Chapter 4

That night, back in the rented apartment, I threw up until I could barely breathe.

On my phone was a message from Juliana.

【Austin, I've taken the video down, and I've cleared your name too. Stop tearing yourself apart.】

I looked at the box cutter on the edge of the sink, picked it up, and my whole body was shaking.

I didn't want to die.

But in that moment I was just so tired.

Too tired to know how I was supposed to keep living.

Right then, the door slammed open.

Juliana rushed in and tore the blade out of my hand.

“Austin! Have you lost your mind?”

Her eyes were full of terror.

“Isn't this what you wanted? For me to get worse, crazier, more pathetic, so your bet would count as a win.”

Her face went pale, and she gripped my shoulders tight.

“That's not what I want.”

“Let's get married. I'll give you the grandest wedding there is.”

“From now on, I'll love you properly.”

I looked at how earnest her eyes were, and suddenly I remembered the way she'd held me three years ago.

Back then I was thin as a sheet of paper.

She said, Austin, don't be afraid.

But only now did I understand: some people pull you out of the mud.

Not to save you, only so that one day you'll fall even deeper.

Her eyes reddened.

“Austin, trust me just once, all right? Just once.”

I looked into her eyes and couldn't tell whether the sincerity there was real or not.

I said nothing, and moved my gaze off her face.

She pulled me into her arms and said she'd never let me get hurt again.

That night, while she was asleep, I picked up her phone.

I opened the chat history and scrolled through it, line by line.

【On the wedding day, when the big screen lights up, you think he'll cry himself unconscious right there?】

【Juliana, are you really going to reveal at the wedding how he got played?】

【Of course. Last step of the bet. He has to break down completely.】

I stared at those lines, and my tears dropped onto the screen, one after another.

So even this wedding was a con.

Her so-called compensation was nothing but a way to march me onto one last stage to be judged.

I bit my lip and copied all the chat logs and the full video onto my own phone.

On the wedding day, the seats below were packed with guests.

The officiant asked with a smile,:

“Mr. Vance, do you take Miss Pruitt to be your wife?”

Juliana held out her hand to me, her eyes certain of victory.

“Austin, answer me.”

I looked at the hand she was holding out and said calmly,:

“No, I don't.”

The whole room erupted.

The smile on Juliana's face froze in an instant.

“Austin, what are you saying?”

“Since today's a wedding, let's let everyone see exactly how we got to this point.”

I pressed the remote, and the big screen lit up.

Juliana stared at the screen, the color draining from her face bit by bit.