Chapter 1

Isabelle.

I held up my hand, letting the gorgeous little rock that sat in between my fingers do the talking.

“Oh my God.” Aurora, my best friend, held my hand so she could take a closer look at the diamond ring.

“T……this looks divine.” Aurora praised.

“I know.” I couldn’t stop grinning.

“I can’t believe Dave finally popped the question,” Aurora mumbled, not tearing her eyes away from the ring. I could see a bit of tears in her eyes, and that made me smile even more. Yeah, the ring was precious. But above all, she of all people knew how much this meant to me.

I chuckled, trying to push back happy tears, too. “I didn’t see it coming. At least not tonight. But I’m glad it happened.”

Aurora finally stared back into my eyes. “You are really going to be Mrs Andrew? Oh, come here.” She pulled me into a deep hug. I sniffled, then chuckled. “Yes, I am.”

“I’m so happy for you, babe. This is the best news I’ve heard all month.” She said,

I shut my eyes for a second, soaking myself in all the love I was getting from my very good friend. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

We pulled away from the hug.

“You are going to make a beautiful bride, mi amore.”

I smiled harder, wondering why my cheeks weren’t hurting since that was all I had been doing all evening.

“Thanks. The kind words mean so much to me. I really hope I will be able to close my eyes tonight. I don’t even know how to explain how I feel.”

Aurora scoffed, rolling her eyes at the same time. “You are such a lover girl, Bee. But it looks like you are going to be in your man’s arms throughout the night so I wouldn’t worry if I were you.”

I couldn’t help with the blush that crept to my cheek.

“Thank you for the kind words. By the way, what are you doing here? I rushed to the restroom to give you and Mom the news on the phone, but I was shocked to meet you in the hallway.”

“Uhh….I…I…” Aurora stammered, suddenly looking nervous, but a small smile crept to my lips as the realization hit me.

“Dave invited you to come witness the surprise?”

A nervous laugh escaped Aurora. “Not really. I came here with my colleagues to discuss work. I had no idea I was going to bump into you.”

“By the way, I have to go; I don’t want to keep them waiting. I will give you a call when I’m about to leave, and congratulations once again.” Aurora blew me a kiss, then rushed out of the ladies’ room.

………………..

“Hi, Sorry to interrupt, but did my fiancé leave a message for me?” I was back at the table, but Dave was nowhere to be found, so I decided to ask the waitress that served us earlier.

“I saw him towards the games room.”

I frowned. “Games room?”

“Yes, ma’am. We’ve got a space for that. Some guests want a serene place to dine, wine, and play pool. The room is just down the hallway, to your left.”

I forced a smile, “Thank you.” Holding my clutch tighter, I made my way towards the game room. I could see a few people throw polite smiles my way, which I returned. I remember them cheering me up when Dave was on his knee.

‘What if there’s another surprise?’ My subconscious said, causing my smile to grow bigger.

I finally located the room and was about to push the door open.

“You fucking avoid me for days, and here you are with a damn proposal?” The familiar voice caused me to standstill. Apparently, the door wasn’t properly shut as I thought.

I frowned. “Aurora?”

“I’m not in the mood for your tantrums. Just take your leave. Tonight’s a special night. Don’t ruin it, please.” That was Dave’s voice.

I was lost. This duo had hardly ever made conversation in my presence. Why would Aurora want to ruin my special night?

“I’m pregnant, and it’s yours!”

My breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t breathe; I couldn’t move.

Aurora’s voice kept replaying in my head. Literally the same person who said she was happy for me just some minutes ago.

I shook my head, ignoring the silence from the room. I definitely misheard. There’s no way something like this would occur under my nose.

Dave’s furious voice came through before I could move an inch from where I stood.

“What the heck? Didn’t you promise me that you were on the pill?”

My clutch fell off my hand, causing a loud thud on the tiled floor.

The door opened from the inside, and the culprits appeared in front of me. I instantly felt sick in the pit of my stomach seeing the duo together.

Both were shocked to see me standing out there. Aurora, my ‘supposed’ best friend, was looking everywhere else except into my eyes.

“Baby?” A nervous smile crept to Dave’s lips. “What are you doing here?” He was about to come close to me, but I raised a hand, stopping him, as I continued to glare at him through my teary eyes.

“You both played me?!” I whispered in a dead tone. I had no idea when tears rolled down my cheeks. It was as though my chest was repeatedly being stabbed with a knife.

“Please let me explain.”

Nothing prepared me for the way those words crushed me. Maybe because a part of me was expecting all of this to be a dream.

“You fucked my best friend till she got pregnant, then you got the guts to propose to me?”

I scoffed. “You both literally act as though you hate yourselves when we are all together, but I know you all must have made a fool of me in your secret romantic times.”

“How long has this been going on?” I cried.

“It was just a misunderstanding. A drunken mistake. It never should have happened.”

“So you proposed to me out of guilt?”

“I was going to tell you.”

“When? On our wedding night?”

“I was waiting for the right time. I didn’t want to lose you. Aurora means nothing to me. You are the one my heart belongs to.”

With tears still rolling down my cheeks, I ignored Dave and turned my attention to Aurora. “Chief bride’s maid, huh?”

Unlike Dave, whose face was filled with guilt, I couldn’t say the same for my so-called ex-best friend.

“You had the guts to look me in the eyes almost every day when you continued to bang the man I loved. How do you even sleep at night?”

“Look, I’m sorry you had to find out like this, but maybe Dave isn’t meant to be your man.” Her voice didn’t hold any ounce of regret.

I scoffed, wondering how I had been so blind all this while.

“Aurora?!!!” Dave glared at her.

“There’s no fucking way I’m going to let you go after her while I carry your child. Yes, it might have started as a mistake, but didn’t you tell me I’m the best person you’ve ever had in bed?”

“Stop being petty. We all say stupid things in the midst of pleasure.”

“You both really deserve each other.” I began to take off the ring from my finger.

“Babe, please don’t.” Dave pleaded.

I smashed the jewelry against his chest, then picked up my clutch from the floor with my shaky hands

“Babe, please.”

“Don’t leave me, honey. It’s not what you think.”

“Let me explain. Please.”

……………

Hours Later.

“Don is losing it. The ladies with him aren’t up to the task. He said he’s going to leave if we don’t get him a replacement as soon as possible.” A staff member said to one of the bar attendants.

The bar attendant who goes by the name Harry slammed a hand towel against the counter. “What do you mean by that? Where the hell are Nancy and Dorcas?” He said at the top of his voice through the loud music playing in the background.

“They are not here yet. They aren’t answering their phones either.”

“Men!!!”I scoffed as I picked up my shot glass from the counter. “A gender filled with assholes,” I mumbled as I gulped down the contents of the tiny glass.

“He’s our biggest client. He mustn’t leave. Do all you can to keep him there. I will try to get through to Nancy.” The staff left while Harry reached for the phone in his pocket. He dialed a number, cursed when there was no answer, and then he began to type furiously on the phone.

“Need help?” I said loud enough to grab Harry’s attention. I had no idea why I said that, but nothing prepared me for the looks he sent my way.

Red puffy eyes; makeup smeared, thanks to the tears that couldn’t stop rolling down my cheeks for hours.

“You do, but proud as fuck!” I would usually not interfere in what has nothing to do with me. Thanks to the shots that I’ve had.

“You want me to make a fool of myself before our biggest client by presenting you to him?” He took a step closer towards the counter. Fortunately, there was another bartender on the other side, attending to the few customers. “Girl, give me a break! You just got dumped.”