Chapter 3

My coworker and I got the screenshots, and I posted all of them to the family group chat.

The group went quiet for half a minute.

Then Crystal, who had been unreachable for so long, sent a long voice message.

"Xavier, what are you stirring up this time?"

"Ulysses and I grew up together. He's like my own little brother."

"He only took those wedding photos to spite his ex. Stop being so unreasonable, okay?"

Before all this, Crystal had countless chances to explain.

But she never said a word.

She let everyone misunderstand their relationship.

The voice message kept going.

"How other people want to guess is their business. Am I supposed to explain myself to every single one of them?"

"We've been together seven years, and you can't even give me that much trust."

"Xavier, you're not so young anymore. Can't you be a little more sensible?"

I turned up the volume.

A lilting piano melody drifted in the background.

It was the wedding march from Bluepoint Bay Chapel, played only for couples who truly love each other.

My heart gave a hard, painful twist.

I left the group chat and said nothing more.

The next afternoon, the doorbell at home rang.

The moment I opened the door, Crystal wheeled her suitcase inside.

Ulysses trailed behind her, looking somewhat worn out.

When Crystal saw me, her voice was full of exhaustion.

"Because of that temper of yours, I ended my trip early and rebooked an overnight flight back."

"Now we're going to talk this out in person, and then you're going to go into the group chat and unsend that message about canceling the wedding."

I glanced at Ulysses standing behind her.

"What's done is done. There's nothing to talk about."

Crystal's face darkened, like she wanted to say something.

But Ulysses suddenly stepped up to me and spoke in a low voice.

"Man, I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"I just went through a breakup and I was in a bad place, so I begged Crystal to come clear my head with me."

"The wedding photos were something I wanted my ex to see. Crystal and I really have nothing going on."

He talked faster and faster, like he was desperate to pile all the blame on himself.

"Crystal was worried about you the whole trip. She bought you a gift and said she'd make it up to you once she got back."

"If you want to blame someone, blame me. Please don't cancel the wedding over me."

I looked down at the gift bag Ulysses held out.

In that huge bag lay nothing but a leather bracelet, the kind a store gives away for free.

The limited-edition watch was right there on Ulysses's wrist.

I looked up at him and let out a cold laugh.

"Ulysses, do you take me for an idiot?"

Ulysses froze for a second, then stepped toward me again.

"Man, don't be like this. I really do want to apologize to you."

"Crystal and I spent a long time picking this gift out."

"It's not much, but it means a lot coming from us..."

He set the gift bag down on the entryway cabinet.

The bag didn't sit steady, and the glass ornament next to it suddenly toppled off, the shards slicing the back of his hand.

Crystal's expression changed instantly. She rushed to find the first-aid kit and tend to his cut.

"Is it deep? Should we go to the hospital?"

Ulysses pressed the back of his hand and said quietly that he was fine.

"Don't blame Xavier. It was my own fault for not setting it down right."

His words made excuses for me, but his eyes stayed fixed on Crystal the whole time.

Only after Crystal finished taping the gauze over his hand did she turn to look at me.

Her eyes were full of fury.

"Ulysses came all the way back to apologize to you. What more do you want?"

"If you've got a problem, take it out on me. Don't go out of your way to make things hard for him!"

This "little brother" she was shielding behind her was actually only two months younger than me.

Yet I had never once been given that kind of favor.

Just as I was about to turn and leave, my gaze happened to land on Ulysses's wrist.

That brand-new watch was glaringly obvious under the light.

It was exactly the "compensation" Crystal had promised me over the phone.

Ulysses noticed me looking and instinctively tugged his sleeve down over the watch.

"Xavier, don't get the wrong idea. Crystal just asked me to try this watch on for her."

"Someone like me could never deserve something this expensive."

The band was fastened too tight, cutting a red ring into Ulysses's wrist.

Crystal immediately told him to take it off, her tone full of tenderness.

"Enough. It's just a watch. If Ulysses likes it, let him have it."

"Why do you have to be so aggressive about everything?"

If the wedding ring and the honeymoon could be handed off to someone else, what was the point of this wedding at all.

I said nothing more and turned toward the bedroom.

I took the ring she'd given me when we got engaged and placed it, too, into Crystal's palm.

"You're right."

"Since Ulysses likes it, let him have it."

Crystal looked down at the ring, and her face finally changed.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

I let go and looked at her calmly.

"It means the wedding is canceled."

"Who you want to travel with from now on, who you want to take wedding photos with, none of it has anything to do with me."