Chapter 4

When Denys and I first got together, even a small cut on my hand would send him rushing me to the hospital, making a whole production of it.

At some point that changed. Even when I was sick in bed, aching and too weak to move, all I could do was wait for him to squeeze in time after work to take me to a doctor.

Later it became a habit to go to the hospital alone.

Denys would only send a quick text asking if I'd gone.

Once I answered yes, he'd act as if nothing had happened and go back to whatever he was busy with.

If he hadn't caught my allergic reaction in the middle of the night this time, he probably wouldn't have known until I was already better.

Sasha called to confirm the wedding details.

It was only when she heard how weak my voice was that she found out about the allergy.

She was furious on my behalf.

"Where's Denys? What's so important that he'd leave you alone at the hospital?"

I only said that Denys's work was important.

Sasha knew I didn't want to say more, so she just sighed on the other end.

She told me a relationship like this really wasn't worth keeping.

"Just look at you. So many men chased you back then, and you had to pick Denys."

"Fine, he's good-looking, and now he's a senior partner at the firm."

"But he treats you badly!"

"Don't you get it, you hopeless romantic? No matter how impressive Denys is, if he treats you badly, it's all worthless."

Sasha's words came one after another.

She stopped just short of calling me a fool and telling me to break up.

But Denys and I had been together nine years. I'd gotten used to a life with him in it.

I realized I needed time too, to peel Denys out of my life bit by bit.

When I didn't answer, Sasha could only change the subject.

She went back to asking about my wedding plans.

She still thought I was doing this out of spite.

That I meant to force Denys to marry me on the wedding day.

"You'll be standing there in the dress with all your friends and family watching. There's no way Denys can say no."

"You two should've been married long ago anyway."

I knew what Sasha meant.

But I wasn't going to do something that so plainly went against Denys's wishes.

I went ahead and accepted the wedding invitation, the venue, the guest list, all the arrangements Sasha sent over.

She'd thrown so many weddings by now that she knew it all inside out.

"All right, that's the whole rundown. Our side of the guests is easy enough, but what are you going to do about Denys's side?"

When I stayed quiet, Sasha didn't press.

She told me to rest well, said we'd hold the wedding together and she'd handle everything, guaranteed.

Scrolling my feed, I saw one of Denys's colleagues had posted about what happened at the firm today.

Zelda's client had lost his case and spent the whole morning making a scene at the firm, worked up and out of control.

In the end it was Denys who showed up and defused it.

Zelda was leaning against Denys's chest, still shaken.

When I saw it, I left a comment underneath: 【Glad everyone's okay】

Then a message from one of Denys's colleagues came in.

【Heard the two of you have a big day coming up. Congratulations on the wedding!】

Since I used to bring Denys late-night meals at the firm so often, everyone there knew me.

A pile of congratulations followed under the post.

Ten minutes later, Denys called.

"What's this about your feed? Since when are we getting married, and why don't I know about it?"

"It's nothing. Your colleague misread things."

I explained it calmly.

Denys didn't ask anything more. He told me to make it clear on my feed and not cause any unnecessary misunderstandings.

The line was noisy on his end.

I could hear his colleagues egging each other on.

Saying it was a good thing Denys played the hero today.

That if he hadn't gotten there in time, Zelda probably would've come out of it badly.

They were all telling Zelda she owed everyone a meal.

Denys covered the phone.

A few minutes later, it went quiet on his end.

His tone softened too, and he asked if I was still at the hospital.

He offered to come pick me up and take me home once the dinner was over.

But then he hesitated for a good while, shuffled through a few different times, and finally said he'd let me know a little later.

I cut off his awkwardness right there.

Same as I had countless times before, I told him it was fine, I could get home on my own.

6

By one in the morning, Denys still wasn't back.

I opened my phone to find, right on cue, a message that he was leaving on a two-week business trip.

Denys asked whether, if I needed him, he could come back for a day next week to see me.

Seconds after he sent it, he retracted it.

A few minutes later, he said that while he was away, if I really felt awful I could call him and he'd figure something out.

I gave a bitter little smile.

From that far away, what could he possibly figure out?

Concern that cost him nothing was worse than saying nothing at all.

【I'm fine. Go do your work】

For a full two weeks, my chat with Denys stopped there.

I had always been the one to reach out to him.

So it turned out that if I didn't reach for him first, he really wouldn't send me a single message.

Half a month later, the wedding went ahead on schedule.

In my dress, I took a photo with Sasha.

And in my chat with Denys, I finally saw the first message in half a month.

He said he was back from his trip.

He asked if I wanted to have lunch together at noon, at that restaurant from last time, to make it up to me.

【No need. I'm getting married today】

【If you want to come, you're welcome to】