Time to Wake Up

Harold claimed he was busy, so I busied myself setting up our wedding venue alone until midnight.

Over the years, he'd refused to marry me 108 times for various reasons—including but not limited to—his career that was just taking flight, not having a fitting suit, and ugly flowers at the venue.

This time, it was because of my future assignment to Touden, the capital city. He didn't want to be in a long-distance relationship.

And so I gave up on my bright future and organized the wedding by myself, down to the details.

I assumed that he was picky because he wanted to have a perfect wedding, but now, I was watching camera footage of him kissing another woman passionately in bed.

Elise leaned her head on his shoulder, scoffing. "What excuse are you planning to give her this time? I think you should just end this and marry her."

Harold frowned. He grabbed her wandering hand and kissed it. "Don't make a fuss," he said. "You know that I proposed to her just to rile you up. I didn't really want a family.

"You're my only true love. The moment you agree to it, I'll arrange a wedding with you."

My heart stung so painfully, I had to crouch down. My tears fell on the ring he used to propose to me.

It was stunning, with a pink diamond on it. He'd supposedly spent a handsome sum on it, having enlisted the services of an expert designer from overseas. Struck by his sincerity, I didn't mind even if it was a size smaller.

At this moment, though, I finally came to a realization. This ring didn't fit on me because it didn't belong to me in the first place.

Elise laughed right then, as if making fun of how pathetic I was. "Sure. We've fought and made up 108 times—I had fun, but I'm tired now. If you abandon Shana on the day of your wedding and propose to me in front of everyone, I'll marry you.

"Can you bear to treat her like that, though?"

My fiancé was always aloof, even when proposing to me. Yet, he was now pulling her into a hug, looking absolutely ecstatic. "As long as you're willing to marry me, I'm willing to humiliate her however you want.

"As if I won't bear to. You said you wanted to see me today, so I left her alone and came to you without waiting for even a second.

"I've broken my promise to marry her more than 100 times just for you! The last time I did that, you texted me the moment she said yes, so I tossed the ring aside and ran over to you. Do you still not realize how sincere I am?"

As they laughed together, I remembered how embarrassed I'd felt back then. Harold had left the venue, subjecting me to the weird looks of our guests. I had to make something up, wearing a forced smile on my face.

During the past eight years, I'd put myself down just to appease Harold, solely for the sake of having a family with him. Meanwhile, he was now clinging to Elise, kissing her passionately, as if trying to prove his sincerity.

My fiancé, who'd never let me hold his hand, was now disrobing Elise eagerly. Their bodies intertwined as they moved from the headboard to the end of the bed.

I turned the camera off and yanked the ring off, tossing it into the drain.

Then, I sent a message to Jim Perez, the director of the hospital I worked in. "Regarding the assignment to Touden that I rejected, Mr. Perez, is there any way I can take on the offer now? I can fly to Touden and start work there immediately."