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Chapter 3

Author: Washing Wheat
“Dylan, it’d be better if you don’t go online today.”

Aidan Wright, my best friend, sent me a text at 2 a.m., but I did not see it until 7 a.m.

I called him. “What’s wrong?”

“Your photos have been doxxed online.”

I checked social media.

The trending headlines were about me.

[The Weiss Family’s Engagement Farce: Groom-to-Be Left Alone in the Banquet Hall for Three Hours]

The accompanying photo was a candid shot taken by a guest.

There I was, sitting all alone at the empty head table in a borrowed suit, smiling and toasting people around me.

The comments were all over the place.

[Getting engaged in a borrowed suit is way too tacky. How can you even force this kind of engagement?]

[Hahaha… Getting stood up in front of 200 people? Yet, he’s still covering it by saying she was on a business trip.]

[The winner of the ‘Unluckiest Person of the Year’ award has been announced.]

I locked my phone screen.

Two minutes later, the phone rang.

I picked it up. It was not Layla calling. It was her mother, Molly Weiss.

“Dylan, I’d like to discuss something with you.”

Her tone was much more polite than usual. It was so polite that it was almost unsettling.

“Don’t look at those things online. I’ll find a way to have them taken down.”

“They can’t be taken down, Molly.”

“Then, let’s handle it another way.”

She paused for a moment.

“Dylan, I’ll be honest with you. When Alban came back from abroad the year before last, he seemed wary. So, Layla came up with a plan.”

“What kind of plan?”

“To find someone to go through the motions of an engagement first, just to give Alban a little nudge.”

My ears were ringing.

“Are you saying the engagement was fake?”

“I wouldn’t say it was fake. It was just… a formality.”

I looked down at the silver ring on my finger.

It had cost $300 and came from a street vendor.

I was the one who picked them out and bought a pair.

She wore hers for two days before taking it off, but I wore mine for three years.

“Molly, I printed 200 invitations and paid the deposit for the banquet hall.”

“Layla will pay you back.”

“When?”

There was a pause of a few seconds on the other end of the line.

“When she’s a little better off. Oh, by the way, Dylan, the $200,000 you invested in her company…”

“What about it?”

“The company’s been tight on cash lately. Could you maybe—”

I did not let her finish.

I hung up, opened my mobile banking app, and checked the joint savings account I shared with Layla.

[Balance: 0.]

The last withdrawal was three days ago. It was the day she and Alban got their marriage certificate. She had taken out $120,000.

There was a note attached to the transaction.

[Honeymoon Fund.]

That $120,000 was what I had saved up after six months of freelancing.

She said a joint account would be convenient and that once we were married, it would be joint property anyway.

I had believed her.

My phone vibrated. It was a text from Aidan.

[Dylan, there’s something I shouldn’t have kept from you.]

He sent me a screenshot of a group chat.

The group had a name.

[Layla’s Exclusive Planning Team.]

Layla had sent a text there the night before the engagement party.

[Once tomorrow’s charade is done, it’s all over. Make sure Dylan doesn’t find out.]

The replies that followed were unanimous.

[Got it.]

[Layla, you’re amazing!]

[That dunce Dylan actually believed it!]

The last text was from Layla herself.

A giggling emoji accompanied it.

Aidan sent me another text.

[Sorry, I only found out yesterday that you were with her. She told everyone you were just helping out temporarily. If you don’t have a place to stay, come over to my place.]

I stared at the screenshot for a long time.

‘Dunce…’ I thought.

They called me a dunce, and she posted a giggling emoji underneath it.

At 9 p.m., Layla finally called.

“Dylan, don’t take what my mom said to heart. She’s just not good with words.”

“What about those screenshots from the group chat?”

There was silence on the other end.

“Who showed them to you? It’s just friends messing around.”

“Was the giggling emoji just a joke too?”

She sighed. She seemed impatient.

“Dylan, can’t you just let these things go? I told you I’ll come back and explain everything.”

“Haven’t you always said that?”

“What exactly do you want?”

I clutched my phone and said nothing.

She waited a few seconds. Then, her tone softened a little.

“Don’t get so worked up. It’s not what you think.

“I’ll come back and explain everything in person."
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  • I Gave Up Everything For Her   Chapter 12

    “Have they signed the divorce papers?”“Yes. Alban asked for a car and two credit cards.”Three months…Their marriage lasted only three months.She gave me up for Alban. Then, Alban gave her up just as easily.I put down my phone, feeling nothing in particular.I neither felt satisfaction nor relief at their misfortune.The only thing I felt was a sense of calm that came from knowing it was to be expected.That night, I went out alone for some curry.I ordered a double serving, half spicy and half non-spicy.Back when I used to eat with Layla, we would always order the non-spicy curry because she could not handle spicy food.I picked up a piece of meat and took a bite. The heat brought tears to my eyes, but I enjoyed the meal.When I stepped out of the restaurant, a light rain had started to fall.I stood at the entrance of the mall to hail a cab.A figure stood under a streetlight across the street.She wore a camel-colored coat and looked much thinner.It was Layla.

