1 When I gave up my spot as the team’s main carry for her old flame, my girlfriend, Adeline, saw how compliant I was. My reward? She moved our wedding date forward. But there, at the altar, her old flame held a dagger to his own skin, his eyes wild with jealousy. “Addie, I’m begging you, don’t marry him!” My fiancée, normally so cool and composed, completely lost her composure. She turned to me, her voice trembling as she pleaded with me to save Adam’s life. Every guest in the hall was staring, savoring my humiliation. But I didn’t raise my voice, didn’t cause a scene. I simply ceded my place as the groom. Seeing me so accommodating, just like always, her eyes welled up. “I promise, this is the last time I’ll put you through this,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “As soon as the wedding is over, we’ll go get our marriage license.” She’d forgotten. This was the 96th time she had hurt me. And I had no intention of continuing this life with her. I was just waiting for the last three promises to be fulfilled. Once the debt for her saving my grandmother’s life was paid, I would walk away and never look back. “He just stepped down, just like that. Pathetic.” “What else could he do? He was always just Adam’s stand-in. Now things are just going back to the way they should be.” “Look at them. They’re the ones who are truly meant for each other.” I followed their gaze to the stage. Adeline and Adam stood side-by-side, their fingers intertwined. A perfect couple, a match made in heaven. But the ceremony didn’t begin. Instead, staff members began to walk onto the stage, replacing the placards and signs. They even handed out new invitations to every guest. I received one, too. I opened it. The bride’s name was still Adeline. But the groom’s name had been changed to Adam. Adeline saw it all. She knew Adam’s little suicide attempt was just a dramatic play for attention, yet she still shot him a look of fond exasperation. “Adam, you’re being so childish. Don’t you ever do that again. What if you’d actually gotten hurt?” Her world revolved around whether or not he might get hurt. She’d completely forgotten that this wedding, this day, was supposed to be my reward for sacrificing my entire career. She had no idea that marrying her was the one wish I wrote down every single year on my birthday, a wish sealed in a glass bottle, a wish I never dared to show her. Only when every trace of me had been scrubbed from the venue did the ceremony finally begin. But when it came time to exchange the rings, Adam hesitated. After Adeline prompted him several times, he finally spoke, his voice meek and hesitant. “I’ve been sick for so many years… I don’t have many friends left. I was hoping… I was hoping Captain Liam could be my best man. But I was afraid to ask, afraid it would be rude.” Every eye in the room turned to me. I looked at Adeline. My wedding had been stolen from me. I was already the butt of every joke, the subject of every gossiping whisper. Would she really have the heart to make me stand on that stage and watch her marry another man? Seeing the once-bright young man she’d loved now so timid and careful, Adeline’s eyes softened. She looked at me, her gaze filled with a silent plea. “Liam… you already gave up the wedding. Being the best man… you wouldn’t refuse that, would you?” I’d almost forgotten. Adam had faked his own death and disappeared at the peak of their love affair. Adeline had only chosen me, his look-alike, because she could never forget him. And now, her long-lost love had returned. How could I have been so foolish as to imagine she might still hold a shred of affection for me? I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth. “Does this count as one of the things I do for you?” I asked. Adeline’s brow furrowed in annoyance, as if she were trying to recall something important but couldn’t quite grasp it. She was about to ask, but seeing Adam looking on the verge of tears, she gave up. “Yes,” she said. “It counts.” I nodded. “Fine. I’ll do it.” A long time ago, my grandmother, the only family I had left, was dying. Adeline had descended like an angel, hiring the world’s top doctors, arranging the most expensive private room. Because of her, my grandmother got one more year of life, a year she lived happily before passing away in peace. On the day she died, I asked Adeline how I could ever repay such a debt. Her gaze had lingered on my face. “Just stay by my side. That’s enough.” I knew then she was looking through me, at someone else. “There has to be a time limit, Ms. Croft.” “Call me Adeline,” she’d corrected, pushing down the sorrow in her eyes. “A time limit? Then let’s say… you do ninety-nine things for me, no questions asked. Or, after I’ve hurt you ninety-nine times. Then the debt will be paid.” She’d forgotten all of that. But it didn’t matter anymore. This was number 97. Only two more to go, and she and I would be even. I took a deep breath and started walking toward the stage. As I passed their wedding cake, a towering, multi-layered confection, I saw Adam flash a strange, cruel smile. I was still wondering what it meant when a powerful force shoved me from behind. My body pitched forward, out of control. I crashed into the cake trolley, sending it toppling over. The magnificent cake was flattened beneath