Chapter 1 Ludicrous

A moment of silence later, the crowd erupted into mocking titters, and every cell in my body went numb.

"Why would you do this?"

A cruel smile twisted Wendy's lips. "It's great, don't you think?"

My eyes went red-rimmed as I tried to blink away the tears. It was our wedding day. It was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life, but Wendy had gone and slept with Joe. Then, she chose to announce it right at this moment.

This wasn't revenge. This was humiliation.

The scandalous video was suffocating me, throttling me.

Wendy huddled closer, smiling. "Joe and I had a bet to see if you would cry or make a scene if you saw the photo." She wiped my tears away. "You cried first."

She took her phone out. It was on a call. Joe answered nonchalantly, "Fine, you win. I'll learn that technique you sent. Hang in there tonight. Don't start crying."

My mind was blank, and all I heard was the roar of my heart. Then, the hall's light bloomed, and the scandalous photo was gone, replaced by 'Congratulations.'

Wendy took my ice-cold hand and raised a toast to the guests. "Just a little joke to liven up the party."

I was pushed down the stage like a puppet, and the crowd's mocking laughter was drowned out by my mushed-up mind.

I slapped her once the backstage door swung shut. Wendy's head jerked to the side, and the rims of her eyes went red.

Something pulled me back into the past. Wendy, Summer, and I were childhood friends. Summer and Wendy were pro skiers, and they put their lives on the line to marry me.

Both women leaped off a 300-foot-tall platform and nearly died. I refused to see them getting into another life-threatening case. So, I cruelly rebuffed Wendy's advances and got engaged to Summer. I even gave her my kidney so she could live.

…

The day before our wedding, I saw her cheating with the underprivileged student I sponsored. Joe gripped Summer's waist and grinned at me, saying, "You don't last as long as I do in bed. That's what she said."

Summer didn't deny it. Her nails clawed into Joe's back, and her moans came out in broken segments. Neither of them stopped moving despite their audience.

I thought something was gouging my heart out of my chest. I stumbled out of the door like a mangled doll and wandered aimlessly in the rain.

Wendy was the one who found me in the end, and she held an umbrella over my head. She didn't ask any questions. All she said was, "Come with me."

She didn't care about my past with Wendy or the fact that I'd given her my kidney, but I couldn't let myself date her. She was her family's only daughter, and I would not allow her to become a simp.

It was a rainy night.

I downed half a bottle of sleeping pills. An eternal slumber was what I wanted, but Wendy, with what little strength she had, picked me up on her back and rushed right to the hospital.

Rain and tears drenched my face that night. She had cried her heart out as she begged me to live, to hang on.

I was brought back to life from the brink of death. Wendy stayed in the corridor the whole night.