Chapter 1 The Vows That Weren't Mine

The diamond ring rolled across the table before Lawrence caught it with his hand.

He stared at me, his expression dark. "Jasmine, the wedding's tomorrow. Are you trying to embarrass both families by shutting off the livestream now?"

Sienna stood behind him, tears clinging to her lashes.

Her voice trembled. "Jasmine, this is all my fault. I just thought the ten years you and Lawrence shared were too important. If the AI only looked at your messages as a couple, the vows might've felt too shallow.

"I grew up with Lawrence. I know so much about his past, so I only wanted to help fill in the gaps."

Fill in the gaps.

What a beautiful way to put it.

As if the past ten years Lawrence and I had shared were somehow incomplete without her.

The AI kept reading, "Lawrence, I know you hate letting people see you at your lowest. So, every time you couldn't hold on, I was willing to stand in front of you."

The name beneath the words was still Sienna.

I stared at those words, my heart sinking a little deeper with every second.

Six years ago, Lawrence's startup had failed. One of his business partners cornered him outside his office and dumped a bucket of red paint all over him.

I had stepped in front of him.

I was the one who got shoved into the glass doors and ended up needing seven stitches in my arm.

That night, I wrote in my phone's notes, "Lawrence, I know you hate letting people see you at your lowest. It's okay. I'll stand in front of you."

I never showed it to him. And now those words, read aloud by the AI, belonged to Sienna.

I lowered my eyes to the ring on the table.

Lawrence had bought it for me when he was nineteen, after saving an entire month's living expenses.

When he paid for it, he came up twenty dollars short.

I dug through the pocket of my school uniform and covered the difference with my spare change.

His ears had turned bright red, but he still slipped the ring onto my finger with complete sincerity. "I can't give you the best right now. But one day, I'll make it up to you."

I believed him for ten years.

In the end, I was the one who became too old and inconvenient to put on display.

Lawrence stepped forward and wrapped his hand around my wrist.

"Jas, I just don't want the guests hearing all of that. It's enough that we know what happened. We don't need to lay everything out for everyone else."

His voice softened, the way it always had when he was trying to calm me down. "Tomorrow, I won't use the AI. I'll read my vows to you myself. Okay?"

I looked at him.

There was panic in his eyes. And there was humiliation too. The humiliation of someone who did not want the truth exposed.

Sienna suddenly spoke. "Jasmine, love isn't about keeping score. Lawrence is already giving you a wedding. Why do you still have to humiliate him in front of everyone?"

Lawrence's grip on my wrist loosened ever so slightly.

I smiled. "So I wasn't supposed to remember?"

Lawrence closed his eyes for a moment, exhaustion creeping into his voice. "Jas, let's stop here for tonight. There'll be so many people here tomorrow. Don't turn the wedding into a spectacle."

When he finished speaking, he picked up the ring and slipped it back onto my finger.

When I did not resist, relief flashed across his face.

Just then, Sienna suddenly clutched her chest.

Lawrence immediately turned and caught her before she could stumble. "Where's your medicine?"

Sienna shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I shouldn't have come."

Lawrence shot me a vicious glare before helping Sienna toward the lounge.

He did not leave a single word for me.

I curled my fingers into a fist.

The old silver ring, polished until it shone again, dug into my palm. The pain felt almost sharp enough to pierce through my skin.

On the giant screen, the AI read the final unfinished vow. "If the day ever comes when you finally marry me, I hope you won't resent how hard these past ten years have been for me."