Duet at My Wedding
I thought she was emotional about me leaving, so I rushed to hug and comfort her.
But then, text floated into my vision, like comments on a livestream.
[Can the side character get out of the way? She’s blocking the view of our girl and the male lead singing their duet.]
[LMAO, the side character actually thinks Ava’s crying because she’ll miss her. She has no idea Ava’s heartbroken she didn’t end up with Liam.]
[It’s okay, girl! Just 10 more episodes! Once Liam finds out Ava broke up with him back then because she had no choice, he’ll ditch the side character in a heartbeat and start the grovel-fest to win her back!]
[NGL, does the side character really not know about Liam and Ava’s history? She’s such a master manipulator. Later, to stop the divorce, she nearly gets Ava killed. Thank god Liam cares about Ava so much he bankrupts her family. She ends up taking a swan dive off a building. So satisfying!]
A chill shot through me. I refused to believe what I was seeing.
But when I turned my head, I saw Liam, my groom, silently singing along, his face also streaked with tears.
1
It took every ounce of my strength to make it through the rest of the ceremony.
By the end, Ava was a complete mess, utterly wasted. Her heels were long gone, and she was stumbling barefoot on the gravel path, the sharp little stones turning the tender soles of her feet bright red.
She clung to Liam like he was a tree, laughing and crying all at once.
“Hey, why isn’t this tree… prickly at all?”
“You finally found your happiness.”
“I’m so happy today.”
“I’m really, truly so happy for you!”
For a fleeting moment, I almost believed her. I almost believed Ava was genuinely happy for me.
But the floating text that reappeared shattered my last shred of hope.
[OMG, my heart breaks for Ava. She’s dying inside but still has to put on a brave face and wish him well.]
[Here it comes, here it comes! The key plot point is about to drop! Liam is going to offer to take Ava home, and this is when the side character will finally realize something’s off between them. Then she’ll throw a massive fit and just annoy the hell out of him!]
[What is Liam waiting for?! Can’t he see Ava’s feet are bleeding? Pick her up, you idiot!]
The next second, as if on cue, Liam swept Ava into his arms and started walking toward me.
His usually cool, detached eyes were now swirling with an emotion I’d never seen before—something that looked dangerously like heartache.
He angled his body slightly toward me. “It’s late,” he said, the words slipping out. “It’s not safe for a girl to go home alone. I’m going to take your best friend back, okay?”
He asked for my opinion, his tone even and polite.
The perfect gentleman, always respecting my feelings. It was one of the things I loved about him.
My hands clenched into fists, nails digging deep into my palms.
“Are you sure?” My voice was unnervingly calm. “Liam, this is our wedding night.”
“I can ask one of the other guys to take Ava home.”
A frown creased Liam’s brow.
The text in front of my eyes flew by in a blur.
[LMAO, does she really think saying that will make him stay? Dream on.]
[Her wedding night? Who cares? Ava’s a drunken mess. Letting another guy take her home would be like twisting a knife in Liam’s heart. He’d never let anyone else see her this adorable and vulnerable.]
[Get ready for the epic rejection! The side character is gonna lose it, and her meltdown will only make our Ava look more precious and innocent!]
A flicker of conflict crossed Liam’s face.
After a short, tense silence, he made his choice.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised.
He turned to leave, but I let out a sharp, mocking laugh.
“Wait.”
Liam turned back, his patience clearly wearing thin. “I already said, I’ll be back soon.”
I swallowed the suffocating pain in my chest and threw him my car keys. “Take my car.”
He frowned, about to refuse.
“She doesn’t get carsick in mine,” I added, my voice flat.
He hesitated for a second, then snatched the keys from the air.
Before driving off, he rolled down the window. “Wait for me.”
I watched the car disappear down the road, then calmly pulled out my phone and called a moving service.
I had them clear out every single one of my belongings that I had just moved in yesterday.
Then I walked away from the home Liam and I had bought together, paid for in full.
2
I didn’t meet Liam through Ava.
So, all this time, I never knew they even knew each other, let alone that they had a history.
When I was set up on a blind date with Liam, I’d been single for the better part of a decade. I’d given up on finding a soulmate.
I went to the meeting with zero expectations, only to be met with a man who was, in every way, my perfect type.
He came from a good family, was devastatingly handsome, and had the kind of gentlemanly demeanor that showed a deep respect for women.
His only flaw was that he was almost too rational, to the point of appearing cold.
But he was like that with everyone.
Even himself.
A month after we met, he was driving me home from a date when we were mugged.
The robber held a knife to Liam’s throat, but even then, he was able to negotiate with a chilling calmness.
“Let go now, and I won’t call the cops,” he said, his voice steady.
“But there’s only one of you. I can fight back, pin you down, and give her enough time to get help.”
“There’s a police station less than two hundred yards from here.”
The mugger, panicked and furious, didn't play by the rules.
He lunged, aiming the knife straight for Liam.
In that split second, I didn’t think.
All I knew was that I couldn’t let Liam get hurt.
I threw myself forward, wrapping my arms around the attacker. The blade sank deep into my back, and a searing pain ripped through me, stealing my breath.
