had happened wasn't a dream but reality.

Troy indeed had married Jessa.

I quickly swiped the screen of my cell phone. At the sight of a Facebook post that Jessa had posted this morning, I stopped.

Their fingers were intertwined, forming the shape of a heart.

A marriage certificate was spread on the table, which read, "Name of the holder: Jessa Doyle.”

“Registration date: July 18th, 2024."

She blurred the man who had taken the photo with her.

I clicked on Jessa's Facebook profile. Then I realized that she had returned from abroad two months ago.

Troy began to be on different kinds of business trips frequently without going home two months ago.

...

When I went out of the bathroom after the shower, Troy was gone. He took the coat that he had put on the bed.

He seemed to have left in a hurry. After all, he broke the glass on the table.

There was a thin trail of blood.

I stood on my tiptoes and looked out of the window.

Two vague figures downstairs were hugging each other tightly.

I gripped the window tightly, watching them hug each other.

My heart was burning hot.

The woman held the man's hand and tried her best to pull him into a car.

The man hesitated. In the end, he had no choice but to follow her.

The lights in the car were on and off alternatively.

The sight of their intertwined figures made me lose all my strength. I lay back down on the bed mechanically.

Breathing heavily and feeling suffocated alternatively, I couldn't fall asleep at all.

Memories of being with Troy filled my chaotic mind. When the sound of the door rang out, I woke up.

Troy tried his best to walk as lightly as he could. He opened the door, closed it, and sat on the bed. Then he covered himself with a quilt and moved to my side.

He had been giving me a goodnight kiss before going to bed every night. It was the most terrifying thing for me now.

Just as he was about to kiss me on the forehead, I subconsciously leaned back.

"Don't... don't touch me. It's dirty!"

I pretended to be in a nightmare. Then I took an opportunity to turn my back on him while he was in a daze.

I slowed down my breathing and pretended to fall asleep.

Troy didn't insist. He lay down as I turned my back on him.

The loud sounds of his heart beating rang out in my ears.

He couldn't fall asleep, and neither could I.

After a while, Troy quietly lifted the quilt and went to the balcony.

The sound of him turning on a lighter rang out in my ears.

Opening my eyes, I could hear the gentle sounds of people talking in the quiet night as the wind blew by.

Troy stood on the balcony with his back to me, lighting a cigarette.

He was on the phone with his friend, Blake Ewing.

He turned on the lighter for the second time. It wasn't until Blake urged him impatiently that he spoke.

"Blake, did you cheat?"

With a puff, the sound of Blake spraying came from the other end of the line.

"Troy, don't f*cking tell me that you cheated?"

Troy replied calmly, "Yes."

"F*ck, are you f*cking crazy? You're getting married, but you're cheating?"

"Don't mess with me at night. You'll scare me to death."

"It's true. Jessa and I have been officially married."

On the other end of the line, Blake was so scared that he jumped up from his chair. Then he said, "Jessa?"

Troy listened expressionlessly as Blake cursed out in a string of vulgarities.

"She didn't live a good life abroad. Her parents forced her to get married, and she had an abortion. She kept crying."

"You know."

"I can't say no to Jessa. We grew up together, and we have been together for so long."

"I love her."

...

His words were the most sarcastic ones in the world. Hearing so, I couldn't be more disappointed.

"Troy, you love Jessa, but what about me?"

"Don't you love me anymore?"

"Or you have never loved me, right?"

Blake was silent on the other end of the line. Then he said, "What about Nancy? Does she know about this? What should she do?"

Troy coughed as if he had choked on smoke. Then he said impatiently, "What about Nancy? How would I know?"

"She won't break up with me. She's not that cruel."

Blake seemed to gasp, saying, "I don't mean to criticize you, but you were too much this time."

"What about the wedding? What if Nancy urges you to get a marriage certificate after the wedding? How will you explain it to her then?"

Troy glanced at me, who was lying on the bed, and said in a low voice, "The wedding will be held as scheduled. As for the marriage certificate, please keep it a secret for as long as possible."

"It's all my fault. I owe Nancy."

"For Nancy, I'm still..."

...

The wind blew stronger, so I couldn't hear his remaining words.

I turned over and buried my head in the quilt.

I rubbed the silver ring, which wasn't my size, on the middle finger of my right hand. It was never up to Troy to decide what happened between me and him.