me, and my knee slammed hard against the metal frame. A wave of searing pain shot through my leg. The guests gasped in unison. On the stage, Adam let out a theatrical sigh. “Captain, if you didn’t want to be the best man, you could have just said so. There was no need to fake a fall and ruin the cake I spent so much time planning.” The guests behind me had seen the whole thing, but they joined in the mockery anyway. “Captain Liam, stick to what you know. Don’t embarrass yourself with such a clumsy performance.” Adeline had started to move toward me, worried I was hurt, but hearing that, her expression hardened with disappointment. “Your clothes are ruined. Go change.” Adam looped his arm through hers. “It’s fine, Addie. I don’t mind little details like this. Let’s not delay the ceremony.” Adeline seemed about to say more, but seeing that I was already back on my feet and on the stage, she fell silent. I limped toward the center of the altar. Adeline noticed, a flicker of concern in her eyes. “What happened to your leg?” Beside her, Adam shrugged. “Poor form, Captain. If you wanted to fake an injury, you should have gone for your championship-winning hand. That would have gotten more of Addie’s sympathy.” He leaned in closer. “Try that next time.” A flash of anger crossed Adeline’s face. She wanted to reprimand him, but with so many people watching, she just lowered her voice to a hiss. “Cut it out with your petty games. Stop embarrassing yourself. We’ll talk about this when we get home.” I smiled, a bitter, hollow thing. The entire hall was filled with sycophants. When I was at the top of my game, they bowed and scraped before me. Now that Adam was the favored one, they were all terrified of him, desperate to distance themselves from me by kicking me while I was down. With them on his side, and with Adeline’s blatant favoritism, anything I said would be useless. Thankfully, Adam behaved for the rest of the ceremony. As the guests began to disperse, I prepared to leave as well. But Adam’s voice stopped me. “Captain, don’t be in such a hurry to leave. You know what happens on the wedding night. We’ll still be needing our best man.” My fists clenched instinctively. I looked at Adeline. She arched an eyebrow and, for once, actually scolded him. “That’s enough, Adam. Stop talking nonsense and go wait in the car.” After he’d gone, she turned to me. “Don’t listen to him. It’s just a get-together with some old friends tonight.” She glanced at my injured leg. “You’re hurt. I won’t take you with me. Go home and get some rest.” “We have a long life ahead of us,” she added, her voice softening slightly. “I’ll take you next time.” She turned and walked away. She had no idea. As soon as the debt was paid, I was leaving. There was no “next time” for us. There was no “us” anymore. 2 She arranged for a driver to take me home. When I rolled up my pant leg, my knee was already a swollen, dark purple bruise. As I was applying ointment, a delivery arrived—gifts from Adeline. One was a limited-edition collaboration watch. The other was the key to a brand-new Porsche. She had sent a note, specifying that the first was compensation for giving up my wedding, and the second was an apology for forcing me to be the best man. I carried them, my face a blank mask, to the collection room. There, I placed them into the glass display cases marked with the numbers 96 and 97. A maid, holding a tray, looked on with envy. “Ms. Croft’s gifts get more and more extravagant. She must truly love you to the bone.” I just smiled and said nothing. She didn’t know that these were not gifts of love. They were reparations. One for every time Adeline had hurt me. I looked at the wall of glass cases. Only two remained empty. I knew the day of my departure was coming soon. I went to my room to pack a few personal documents. I didn’t want to take a single thing she had given me. All I wanted was the one thing my grandmother had left for me. Even though I was the one marrying into her wealthy family, my grandmother had worried that Adeline would feel slighted. Without telling me, she had taken her own heirloom gold bracelet, her most precious possession, and had it melted down and crafted into a pair of earrings and a pair of wedding rings. The earrings and Adeline’s ring were Grandma’s gifts to her. All I wanted to take with me was my ring. A few days ago, Adeline had borrowed it from me for some reason. She must have forgotten to return it and tossed it into her jewelry box. But I searched through every drawer and compartment. The box was overflowing with glittering gems and precious metals, but my small, simple ring was nowhere to be found. Just as I was about to ask a maid, Adeline returned, with Adam in tow. She had brought me dinner. Not leftovers, but a meal prepared just for me, filled with all my favorite dishes. She was always so meticulous about these small things, gestures that had once fooled me into thinking she might actually love me. I ignored the food. “Where’s my ring?” Adam spoke first, holding up his hand to show me a heavy gold signet ring. “Captain, you mean the wedding ring, right? I saw how Addie never takes her gold ring off, so I got curious and borrowed the other one from her to play with.” He smiled, a disarmingly charming expression. “I’ve already had them both melted