  • I Gave Up Everything For Her   Chapter 11

    The table was set with a spread of food.There was steak, seafood, vegetables, and so on.They were some of my favorite foods when I was a kid.My father was seated at the head of the table. He looked better than I expected. He had put on a little weight and seemed full of energy.He glanced at me and muttered, “Sit.”I sat down, and my mother piled my plate high with food.No one mentioned those three years.No one even mentioned Layla.It was as if nothing had ever happened.But that was not quite true.My father’s hand trembled slightly as he served me some steak. The piece nearly fell onto the table.His hands had not been steady since his heart bypass surgery.I looked down as I ate. My eyes stung with tears.This was the most peaceful meal I had in three years.Halfway through the meal, my father suddenly blurted out, “That Weiss girl came by again last month.”My hands paused for a second.“Oh?”“Your mom didn’t open the door.”“Mm-hmm…”“She left a box at the

  • I Gave Up Everything For Her   Chapter 10

    I called Aidan.“That investor met with her last week and asked how you have been lately.”I fell silent.That investment was a deal I had arranged for her behind the scenes.I had stayed up three nights in a row to write the business plan.She never knew about it because she did not like men meddling in her business.I never did anything that she did not like, and not a word was ever said that she did not already know about.“How did she react when she found out?”Aidan paused for a moment.“My girlfriend said that after she got back, she locked herself in her room and tried to call your old number 37 times.“Obviously, the call didn’t go through even once.”‘37 times…’ I thought.It was just like the 37 missed calls she left me that day.She really liked that number, but she had never asked what number I liked the most.My phone rang again.It was not Aidan. It was a local Southshire number.“Is this Mr. Dylan Cruise? I’m Louis, an attorney from Concordia Law Firm. A

  • I Gave Up Everything For Her   Chapter 9

    I pulled my cap down low, averted my gaze, and handed my boarding pass at the security checkpoint.The machine beeped, and the gate opened.I walked through.The plane landed in Southshire at 8:40 p.m.Outside the window, the city was ablaze with lights. It was a brightness unlike anything I had seen in Kingston Vale.When I turned on my phone, there were no notifications whatsoever, except for a text from Aidan.[She waited at the airport for six hours. From morning until dark, she kept her eyes on the arrivals gate for every incoming flight. She didn’t see you.]He had sent another text.[She posted something on her Stories. A picture of the empty arrivals hall, lit by a harsh, pale light, with just one word in the caption: “Waiting.”]Finally, Aidan sent a voice note.I hesitated for a moment, then tapped on it.His voice sounded a bit muffled, as if he were speaking with his hand over his mouth.“Dylan, she cried at the airport. A friend of Crystal’s happened to be pass

  • I Gave Up Everything For Her   Chapter 8

    “Now, there’re no personal reasons anymore.”He glanced at me, did not press the issue, and nodded.“You start next Monday. The company will arrange for your flight and temporary housing. Once you arrive, report directly to HR.”Aidan had been listening the whole time. As soon as the video call ended, he jumped up.“An annual salary of $300,000! Dylan, you are flying high!”“Let’s see how it goes first. Don’t hype me up too much. It’ll hurt when I fall.”He snorted and looked down. Then, he continued to stuff things into the suitcase.The night before I left, we ate takeout in his living room.We ordered chicken tikka masala, with double the amount of meat and sides, with the spice level cranked up to the highest.Back when I was with Layla, I did not dare eat this. She would frown at the sight of chili peppers, saying they were bad for her stomach.No one was there to frown at my food choices anymore.My brow was beading with sweat from the heat. Just as I was about to reac

  • I Gave Up Everything For Her   Chapter 7

    “’She doesn’t want to hear the truth, but she can’t help but check to see if anyone mentioned me,” I answered.He tutted and swiped the screen again.“There’s something else. Do you want to see it?”“What?”“She and Alban had a fight.”He turned his phone screen toward me.Alban had posted a long message on his Stories.Against a dark background, there was a selfie of him looking very upset. Tears glistened at the corners of his eyes.The gist was that life was tough for him. He said Layla’s temper had been getting worse lately. She snapped at him over the slightest thing.She did not do housework, cook, take out the trash, and even refused to buy him the watch he had his eye on.The original post was quite long, but the message boiled down to just one sentence he wrote at the end.[I’ve given up so much for you. Is this how you treat me?]I wondered what exactly he had given up for her.I gave up a job that paid $300,000 a year, along with my parents, three years’ worth o

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