Chapter 4

Crystal James looked at the ring in her hand and suddenly smiled.

"Cancel the wedding?"

"Xavier, do you really think you can force me to cut off all contact with Ulysses this way?"

She set the ring back on the table.

"Stop being ridiculous."

"Our families already discussed and settled on this marriage. How would you clean up the mess if you called off the engagement now? Who would ever be willing to marry you after that?"

"You're not a kid anymore. Don't throw a tantrum."

"The wedding goes ahead as planned. Once you've calmed down, we'll talk things over properly."

With that, she turned and left with Ulysses Pruitt.

Crystal didn't show up again for the next several days.

She went to work, lived her life, and kept planning the wedding as usual.

Only now Ulysses was always at her side.

The two of them came and went together, for all the world like a married couple.

My friends sensed something was off and came around to ask about Crystal and me.

Even my mother couldn't help coming over to talk me around.

"Xavier, Crystal explained everything to me. There really is nothing going on between her and Ulysses."

"She's a sensible, good girl, and she knows where the line is."

"She's been good to you all these years. You can't get married and then expect her to cut off contact with every other man."

Wedding photos. A honeymoon.

Is that really something ordinary friends do together?

I just didn't want to explain anymore.

Suddenly there was a pounding at the door.

A crowd of people stood menacingly outside my home.

The middle-aged woman at the front glared at me and snarled.

"You're Xavier? The man who's been harassing my son's wife?"

Before I could even work out what was happening, Ulysses's older brother charged up and grabbed me by the collar.

"Crystal and my brother are getting married any day now, and you're still clinging to her, bent on wrecking someone else's family."

"Today I'll teach you a lesson on my brother's behalf, and show you what shame means!"

The moment the words left his mouth, his fist slammed into my face.

I pushed my mother behind me and could only raise my arms to block the blows raining down, without hitting back.

The commotion at the door drew plenty of attention.

Seeing the crowd of onlookers grow, the middle-aged woman looked even more pleased with herself and raised her voice.

"Everyone come look at this. How can there be such a shameless man?"

"My son and his wife are childhood sweethearts, grew up together without a care, and this man insists on destroying what they have."

She held up her phone.

On the screen were wedding photos of Crystal and Ulysses, taken in Bali.

But that wasn't all.

Scroll back and there were photos of them hugging, kissing.

Some had even been taken a year ago.

On Ulysses's birthday, Crystal had celebrated with him at a hotel.

Last New Year's Eve, she'd lied to me that the company had called an emergency overtime shift, but in the photos she was sitting at the dining table in Ulysses's home.

The two of them wore matching pajamas, sitting side by side on the sofa.

They'd kissed their way from the living room all the way to the bedroom.

I stared at the screen, a buzzing filling my ears.

The middle-aged woman grew smugger still, self-righteous words pouring out.

"See that? My son and his wife have always had a wonderful relationship."

"It's all because of you, pestering them without end, deliberately driving a wedge between them."

"Today I'm going to smash up your place and let everyone see how you stalk another man's fiancée!"

Ulysses's brother kicked over the entryway cabinet, and several people rushed in, punching and kicking me.

I shielded my mother behind me, but out of nowhere Cheryl shoved her hard from the side.

My mother's forehead slammed against the corner of the wall, and blood streamed down at once.

"Mom!"

"My mom has a heart condition, don't touch her!"

The Pruitts finally stopped when they saw the blood.

Cheryl spat at me viciously, then turned and left with her people.

The rest of the crowd swarmed off after her.

I forced myself to stay calm, took out my phone, and called 911.

But the gossip around me stabbed into my heart like knives.

"Isn't that the Summers boy? He looks so honest, how could he do something like this?"

"You can know a face but not a heart. No wonder his parents divorced. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I say."

"Living in the same neighborhood as someone like that, what bad luck!"

At the same time, messages from Crystal kept popping up, one after another.

"The wedding is set for the eighth of next month. It's been a long time now; you should have calmed down."

"According to the customs back home, the bride and groom can't see each other before the wedding."

"Ulysses and I are planning the wedding together during this time, so stop letting your imagination run wild."

I could hear the ambulance siren coming from not far off.

I pressed down on my trembling hand and slowly typed back one word.

"Fine."

The wedding went ahead.

But the one attending it was no longer me.