Brad simply grunted in reply.

Nicholas walked a couple of steps closer, the torchlight drawing nearer.

I could feel his gaze land on my back and linger there for a moment. That glance stretched a little too long, so much so that I almost thought he was going to recognize me.

"I'm going now," Brad suddenly said, stepping forward.

"Wait!" Nicholas frowned slightly, as if he wanted to say something more.

Just then, Tricia said in a soft, frail voice, "Nicholas, my leg hurts."

Nicholas immediately turned around. "What's wrong? Did you bump it just now?"

"I don't know. It just hurts." Tricia's voice grew quieter and quieter. "Let's hurry. We need to get to your place before daybreak."

Unable to focus on anything else, Nicholas just nodded at Brad and said, "Gotta go. I'll buy you a drink next time you're back in the city."

Their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Only then did Brad say quietly, "He really didn't recognize you."

Still draped over his back, I didn't say anything. My eyes grew hot, but I didn't cry.

Brad must've sensed something, for his steps slowed a little. But they stayed steady as he carried me on.

The moon was bright, and the mountain path stretched long.

I didn't know where Brad was taking me. But in that moment, I suddenly felt that anywhere was better than going back to my village.

A bonfire blazed to life, and the entire village was steeped in revelry. The air hung thick with the scent of wine as young men and women danced around the fire.

It was the celebration after a successful bride heist. By custom, the festivities wouldn't end until dawn.

Nicholas sat at the outer edge of the crowd, clutching his phone.

The screen kept lighting up and going dark, but there was still no message from me.

This wasn't like me. After all, I was someone who could never keep things bottled up.

If I'd discovered he'd taken the wrong bride that night, I would've called him long ago.

Nicholas already had his explanation ready.

"It was pitch black. Don't overthink it. I only love you."

He figured that once I was fuming on the other end of the line, he'd soothe me with gentle, honeyed words. Then, I'd hurl a harsh remark or two, he'd coax me a little more, and the whole thing would blow over.

I could never stay mad at him after all.

But this time, there was no call, message, or confrontation.

"Nicholas, what are you staring at?" Alan came over with a glass of wine and pressed it into his hand. "Are you waiting for Charlene to text you? Well, you can stop waiting, because the signal in the village isn't great."

"The signal around her place is fine," Nicholas retorted.

"Then maybe her phone died," another friend of his, Tyrone Mayer, chimed in. "Or she just hasn't seen it. In fact, she's probably busy beating someone up right now."

Everyone burst out laughing, but Nicholas said nothing.

I had once told him, "I set a special ringtone for all your messages, so I won't miss any."

I would sit in the yard until midnight waiting for a single call from him, so he didn't quite buy the idea that I just hadn't seen his messages.

However, he had no better excuse.

"Alright, alright. Stop overthinking it." Alan pulled Nicholas to his feet. "Today's your big day, and Tricia's over there waiting for you. So, what are you spacing out here for? According to custom, after the bride heist, you have to stay by Tricia's side the whole night and complete all the rituals."

Nicholas' frown deepened, and he said in a low voice, "Tricia and I agreed that I'd take her during the bride heist and bring her back to the city, and that would be the end of it. I didn't plan on—"

"Plan on what?" Alan cut him off, looking utterly exasperated. "Nicholas, this is a bride heist, not child's play! Once you've taken the bride, you have to go through the whole set of rituals. Otherwise, it's a slap in the face to her entire family.

"Besides, Charlene's been with you for many years. She won't care about these formalities. You need to deal with what's right in front of you first!"

Nicholas opened his mouth to speak, but Tricia suddenly drew near.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Nicholas froze. He was about to clear things up with her when she cut him off.

Tricia looked at Nicholas tearfully and said in a small, hurt voice, "Nicholas, according to my clan's custom, a woman only gets one bride heist in her whole life. I know ours is just for show, but could we still see the ritual through to the end?"

Her voice grew even softer as she continued, "I know it's Charlene you love. But could you just pretend I'm the bride tonight? Just this one night."

Nicholas fell silent.

Tricia lowered her head, her lashes trembling faintly.

The people around them started egging them on again.

"Time for a wedding toast! Drink up, bride and groom!"

Nicholas lifted the wine glass and intertwined his arm with Tricia's.

The torchlight illuminated both their faces.

All around was cheering and laughter, loud enough to raise the roof.

Nicholas drank the wine, yet his gaze involuntarily drifted back toward that distant mountain path, the same one he'd carried Tricia down earlier. That was where he'd crossed paths with Brad at the bend.

Brad was someone Nicholas had met at a networking mixer back in his early startup days.

They had had drinks a few times and were more acquaintances than anything.

Brad wasn't one for many words, but he was steady and reliable—the sort of man one would trust to have one's back without a second thought.

At the time, Brad had also been carrying someone on his back. A bride from the neighboring village, he'd said.

Nicholas had taken a couple of glances at me. I was slender, lying quietly against Brad's back, with only the nape of my neck exposed.

The line of my nape and the angle of my bowed head had struck him as inexplicably familiar. But then Tricia had cried out in pain, and he stopped looking at me altogether.

Now that he thought about it, that bride looked like—

"Nicholas?" Tricia's voice pulled him back. "Is that a yes?"

"Sure," he replied, nodding absentmindedly.

Then, he stepped aside and pulled out his phone to call me. He figured that he owed me an explanation, just so there'd be no misunderstanding.

The phone rang for a long time before someone finally picked up.

"Hello?" It was a middle-aged woman's voice.

In the noisy background, Nicholas could faintly make out the sound of things being moved around.

He froze for a second. "Hello, can you put Charlene on?"

"Charlene?" There was a pause on the other end, as if she was saying something to someone nearby. Then, she replied, "She's not here. We're packing up her things right now to send them over to her."

He wondered where they were sending my stuff.

Nicholas tightened his grip on the phone.

"Charlene never lets her phone out of her hand. Where are you sending her things?"

The woman on the line paused, as if she hadn't expected him to ask that.

"I'm her aunt, Jenny Kirby." Her tone was casual, as if she were just making small talk. "We need to pack up Charlene's belongings and send them over to her in-laws."

"Her in-laws?" Nicholas paused slightly.

Was I planning to move back in with him?

Well, that was good!

He'd planned it that way all along anyway. After the bride heist, he'd bring me back to the city, and we would no longer be staying in the village.

Nicholas swallowed hard and said sheepishly, "Aunt Jenny, there was a mix-up in tonight's bride heist. Did Charlene say anything?"

"No, not a thing. Several bride heists were going on in our village tonight," Aunt Jenny replied breezily. "Besides, what would Charlene have to say?"

Even so, a wave of inexplicable unease rose sharply within Nicholas.

He was about to ask something else when Aunt Jenny cut him off in a hurry.

"Oh dear, I can't keep talking. We're still busy packing over here. Both Charlene and Tricia have been carried off. We've got to get their things sent over right away."

Nicholas froze.

What did she mean by that? Hadn't he only carried Tricia away? As for me, there was no way I would leave with someone I didn't like.

He clenched his phone tightly. "Aunt Jenny, are you saying that Charlene was carried off by someone?"

"That's right. The Rangel family's son from the neighboring village carried her off."