Troy and I grew up together. We two were sort of childhood sweethearts to each other.

However, he didn't love me the way I did.

The first one that Troy liked wasn't me, but Jessa.

Jessa looked pure. She, who had a pair of ponytails, wore a white dress and a pair of low-heeled shoes. She looked like a fairy. All the boys in the nearby neighborhood all fell for her in secret.

As Jessa's only friend, I had a pair of buck teeth. She was the only one who didn't dislike me and had fun with me.

When I first met Troy, I was squatting in a sandpit and building a castle.

As soon as I turned her head, a bunch of children pushed me into the sandpit. Children never hid their evil deeds from others.

They didn't like the ugly me.

"Nancy, were you a donkey in your past life? Why are your teeth protruding?"

"What an ugly donkey!"

...

They surrounded me and shouted like donkeys, making me cry in anger.

As the male lead in the novels did, Troy fiercely drove them away, helped me up, and patted the sand off my skirt.

"Don't cry. I'll give you some candy."

I kept that candy until now. When the candy melted, there was a piece of paper and a stick.

That day, Troy had run with me for a long time. When he sent me home, he shyly handed me a pink letter.

He lowered his head in embarrassment. As the tips of his ears turned red, he said, "Nancy, can you give this letter to Jessa for me?"

As the breeze blew past, I no longer blushed.

Thus, from the very beginning, I knew that I was not the one favored.

I watched Troy and Jessa all along. From the time when they loved each other passionately to the time when they broke up, I had been a stand-by third wheel.

Jessa's parents were divorced. Her mother wanted to take her abroad.

On the day of their breakup, Troy and Jessa were crying at the airport. I was watching over Jessa's eight suitcases on her behalf.

Jessa told Troy not to forget her for the rest of his life. Troy swore to God that he would never forget her in his life.

I didn't dare to tell Troy one thing. Jessa had told me the day before yesterday that she found it boring to be with him.

Troy was depressed for a long time.

I spent those days with Troy. He couldn't eat or sleep well, so I was anxious.

I was so anxious that she gave me away.

That day, I dragged Troy to go mountain climbing with me. When we walked down a path, unfortunately, we both fell into a trap.

It was raining.

When the water was over my knees, I asked him to step on my shoulder to climb out.

It had been raining heavily that day. Troy lowered his head and asked me, "Nancy, what will you do if I go out?"

I shook my head non-stop.

"Nancy, do you like me?"

Hearing his question, I felt like the whole world had turned upside down. I could only hear the sounds of my thumping heart.

I didn't know when he noticed that I liked him, but I was afraid he would stay away from me.

Troy found a rescue team to save me before the water engulfed me.

After that, we both avoided mentioning what had happened that day. Gradually, Troy pulled himself together and no longer felt heartbroken.

When I was a sophomore, Troy confessed his love to me.

Per him, I had been with him since he was a child. I had accompanied him through all kinds of difficulties, and I understood him the best.

I thought that he finally favored me. I had become the one who was favored.

When I took over a bouquet of roses that made me allergic, I felt like the happiest person in the world.

At the very least, that was what I had been thinking eight years ago.

But in the end, I was the un-favored person. My relationship with Troy became a farce.

Eight years had gone by.

I turned my head and looked at Troy, who had fallen asleep beside me.

Whoever was in pain should change.

"Since I have never been favored by others, I will favor myself and take care of myself."

Early the next morning, Troy and I both woke up with dark circles under our eyes.

Sitting in front of the mirror, I was pressing on the foundation in my hands. Then he leaned over arrogantly.

"Honey, I want to do the make-up too."

In the past, we did so to add a little spice to our life.

He would always ask me to apply some powder on his face and draw his eyebrows.

But I was unwilling to pay attention to him today.

I pushed him away and said, "The foundation is quite expensive. Don't waste it."

Troy was stunned and astounded.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Did I do something wrong to make you unhappy?"

I didn't say anything.

"Are you angry because I didn't tell you before going out last night?"

"Blake had something urgent to deal with, so I forgot to tell you and ran to him."

"Honey, don't be angry!"

I don't know how he could hide such a serious thing from me and address me as intimately as before.

Suddenly, Troy gazed at my left hand. His tone became sharp.

"Where's the ring? Why didn't you wear it?"

