- Chapter 1
- It was the seventh time that Liam had asked
- me to get our marriage license, specifically
- instructing me to wear a wedding dress and
- my ring.
- I waited from sunrise to sunset, only to be
- met with a drone livestreaming my humiliation
- to the entire city.
- Liam, arm–in–arm with his childhood
- sweetheart, Chloe, said to his friends:
- “See? I told you she’d do anything I said.
- Loser pays a hundred bucks!”
- He then gave me a malicious grin:
- 66
- ‘Jenny, it was just a joke. You’re not mad,
- are you?”
- “Chloe needs material for her story, and you
- were the perfect test subject.”
- “I didn’t expect you to be so desperate to get
- married, but I guess it makes sense. Your
- L
- family’s bankrupt, who else would want you?”
- The group laughed and left.
- I smiled faintly, and called his nemesis.
- “The courthouse closes in an hour. Want to
- get a marriage license?”
- There was a pause on the other end of the
- line.
- Then, a low, amused voice:
- “Are you sure you have the right number?
- Jenny, this is Cole, not your Liam.”
- “”
- I glanced at Liam, laughing triumphantly with
- Chloe, and the pain in my heart dulled to
- numbness.
- Ever since Chloe returned from her studies
- abroad three years ago,
- Liam, who had once only had eyes for me,
- had become a completely different person.
- Under the guise of gathering material for
- Chloe’s report, he had repeatedly toyed with
- me.
- This was the seventh time, and it would be
- the last.
- This time, I was the one who was leaving him.
- “It’s you. Will you marry me?”
- “Alright. I’ll be there.”
- I hung up, only to have a drone shoved in my
- face.
- Liam and his buddies‘ cruel laughter washed
- over me like a wave.
- “Come on, putting on a show now, are we?”
- “Get the cameras ready. Let’s see how good
- your acting is.”
- “Wow, pretty natural.‘
- Liam pretended to be angry, stepping in front
- of the camera to block me.
- “That’s enough.”
- “Don’t you see she’s even got the wedding
- dress on? Wouldn’t want to leave this drama
- unfinished, would we?”
- They erupted in laughter.
- く
- I stared coldly at Liam, my body trembling,
- unable to speak.
- He’d specifically told me to wear the dress,
- and now it was the punchline to his joke.
- Liam turned, seeing the ring on my finger,
- and burst out laughing.
- “No way, Jenny, you actually bought the ring?
- You’re really desperate, huh?”
- “How about this, let’s make you famous
- today, become an internet sensation.
- ‘Desperate Bride‘ how does that sound?”
- “Go ahead and thank Chloe, without her, you
- wouldn’t have this opportunity to be on
- camera.”
- Chloe, Liam’s girlfriend, took my hand,
- feigning disapproval.
- “Liam, stop it. Jenny just likes you and wants
- to marry you, what’s wrong with that?”
- “Jenny, don’t take it to heart. They’re just a
- “”
- bunch of immature boys.”
- く
- “This is mainly for my report, a social
- experiment. I told him it would be bad for you,
- but he insisted the story was important. I had
- no choice.”
- Chloe looked helpless.
- With a single sentence, she had turned me
- into a monkey in a zoo, paraded in front of
- the courthouse for Liam’s so–called “report
- material.”
- He’d even hired drones for a citywide
- livestream of my humiliation.
- The Liam who had once run across the city in
- the dead of winter to buy me a discontinued
- lollipop, was gone. He had disappeared three
- years ago.
- I pulled my hand away.
- “I never said I was here to marry him today.”
- “Jenny, don’t play the pride card. Your dad’s
- in jail, you still think you’re a princess?”
- “How about this, let Fat Tony marry you.
- <
- After you two get married, we can still see
- each other occasionally, so you won’t go
- crazy from not seeing Liam.”
- “At least he’s a man, someone wants you, be
- happy and stop being stubborn.”
- Liam shoved a short, fat man with acne scars
- beside him toward me. He watched my
- reaction with malice.
- He knew how I felt about Liam.
- I recognized the
- minuman; he was Liam’s sidekick.
- He’d been in jail for assaulting a woman, only released a couple of days ago.
- Liam was trying to impress Chloe by offering
- me this man.
- My hands clenched.
- “No need, my fiancé will be here soon.”
- They all froze, then erupted into laughter.
- Even Fat Tony laughed so hard tears welled
- up. He looked at me like I was a delusional
- lunatic.
- Liam waved his hand, summoning more
- drones.
