Chapter 2

Anger flickered in Andrew's eyes, then he sneered.

"Den, if your husband doesn't want me here, then let's take the party somewhere else."

"Come with your best friend or stay home with your man, your call. But I'm telling you now, if you pick him, we're done."

He turned and led the rest of them out first.

Denise dragged a hand through her hair, exasperated.

"Harvey, everyone came here to have a little fun on our wedding night, and you had to get jealous and blow it up so nobody could save face?!"

"Andy and I grew up together running around in diapers. To me he's no different from another girl. We really are just close friends, otherwise you wouldn't be the one standing here as the groom tonight."

I was sick of it, the way she always fell back on this so-called 'best friend' as her excuse.

I lost control and shouted.

"Then get out with him!"

Denise's special ringtone kept going off, like it was hurrying her along.

Five years, and Andrew's number was the only one she'd set to a special ringtone.

I'd asked her about it once. Every time she just shrugged it off.

"Ugh, I spoiled that kid rotten when he was little. If I miss his call, there's no telling what kind of fit he'll throw."

And yet I could rarely get through to her at all.

Sure enough, Denise answered a few of his messages first before she even looked at me.

He gave a cold laugh and tossed out one last line.

"Andy's got you pegged. All you do is kill the mood. No wonder even your own childhood buddy can't stand you."

Denise snatched up her coat and walked out without a backward glance.

I didn't want to go back into that disgusting master bedroom, so I curled up on the couch and let the bitter tears fall.

Earlier I'd thought Lucius, my childhood friend, had really slit his wrists, and I'd rushed out in the rain to find him, forgetting to grab an umbrella.

I must have caught a chill, because late that night a high fever set in and I didn't even have the strength to sit up.

I forced myself to take my temperature. A hundred and three.

But there wasn't any fever medicine in the new place yet.

I called Denise.

More than a dozen calls, and no one picked up.

So I texted her instead.

【Denise, I've got a high fever and can't get up. The pharmacies are all closed at this hour. Can you come back and take me to the hospital?】

Ten minutes later, she finally replied.

【Got it.】

But I waited a full hour and more before the door opened.

And it wasn't Denise who walked in. It was Lucius, my childhood friend.

He looked down at me from where he stood.

"Andy had too much to drink. Denise was worried his stomach would act up tonight, so she went over to his place to take care of him and told me to come check on you first."

"Tsk, your face is so red. Nice act. You pressed a hot water bottle to your face before I got here, didn't you?"

As he spoke, he lifted the phone that was already on a call.

"Hey, Denise, don't worry. There's nothing wrong with Harvey, he's just faking sick."

"You know how he is. Always the jealous type. Just take good care of Andy."

I stared at him, unable to believe it.

Gritting my teeth, I grabbed the phone. "Denise, he's lying, I didn't—"

Denise cut me off, impatient.

"Harvey, are you ever going to stop? Andy called it. You really are faking sick to trick me into coming back. Even your own good buddy says so, what's left to argue about?"

"If you hadn't gotten jealous and embarrassed Andy and ruined his mood, he wouldn't have drunk so much and gotten this sick throwing up."

"If you still want to sign the marriage license with me, you're going to have to accept that being with you doesn't mean I'll abandon my best friend. That's it. I've got to look after Andy. You take a good hard look at yourself, and quit being so possessive from now on."

The call was cut off without a shred of mercy.

Before Lucius left, he didn't forget to mock me.

"Harv, look, I'm not trying to rub it in, but a country hick like you landing a blue-chip catch like Denise, that's your good fortune. She married you in the end anyway, so why keep trying to outdo Andy?"

"Denise cares that much about Andy. Keep him happy and your married life goes smooth. I just now said Andy's more generous than you and has a better build, and Denise handed me a hundred grand as a reward. That's the smart play. Don't go being an idiot."

After Lucius left, the fever had my vision going black in waves.

My phone rang out of nowhere, that familiar string of numbers on the screen.

I pressed answer and asked weakly,

"Are you still abroad?"

"Of course. You went and held a wedding with someone else, am I not even allowed to go clear my head... Harv, your voice sounds wrong. What's going on?"

The woman's voice went tight with worry in an instant, and I pulled my mouth into a faint smile.

"The wedding happened, but we haven't signed the marriage license."

The woman was silent for a second. "Harv, are you saying..."

Right before everything went dark, I said,

"Come home now. The spot to sign the license with me is yours."