down to make this signet ring. I’m so sorry, I acted on my own and didn’t tell you. How much was it? I’ll pay you for it.” A sharp pain lanced through my chest. “Adeline,” I choked out, “that was our wedding ring!” Adeline paused. She picked up her chopsticks, selected a piece of my favorite dish, and held it to my lips. “Try this. It’s just a formality, Liam. If you want a new ring, I’ll buy you any one you want.” She had forgotten. It was the last piece of my grandmother I had left. It was irreplaceable. I turned my head away from the food. “No, thank you,” I said, my voice cold. “I don’t need one.” Adam’s face crumpled, his voice thick with emotion as he slipped the signet ring off his finger. “Captain, it’s all my fault. I had a sudden episode… I just had to have the rings melted down. Please, don’t blame Addie.” He looked ready to weep. “If I’ve damaged your relationship, I… I might as well just die.” But Adeline wasn’t short on money. Adam knew how important that ring was to me. He had done this on purpose. And yet, Adeline was completely blind to his manipulations. She had been about to apologize to me, but the sight of Adam’s emotional breakdown made her slam her chopsticks down on the table. She rushed to his side, her voice soothing. “It’s just a pair of stupid rings. I was worried that making them into a signet ring for you wasn’t good enough. You have nothing to apologize for.” Adam pointed a trembling finger at my retreating back. “But… what about the Captain?” “Don’t worry,” I heard her say as I walked up the stairs. “I’ll make it up to him.” I closed my bedroom door behind me, shutting out their voices. My parents died when I was young. My grandmother raised me. And now, I couldn’t even protect the last memento she had left me. Perhaps this was her way of telling me, from beyond the grave, that this twisted love affair had to end. I pulled a folded piece of paper from a notebook. It was covered in a grid of numbers. At the end of the list, I wrote down the number 98. I didn’t hear her approach. Adeline had entered the room without a sound. Before I could hide it, she snatched the paper from my hand. She stared at it, her brow furrowing deeply, a profound sense of unease rising within her. “What is this? What are you writing?” 3 I quickly snatched the paper back. “It’s nothing. Just doodling.” My unusually defensive reaction surprised her. Then, a memory seemed to surface. “You’re still thinking about that, aren’t you? That time we tried to win that stuffed animal and failed like twenty times.” She was talking about a day we’d spent at a street fair. She’d taken a sudden liking to a doll at a game booth. The challenge was to write the numbers 1 to 100 without a single mistake. I tried over and over, but I could never manage it. We left empty-handed. Since she had misunderstood, I saw no reason to correct her. I just nodded vaguely. The memory of that rare, happy moment brought a smile to her glacial face. “It was just a doll, Liam. It’s not like I can’t afford to buy one. Don’t take it so seriously. Now, come and see the gift I got for you.” She snapped her fingers. A moment later, several men entered, carrying a massive, solid gold trophy. “Liam,” she said, her voice soft, “may you win another championship next season.” She paused. “I’m sorry about the ring. Think of this trophy as my apology.” Everyone in the room stared at the trophy with wide, envious eyes. My reaction was flat. “Put it in the collection room.” Adeline looked taken aback by my lack of enthusiasm. “Isn’t this what you want? All of this?” She gestured around the opulent room. “This trophy is worth enough to buy a mansion. Why aren’t you happy?” I looked up at her, a wave of disappointment washing over me. So that’s what she thought. That I was only with her for her money. No wonder her gifts had become more and more extravagant. If she had paid even the slightest bit of attention, she would have realized that I had never used, worn, or touched a single thing she had given me. Some people might love a life of gilded luxury. All I ever wanted was to be with the person I loved. Adeline waited, but I gave her no satisfactory answer. Finally, she stomped her foot in frustration and stormed out, taking Adam with her. They didn’t come home all night. All through the night, Adam sent me a relentless stream of photos and videos, flaunting their time together, taunting me. I put my phone on silent and slept soundly. The next morning, Adeline sent me a single, cold message with an address, summoning me. She hadn’t come home, and I, for the first time, hadn’t gone looking for her. She must have been furious. I knew this was a trap, but I also knew it was the last time. After this, I would finally be free. I didn’t hesitate. I called a cab and went. The location she’d chosen was desolate and remote, far from the noise of the city. When I arrived, she was nowhere in sight. I was about to call her when Adam appeared, flanked by a group of men in black suits. “Don’t bother looking,” he said with a smirk. “I’m the one who asked you here.” I raised an eyebrow, a bad feeling creeping over me. “What is this?” “It’s not just the main carry position,” he said, his voice dripping with venom. “I want the captain’s title, too.”
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