I thought of the ring that didn't fit my finger. Then I said, "Oh when I was washing my face, the water almost washed it away. So I put it next to the sink."

"Go and see if it's still there."

Troy turned around and went into the bathroom. He was there to look for the ring that had been in the sewers.

After searching for more than ten minutes, he couldn't find anything

"Honey, I didn't see it."

I carefully lifted the corners of my eyes and drew an upward line with eyeliner.

"Then it might indeed be washed away by the water. It's not very expensive. Just buy another one."

Troy stood at the door of the toilet and looked at me angrily.

"Nancy, what do you mean?"

"You lost the ring I gave you so easily, and you weren't anxious. What do you take my painstaking efforts for?"

Troy slammed the door in anger and left.

He threw off the red paper on the door.

He was so angry about me losing a ring. After all, he felt that his painstaking efforts had been wasted.

But on the day he and Jessa got a marriage license, I wondered if he had ever considered my feelings. I wondered if he would mind if I got hurt and cried.

If I abandoned him, I wondered if he would care.

He brought the ring to me when he was an intern in his fourth year of university. It was the first time he got a salary.

At that time, Troy was enthusiastic and sincere, running to me with a small box.

"Nancy, guess what I bought for you?"

Without waiting for me to guess, Troy eagerly took out a ring and put it on my finger. He held my face and kissed me hard.

"Nancy, I'll buy you a better and more expensive ring when I am rich."

At that moment, I believed that he truly loved me.

So I ignored the fact that the ring didn't fit my hand.

I never doubted his sincerity, but he could change in an instant.

Now that his love for me was gone, there was no need for the ring.

When my cell phone screen lit up, I had changed my clothes.

Jessa texted me, "Nancy, I'll be waiting for you at a coffee shop at the Genting Mall."

I was sure that Jessa knew about my existence. She must have known that I was going to marry Troy.

After all, she had blacklisted me and blocked me from seeing her Facebook posts for eight years.

She, Jessa, was so stupid and pretentious. She, a mistress, did everything so openly.

I saw Jessa. She was still the same as before. She was dressed in white. The linen canvas bag made her look even more gentle.

Jessa didn't recognize me. She stared at me in confusion for a moment before looking away.

It seemed that without the buck teeth and freckles, I wasn't the same as I used to be.

When I sat opposite Olivia, she couldn't hide the surprise in her eyes. She asked, "Nancy?"

"You're indeed different from before. Did you have plastic surgery? Did you spend a lot of money on it?"

A strange vibe lingered between us.

I easily sensed a flash of jealousy and hatred in her eyes.

"I've read a few philosophy books. I believe that an internal mental state affects one's external appearance. Naturally, I am open-minded now, which makes me more beautiful."

"You're not much different from before. How's your life abroad? Are you doing well?"

My words hit Jessa's sore spot. Her face changed. She could only pretend to be relaxed, saying, "Not bad."

She was saying the opposite. As adults, we all knew it.

Jessa held the coffee cup in front of her. A big-sized diamond ring on her finger was pointed right at me.

Troy had to go choose rings with me before. He said, "Nancy, how about we buy this and make it a wedding ring?"

Troy looked at me expectantly.

"It's too big, too old-fashioned, and too ostentatious."

I used these excuses to discourage him. I was afraid that Troy would spend money recklessly.

I felt sorry for him.

I pretended not to see the diamond ring on Jessa's finger. I lowered my head to drink coffee.

She couldn't help but show off the ring in front of me. She said, "I'm married."

"This is the wedding ring he bought for me. Is it beautiful?"

My heart suddenly twitched. Dull pain engulfed me.

"So that's how it feels to watch another woman show off her love for Troy."

I said flatly, "It's beautiful."

As if she had received a response, Jessa began to casually share the things between her and Troy.

Every word of hers was like a knife stabbing at my heart.

"I told him that he didn't have to buy me such a big ring. It was flaunting, and it cost so much money, but he gave me the best. I couldn't persuade him."

"Why are men always like this? They like to splurge..."

Jessa listed all the items on her body, whether they were big or small. She listed everything from the skirt to the hair. Then she said, "He gave them all to me."

"Aren't you curious about whom my husband is?"

Jessa stirred the coffee in front of her and glared at me. She was observing the slightest emotion in my eyes.

"To be honest, you know him too. We grew up together."

"Troy, I'm here!"