A Wedding Invite from My Dead Ex

My boyfriend, who died three years ago, sent me a wedding invitation.

He'd even changed his Ins profile picture to a couple's photo and made a post.

In the picture, he was holding Ina's hand and kissing her forehead.

For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating.

I organized his funeral. I signed his autopsy report when he died.

Because he died in a car accident on a trip with me, his parents even beat me up.

How the hell did he become my brother-in-law?

Soon, Ina called me.

"Betty, remember to come to my wedding this weekend! My fianc will pick you up."

"Your fianc's name is Leo?" I asked.

"Yes! Do you know each other?"

Know each other? More than thatI organized his funeral.

His parents have received countless transfers from me over the years.

I let out a cold laugh. "No, I don't. Just thought the name sounded familiar."

Ina innocently told me all about her boyfriend, then said, "I've been wanting to introduce you two, but Mom and Dad said you were too busy and told me not to bother you."

I was indeed busy. Busy paying Leo's mortgagethe Leo who'd been dead for three years.

I wished I could split myself into eight people to make enough money.

I hadn't gone home for three straight years for the holidays. No wonder I didn't know Ina was dating someone.

Usually, I'd end all phone conversations with my parents within a minute.

They were the understanding type of parents anyway, rarely bothering me.

So they never told me Ina was seeing someone.

With this in mind, I exchanged a few pleasantries with Ina.

The moment I hung up, I canceled the card I'd been using to send Leo's parents their living expenses.

For three years, his parents asked me to buy them toilet paper whenever they ran out.

They took overseas trips once a year, easily spending over a hundred thousand each time.

I scrimped and saved to support them, buying them only the finest things.

Thinking about this, I couldn't help but open their chat interface.

Turned out they came knocking first.

"A relative is getting married and we urgently need money. Send us a hundred thousand!"

A hundred thousand? They really did think I was an ATM.

I called them immediately.

"Tell me the truthis Leo dead or not?"

When they heard my question, their tone instantly shot up.

They were furious.

Especially Leo's mother.

Perhaps she'd been well-nourished by bird's nest soup all these years.

The woman who used to speak in a weak, trembling voice like a baby chick was now roaring at me ferociously.

"Wasn't Leo killed by you back then?"

"You insisted on going to that place for vacation, which got Leo killed, leaving us two lonely old people behind."

"So what if we spent some of your money? If it could bring Leo's life back, who would care about your money!"

She started wailing hysterically on the phone.

First saying I'd killed Leo, forcing them to have no support in their old age.

Then saying if Leo were still alive, their life would definitely be much better than now.

After saying all this, she shouted into the phone, "Leo was about to be promoted to director when he diedthat's an annual salary!"

"That's way more than what you've been giving us."

As she said this, she even disdained the money I'd been giving them.

I smiled and hung up without another word.

Getting the truth from them was impossible.

I'd have to see for myself.

After thinking it over, I called my parents first.

I'd been out of touch with them too much these past years.

I learned about family news very slowly.

I only found out about Ina's wedding right before the ceremony.

With this thought, I dialed my parents' number.

They answered instantly. It was very noisy on their end.

I could only hear my mom repeatedly saying "hello" and "hello."

Seemed like she couldn't hear me clearly.

Finally finding a quiet place, her first words were, "You need to come early for Ina's weddingthey want you to be the witness!"

Witness?

Hearing those words and thinking of that family's disgusting behavior made my scalp crawl.

I briefly asked how Leo and Ina got together.

"They've been together for a while now. Started dating three years ago around Christmas. Leo's pretty good."

"He's bought us quite a few things over the years, and he's taken good care of Ina too."

"She's pregnant now... We figured they should really get married, so we discussed having them do it first."

Pregnant?

The words "Leo is my ex-boyfriend who died before I could bring him home" got stuck in my throat.

Both my mom and I fell silent for a moment.

My mom probably didn't know what to say to me.

But she didn't want to hang up either, since I so rarely called.

At this moment, my mom asked, "You can't come back again?"

I laughed awkwardly. "I'll come back. I definitely will."

After hanging up, my heart felt heavy.

But I still packed my things, planning to go back for the weekend.

For the sake of that child, I'd hold off on digging up Leo's grave.

With this thought, I systematically canceled all the membership cards, fixed deposits, and personal pension plans I'd set up for Leo's parents.

As the money returned to my account bit by bit, I realized how much I'd spent over these three years.

Just as I submitted the last refund request, Leo's parents finally couldn't take it anymore.

They called one after another.

I didn't answer any of them, and finally just blocked them.

I also stopped paying the mortgage. From today on, Leo's family wouldn't get another cent from me.

After finishing everything, I collapsed into bed.

It was the middle of the night when sudden knocking at my door woke me. I checked the video doorbell.

It was Leo's parents, so furious their eyebrows practically flew off their faces.

I ignored them. They knocked louder and louder, attracting the property management's attention.

Eventually they were forcibly escorted away by security.

The next morning, I woke up and checked my phone to find several missed calls from my parents.

I quickly called them back.

On the other end, my parents were crying. "We agreed to give the gift money before the wedding, but Leo's parents are saying they want to cancel the wedding because they don't have money."

"Ina's already showing, and it's too late for an abortion."

"We can't reach Leo either. Ina's so upset she's been hospitalized."

My parents cried even harder as they spoke. I immediately stopped them.

"Wait. There's definitely more to this. You'd better tell me everything honestly."

Only then did my parents reluctantly tell me the truth.

