- 2.
Over the next few days, I didn’t hear from
Jake.
But it didn’t matter. Lily’s Instagram would tell
me where he was.
L
Even though the wedding was fast
approaching, they had plenty of time to go
horseback riding, skiing, flower arranging, and
even boating together while admiring the
scenery.
Two days before the wedding, after Jake and
Lily had dinner at the fanciest restaurant in
town, Jake finally came home.
He brought a lot of gifts and apologized
repeatedly.
“Brittany, I’m sorry. I’ve been busy with the
company and the wedding, and I haven’t been
able to spend time with you.”
L
“I’ll take you on a honeymoon abroad after
the wedding.”
I didn’t call him out on it, but just numbly
asked him, “How are the wedding
preparations coming along?”
Jake put his arms around me, a hint of a
smile in his voice.
“Of course, they’re all set. In two days, I’ll be
able to marry you.”
“Brittany, just thinking about you being my
bride makes me so happy, I can’t even sleep.”
He was serious, his eyes shining like an
く
eighteen–year–old’s.
But I wasn’t happy, because I could smell a
faint jasmine fragrance on him.
And a light pink lipstick stain on the inside of
his collar.
My eyes stung so bad that I couldn’t help but
think of the past.
I met Jake when I was eighteen.
I had just lost my mother.
Before the funeral was even over, my drunken
stepfather tried to force himself on me.
L
That’s when Jake showed up.
He pulled me out from under my stepfather,
took me home, and then used his connections
Murderer to prison.
to send my mother’s
He said to me, “Brittany, don’t be afraid.”
He said, “Brittany, I’m here.”
From then on, I had a Jake by my side.
And Jake had a Brittany by his side who
forced herself to change.
In the most chaotic times, I once took a knife
for Jake.
<
The scar stretched from my right shoulder to
my left hip, nearly killing me.
But it also made me famous overnight, and I
became the undisputed fiancé of Jake.
Everyone envied his good fortune, but Jake
wasn’t satisfied.
Many nights, as we lay in bed, he would stare
blankly at the scar on my back, tentatively
asking, “Do you want to have the scar
surgically removed?”
And every time, I would smile and hug him,
bragging, “No way, Jake. This scar is proof of
my love for you.”
<
Now, I didn’t want it anymore.
- 3.
That night, as I listened to Jake softly coaxing
Lily to sleep in the bathroom, I tossed and
turned in bed.
After he became successful, he had many
women on the side.
Each of them looked a little like the me from
my younger days.
I knew that Jake didn’t love Lily, nor did he
love me. He loved the Brittany from his
memories.
<
That pure, beautiful Brittany who always
timidly followed behind him.
But that Brittany had long since stayed in the
summer when she was eighteen.
Thinking of this, my nose twitched. Jake lifted
the covers and pulled me into his arms.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
“I’ll go with you to try on wedding dresses
tomorrow, straighten your hair, and get a new
hairstyle. You’ll definitely blow everyone away
at the wedding.”
I smiled, but there was a hint of sarcasm in
the smile.
Jake had repeatedly said that he didn’t like
my curly hair, that it was too mature and hid
the pure temperament on me.
But he forgot that a woman who dared to
take a knife for him no longer had an ivory
tower in her heart.
“No need. There’s not much time left. Let’s
just leave it as it is.”
Jake was silent for a long time when he heard
my refusal, and finally held me in his arms, his
voice low and husky.
く
“Weddings have a lot of rules. You know that
the bride and groom can’t see each other the
day before the wedding, right?”
“So before the wedding, I’m going to stay in a
hotel for a while.”
He looked at me, as if waiting for me to give
in, waiting for me to beg him, hoping that I
would find a reason to keep him.
But I just replied indifferently, “Okay, go!”
The man behind me obviously stiffened, then
slowly retracted his arms, turned around in a
huff, and left me with only his back.
<
Countdown: two days.
When I woke up in the morning, Jake was
gone.
After I had processed all the items from our
love affair, I took a cab to the hospital and, as
he had wished, had the scar removed.
Lying on the operating table, I suddenly
hesitated and called Jake at the hotel.
“Jake, where are you?”
Jake hesitated for two seconds before
speaking, his voice clearly hoarse.
<
“Busy, what’s up? Missing me?”
I was just about to speak when Lily’s
coquettish voice came from the other end.
“Honey…”
The sound in the earpiece suddenly
disappeared. A few seconds later, I heard
Jake’s slightly nervous voice.
“Brittany, three o’clock this afternoon, I’ll be
waiting for you at the bridal shop.”
The phone hung up, I put away my phone, and
looked calmly at the doctor.
く
“Okay, let’s start.”
The surgery went well, and it was painful, but
not as painful as my heart.
During the two hours of my surgery, I
received another message from Lily.
“So what if tomorrow is your wedding day?
Do you believe that as long as I show up, he
won’t choose you?”
“If you’re smart, you should give up your seat
as Mrs. Jacob sooner rather than later.”
“He doesn’t even love you anymore. Why are
still holding on to your seat as Mrs.
you
く
Jacob? Is it interesting?”
Her tone was assertive, and she made no
secret of her ambition.
In the picture, Jake was wearing custom-
made clothes, his head lowered to look at Lily
with affection.
Lily was wearing the wedding dress I had
chosen, smiling and snuggling in Jake’s arms.
If you didn’t look closely, you would really
think it was 40–year–old Jake and 18–year-
old Brittany.
And their background was the Golden Gate
L
Bridge, where Jake and I fell in love.
How ironic.
Jake was not only deceiving his own eyes, but
also deceiving his own heart.
At three–thirty, I appeared at the bridal shop.
Jake was already waiting inside, his face free
of any impatience.
I looked at the hem of the wedding dress that
Lily had deliberately trampled on, and chose
another backless dress.
Jake’s eyes darkened, and he smiled and
reminded me.
く
“Didn’t you say that a wedding dress with a
train looks good?”
“That’s what 18–year–old Brittany liked, but
28–year–old Brittany likes backless dresses.”
When I came out of the fitting room, Jake’s
eyes flashed with amazement, but then a hint
of regret.
Until his eyes fell on my smooth back, he
could no longer laugh.
He looked at me in disbelief, and his fingers
trembled as he stroked my back.
“That scar… you got rid of it?”
<
I looked at myself in the mirror with
satisfaction, and my tone was indifferent.
“Didn’t you always want me
to get rid of it?”
As soon as the words fell, Jake’s eyes
instantly turned red.
He did care about this scar. Every time he
saw it, it was as if he was constantly
reminding him.
The eighteen–year–old Brittany had
completely died on the way to his rise.
Wedding countdown: one day.
<
- 4.
