Two years after my childhood friend, Bob, had rejected my ninety-nine marriage proposals, he called me, his voice a heart-wrenching sob. His grandmother was gravely ill, he choked out, and her dying wish was to see him married. He not only agreed to marry me, but he’d also prepared a wedding gown for me and booked a venue. But when I arrived at the grand hall, dressed in the gown, his friends suddenly erupted in laughter. “She’ll believe anything, won’t she? And she actually swapped the discount, mail-order dress for a haute couture one! What a prime example of a simpering puppy!” Then they bellowed to the bewildered guests, “The groom’s mistress is here to crash the wedding!” “Security! Get the mistress!” Guests rose from their seats, their gazes converging on me, eager for the spectacle. Bob, meanwhile, gazed with sickening devotion at his lifelong crush, Valerie. “I promised I’d help you ruin the wedding, and I always keep my word,” he murmured, his voice laced with possessive triumph. “As long as I’m here, what you can’t have, no one else will!” Seeing Valerie finally smile, he then turned to me. “Valerie said that since you helped out this time, you can be a bridesmaid at our wedding. She even said you can continue to revolve around me afterwards.” It turned out he’d tricked me into coming here, all to help his precious Valerie sabotage the wedding of the man she couldn’t have. But then Bob saw the bride’s photo on the display stand, and his eyes suddenly went bloodshot. … The security guard’s hand on my shoulder jolted me awake. This was another elaborate charade. Bob brushed the guard’s hand away, a forced look of apology on his face. “My apologies, everyone, a misunderstanding! This is just a friend of mine. We were only playing a prank!” The guards grumbled and walked away. Bob, with an almost sickening gentleness, smoothed the wrinkles from my gown. “Elara, are you alright?” Bob’s friends were practically rolling on the floor with laughter. “Bob, you’re something else! Can’t believe she actually showed up just from one phone call!” “Yeah, that wedding dress looks expensive, though. Didn’t you say you told her it was a ninety-nine-dollar mail-order one?” “What a true simpering puppy, buying her own wedding dress! She must be absolutely desperate to marry Bob!” The spotlight from the chandelier hit my face, and the guests’ whispers drifted to me, each word more cutting than the last. My heart slowly sank. Bob raised a hand, feigning a punch at his friends. “Elara was a great help this time. You guys be nice to her!” Then he turned to me, his smile sickeningly sweet. “Thanks for today.” Just as I thought I detected a sliver of remorse, he rubbed his hands together, excitement bubbling in his voice. “Valerie said you did her a huge favor this time. When we get married later, we’ll ask you to be a bridesmaid!” He leaned in conspiratorially, lowering his voice. “She won’t even mind if you keep revolving around me afterwards! How about that? Wasn’t today worth it?” His friends, seeing his gesture, chuckled. “Bob, don’t stand so close to her. She’ll get the wrong idea again!” “She came running to marry you without a second thought, and she never learns even after being fooled so many times. How much must she love you?” It turned out they all knew about my ninety-nine marriage proposals to Bob. Each time, he’d neither accepted nor rejected, just laughed it off, telling me to stop being silly. In the past, I would have been heartbroken, crying and running away. But this time, I merely rubbed my aching shoulder and spread my hands to his friends. “Well, since you’re all here, aren’t you going to offer a wedding gift?” Valerie, who had been hiding to the side, enjoying the spectacle, gasped in horror. “Elara! You didn’t seriously think this was your wedding, did you? Bob, darling, did we take this too far?” Valerie was Bob’s lifelong crush. He had manipulated and ridiculed me for her countless times. But Valerie, all along, only saw him as a backup. She went through boyfriends one after another, and every time she broke up, she would run to Bob, crying in his arms. Bob would affectionately ruffle her hair. “Silly girl, don’t worry, she’s just gone crazy from all the times I’ve rejected her.” Then his gaze flickered over my face, full of disdain. Even in that fleeting second, my heart still stung as if pricked by needles. He thought I had been tricked into coming here. But the truth was, last night, when he called, I was at the hospital, visiting his grandmother. The old woman was perfectly lucid, even pulling me into a conversation over pumpkin seeds. On the phone, his voice was choked with tears. “Elara, are you still willing to marry me?” My heart pounded for less than a second, then… “Grandmother… she’s fading…” I looked at the vibrant old woman before me, and the hand holding my phone