"When Ina first started dating Leo, your dad and I didn't approve. Then Leo tricked Ina into going to another city with him. We just found out yesterday that Ina had already given birth to one child there. Now this pregnancy has some issues with the prenatal checkup, and Leo's family is saying they don't have money, won't hold the wedding, won't get the marriage license!"

What!

"Stay home and wait!"

As soon as I said that, my parents mumbled acknowledgment and hung up.

I immediately requested time off, grabbed my luggage, and drove home.

Suddenly I remembered somethingthe hundred thousand Leo's parents mentioned for a relative's wedding.

I quickly asked my mom how much Leo's side was contributing to the banquet.

My mom said a hundred thousand. I suddenly laughed.

So even Leo's wedding money was supposed to come from me.

And he'd tricked Ina into having one child with another on the way.

Absolute scum.

By the time I reached the hospital, it was noon. My parents had come with homemade food.

I rounded a corner and just stared at them with wide eyes.

"Betty!" My mom rushed over and hugged me.

My mom had always been passive when I was little. If my dad wasn't home, I had to manage the whole household.

Now my dad was also looking down, knowing he'd spoiled Ina when she was young.

That's why she thought everyone in the world was good, and ended up being scammed so badly.

My dad couldn't say a word now, just looked at me and muttered quietly.

"Betty, Ina was deceived too. Don't scold her when you go in."

I snorted coldly.

They'd said the same thing since childhoodcan't criticize mistakes, can't say anything, raising her like a little princess.

Every time Ina acted cute, both of them would cave.

I sighed helplessly. "You didn't raise me this way when I was young."

When I was young, my dad's stick never stopped appearing on my body.

Later, he compensated Ina with all the affection he owed me.

Instead, it made me feel he favored her. We grew apart and now we're the most familiar strangers.

They didn't dare say anything else.

When I pushed open the hospital room door, I saw Ina lying in bed crying alone.

I basically raised Ina. When we were young and our parents worked, I was the one watching her.

Seeing her cry like this now made my heart ache too.

I walked over and looked at her belly. "Get an abortion!"

"This is my child. An abortion... wouldn't that be bad?"

"I said get an abortion, so get an abortion. You already had one child, and he still won't marry you. Now he's disappeared. Do you really think he loves you?"

Ina lowered her head without speaking.

After nearly several minutes of silence, she finally said something.

"But I wronged him."

I turned to look at her. "How did you wrong him! Tell me!"

Ina choked out, "I killed his ex-girlfriend!"

The moment those words came out, my head started throbbing violently.

Ex-girlfriend? Killed his ex-girlfriend?

Then what was Ia ghost?

Leo's family had scammed our entire family. What a disaster.

Just as I was about to speak, Ina grabbed my hand, as if mustering great courage.

"I hit and killed his ex-girlfriend with my car. I should have gone to jail, but he let me go!"

"He loved his ex-girlfriend so much. They were about to get engaged, and she was pregnant with his child. Don't you think I'm evil? So I..."

Every word she spoke made my head hurt more, but Ina thought I was agreeing with her.

Crying, she hugged me.

"So I had no choice. I couldn't go to jail!"

I grabbed her chin and made her look at me.

Ina started rummaging through her bag for something.

Before I could ask, she pulled out a photo.

The face was blurred, but I could still tellthis was me!

But Ina cried and said, "I even ruined the only photo of his ex-girlfriend. I'm just..."

"I'm his ex-girlfriend!"

The moment I said those words.

The three people sitting across from me froze, as if they didn't understand what I'd said.

Just as I was about to repeat myself, they all simultaneously let out a shocked "What!"

I pulled up the original photo from my phone.

This was a photo of Leo and me together, and it wasn't the only one.

I'd bought a printer to play around with back then and printed just this one. Yet Leo managed to use it for his act.

I stared at Ina. "So where's your other child?"

"Being raised by his parents. They said I couldn't take care of it properly."

"You're really his ex-girlfriend?"

I nodded and showed her all the evidence from when Leo and I were together.

Photo after photo, plus Leo's contact information, all laid out in front of Ina.

Only then did Ina truly understand that I was the ex-girlfriend Leo had claimed died long ago.

I also told my family about how Leo faked his death to scam me.

In that instant, my usually timid parents went crazy.

"I'm going to take a knife and chop up their whole family right now!"

I stopped my dad.

"Don't go. You and Mom together aren't even half Leo's dad's size. No point throwing eggs at a rock."

My parents, called back by me, just kept crying in anger. Ina kept crying too.

She touched her belly, looking like she didn't know what to do.

I looked at her. "You can't keep this child. Schedule the surgery now."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

After learning the truth, she didn't argue with me and obediently underwent the surgery under my supervision.

While she rested in the hospital room, I called my parents out.

"Call Leo's parents and tell them we'll pay for the banquet. They just need to attend, no gift money required."

"Why?"

My mom said excitedly. I glanced at her, and she nodded.

"Got it. I'll call now."

Hearing they wouldn't have to spend a penny, Leo's parents agreed immediately without even considering it.

"They just didn't want to pay. Ina's really pitiful, getting scammed by people like that."

My parents said this as I opened my phone to look at Leo's account with its couple profile picture.

Obviously, after so much time, he'd forgotten who I was and hadn't blocked me.

He'd even posted tomorrow's wedding invitation on Twitter.

At that moment, my parents suddenly seemed to realize something.

They quietly approached me.

Softly they said, "Ina just had surgery. She can't go to the wedding!"

"I didn't say she should go."

"Then who will?"

"Me."