The Wrong Name, The Wrong Love

Daphne missed the darkening look on my face. She was too busy helping Drake check his passport.

"Not bad. You brought everything important with you!" she chirped. "You're actually better at this than Tim. That man can't go a day without leaving his things in odd places and then scrambling to find them again. I've always had to pack for him!"

As she placed their passports together, Drake sighed.

"Man, it's hard not to be jealous. My man's got someone taking care of him every step of the way, no matter where he goes. Single guys like me have to do everything ourselves," he muttered.

I stayed quiet. Whenever the two of them were in the same room, they inevitably started pointing out all my flaws and shortcomings. More importantly, by this point, it had become painfully clear that Daphne cared more about him than she did about me.

"Well, off we go, bae. Try not to get too lonely!" she exclaimed. "Gonna wish us safe travels?"

It took her a solid minute of silence to notice the look on my face.

"Come on, don't look at us like that. You're ruining everyone's vibe," she complained. "I promise I'll make it up to you when I get back. Besides, we've already been to the Kalea Islands once, right? You can totally survive sitting this one out."

The Kalea Islands were where I'd confessed my feelings to Daphne five years ago. I cherished that memory so much that it had become the sole reason I'd chosen the islands for our honeymoon.

Unfortunately, she had another man to go there with now, and she didn't seem to find that ironic at all.

It seemed I'd been delusional to think revisiting that place could rekindle the love that had started it all.

"I see. Safe travels, then," I finally said with a bitter laugh.

…

Traces of yesterday's joint bach party still remained throughout our home: the flower arrangements and decorations, the white and blue ribbons, and even my groom's suit.

I hadn't been the only one wearing that suit yesterday. Daphne had secretly ordered another custom-made suit identical to mine, and I hadn't found out until Drake showed up in it. Upset, I'd refused to continue with that charade.

"Come on, bae! You and Drake are homies, aren't you? You two have been dressing alike since you were kids! What's so different this time?" Daphne protested with a frown. "I thought you boys even promised to have your weddings together on the same day back then!"

"He's probably forgotten about that," Drake said quietly. "If it's really that offensive, I'll take it off right now."

He took off the suit right in front of us, which prompted Daphne to snatch my overcoat and drape it over his shoulders.

She then shot me an angry look. "Happy now? Can we please continue with our joint bach party?"

I had no choice but to set aside the feelings the whole situation stirred in me and nod.

…

The cleaning crew arrived as scheduled. I had them remove everything related to the joint bach party. I had no desire to keep anything that didn't belong solely to me.

That included my partner, too.

I called the county clerk's office. We were supposed to receive our marriage license after returning from our honeymoon, but I guessed there was no need for that anymore.

"Hmm, maybe you've got something mixed up, Mr. Fowl. Your name isn't on our list. However, the name 'Daphne Brucke' did come up. The license is for her and a Drake Stiller."

There it was again. Another one of her "mistakes."

Sure, Drake and I were born on the same day. Our social security numbers were practically identical except for a single digit. But they still had to verify the ID against the applicant's name, and there was nothing remotely similar about "Drake Stiller" and "Tim Fowl."

I wondered how long Daphne planned to keep pretending she had no idea about her "honest mistake."