slowly grew cold. If I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I would have thought he’d seen the digital invitation I’d posted on my social media and finally come to his senses, filled with regret. I answered calmly, “Alright.” After hanging up, someone sent me a screenshot of a group chat. Bob had posted my digital invitation in his friends’ group. [Look at this, Elara is harassing me into marriage to this extent!] His friends replied almost instantly: [There’s not even a picture on this invitation, she needs to commit to the bit if she wants to fool anyone!] [She must have found out Valerie was coming to see Bob, and she’s gone crazy with anxiety, hasn’t she?] Bob posted a sunglasses emoji: [I just called her and told her to come get married tomorrow.] A friend replied: [No need to guess, she definitely cried with happiness and said yes instantly!] Bob: [You guys all come tomorrow, at the address on her digital invitation. I’ve even got her a ninety-nine-dollar mail-order wedding dress ready.] [If it wasn’t for Valerie, I wouldn’t even spend ninety-nine dollars on her.] [Bob, maybe you should pity Elara and just enjoy having both of them tomorrow!] [Ugh, don’t disgust me. She’s not even fit to carry Valerie’s shoes! If Valerie hadn’t begged me, I wouldn’t have given her another chance to cling to me!] I thought that after all this time, such cruel words wouldn’t hurt me anymore. But my vision slowly blurred, and tears still ungracefully streamed down my face. My decades of devotion were worth less than a single request from Valerie. As long as Valerie was happy, he would gladly trample my dignity into the dirt. Bob and I grew up in the same neighborhood. Our fathers were colleagues. One day, they were down in the mine for inspection when an accident occurred, and the mine collapsed. To save my father, his father was permanently buried underground. Bob was only ten years old that year. His mother couldn't bear the pressure of life and secretly ran away, leaving him and his grandmother to rely on each other. Out of guilt, I tried my best to be good to him. Falling in love with him seemed like a natural progression. But he fell for the beautiful transfer student, Valerie. He found me annoying trailing behind him, so he changed my college application to a school a thousand miles away. Valerie needed research data for a project, and he’d call me in the middle of the night, demanding I rush over. I had followed him like a loyal dog for fifteen years. But now, fifteen years had passed. My debt was repaid. It was time to let go. Valerie dramatically clutched my hand. “Elara, your diamond ring is huge!” Bob glanced at it, scoffing. “Probably from a discount store. Lab-grown diamonds aren’t worth much these days.” His friend, Butch, chimed in, egging him on. “Exactly, Elara! Don’t be so vain. If you’re really desperate to get married, Bob’s out of your league. Maybe I could stoop to it!” He grinned, exposing a mouthful of yellowed teeth, and reached out to touch my hand. I slapped his hand away hard, snarling, “Get lost!” Butch’s face crumpled in anger. He spat on the floor and cursed, “Pah! You think you’re some prize? Trying to be nice and you act like a spoiled brat. Do you really think I’d want you?!” Bob, hearing my words, flared with anger. “Elara, did I give you permission to talk to my friend like that?!” I watched his face redden with rage, and my heart grew colder with each passing moment. No matter how much I gave him, in his eyes, I was still worth less than Valerie. Even his hangers-on could mock and demean me at will. Valerie’s cheeks flushed a delicate pink. She tugged at Bob’s sleeve. “Bob, darling, don’t be so harsh on a girl. After all, she came to help.” She then walked towards me, her expression innocent. “Elara, thank you so much for today. Renting that wedding dress must have cost a lot, didn’t it? And it looks like haute couture! You really went all out!” Bob put his arm around her, his face filled with feigned concern. “Valerie, you’re just too kind. I’m sure she just rented it!” He glanced at me, his eyes full of mockery. “This is the most luxurious hotel in the city. Even I only rented it for an hour. How could she find a wealthy husband to book out the entire place?” Valerie pouted and burrowed into his embrace, like a delicate white flower, pure and utterly endearing. “Bob, darling, how can you say that about Elara? She’s genuinely devoted to you!” Having followed him for so many years, I had long seen through her true nature. A pure and innocent façade in public, but in private, she indulged in smoking, drinking, and every vice imaginable. Yet, Bob was completely ensnared by her false purity; he had even paid for her abortions. When I tried to kindly warn him, all I received was his furious glare.
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