Liam immediately pulled me into his arms.
He calmly called 911, then pressed his jacket against the bleeding wound. He asked me only one question. “Why didn’t you run?”
“Liam,” I gasped, “I want to be your girlfriend.”
For the first time, I saw him falter.
Then, he frowned slightly. “But I don’t know how to love someone.”
“That’s okay,” I whispered. “I know how to love you.”
And just like that, I dove headfirst and recklessly into his world.
We started dating.
And he was right; he didn't know how to love someone.
But he tried to learn. For me.
He learned to bring me roses on our anniversaries, to pick me up from work on time, to cook for me.
I thought that if he was willing to learn, it meant he loved me.
I never imagined that his attempts to love me were just an imitation, a performance he’d seen somewhere else.
It didn’t mean he was actually in love with me.
3
From the floating comments, I learned that Liam and Ava were high school sweethearts.
They’d been together for three years.
After graduation, Ava’s mother was suddenly diagnosed with cancer, forcing her to drop out of college and return home.
But her deadbeat brother forced her to marry a sixty-year-old widower.
She wanted to run, but she couldn’t bear to leave her sick mother behind.
So, with a heavy heart, she broke up with Liam.
She told him she didn’t want to wait for him to grow up.
She said she’d found someone rich and suitable and had decided to get married right away.
From that day on, Liam changed. He became quiet, reserved, and unnaturally calm.
He got into an Ivy League school, graduated, and co-founded a successful startup. His life was a straight line to the top.
[If it wasn’t for that bitchy side character, Liam and Ava would’ve gotten back together when they reconnected last year!]
[Back then, the side character even pretended to be generous, telling them to catch up and have a good time. Little did she know, they knew every mole on each other’s bodies.]
[My heart aches for Ava. Her life has been so tragic, but she fought her way out. She outlived the old widower, took all his money, and used it to get herself through college. A total girlboss heroine!]
[To be fair, what does the side character even have? A little old money? An Ivy League degree? She’s still just a stepping stone for our girl Ava.]
[Wait, why didn’t the side character follow the script? Wasn’t she supposed to have a massive fight with Liam, making him realize how gentle and kind Ava is in comparison?]
[You don’t get it. The psycho bitch is trying to make a point by running away from home! But it’s useless. Ava is so sick from the alcohol, Liam is going to be taking care of her all night. He’s not going home, so he won’t even know she’s gone. What a waste of effort!]
They were right. Liam wasn’t coming back.
His text message confirmed it: [An urgent meeting came up at the office. I’ll meet you at the courthouse tomorrow morning at eight sharp to sign the papers.]
I just closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat.
In that moment, I was profoundly grateful that we’d had the wedding party before making it legal.
There was still time to undo it all.
4
I got home at three in the morning. My mom didn’t ask what happened.
She just changed my bedsheets to a freshly laundered set, poured me a glass of warm milk, and gently patted my shoulder. “Get some sleep, sweetie.”
And I did. I slept like a rock. When I finally opened my eyes, it was already one in the afternoon.
My phone showed two missed calls and two unread texts from Liam.
Two meant he was getting impatient.
But last night, for Ava, he had promised three times, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I gave a cold laugh and opened his messages.
The first: [It’s 8:15. You’re late.]
The second came five minutes later: [I only offered to take Ava home because I was afraid you’d be worried about her. If you’re angry about that, I really don’t understand why.]
I deleted his entire chat history without replying.
Then I opened Instagram. Ava had just posted a new story.
[Woke up at eleven to a perfect latte waiting for me. How did I get so lucky?]
My grip on my phone tightened, my knuckles turning white.
The photo was artfully vague, showing nothing incriminating.
But I knew. I knew Liam had made that latte.
Because I love lattes, and one year, my birthday wish was to wake up every morning to a latte with foam art.
So Liam learned how to do it.
But he could only ever make one design: a heart.
And the tip of the heart always had a long, trailing line, just like the one in Ava’s picture.
Liam had liked the post.
The comments in my vision exploded.
[Poor Ava, she’s been living alone for so many years. She finally has Liam with her.]
[LMAO, the side character is probably still waiting for Liam to come crawling back, begging for forgiveness. She has no idea she just missed her last chance. In the original script, she at least got to be his ex-wife. Now, she’s just an ex-girlfriend.]
I ignored the floating text.
Instead, I went directly to Ava’s post and left a comment:
[Too bad that’s the only design he knows how to make.]
5
Because of that comment, Liam called me almost immediately.
His voice, usually so calm, was laced with an accusatory edge.
“Chloe, are you serious?”
“You were the one who told me Ava has stomach problems. She was wasted last night and hadn't eaten a thing. I just made her a coffee to help settle her stomach.”
“First you stand me up, then you post something like that on Ava’s picture. When did you become so unreasonable?”
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to quell the rage flaring in my chest.
But before I could speak, I heard a rustle, and Ava’s voice came on the line. She’d clearly snatched the phone from him.
“Liam, don’t talk to Chloe like that,” she said, her tone chiding.
“It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have drunk so much last night. I ruined your wedding night.”
Her voice grew closer to the receiver, full of concern.
“Chloe, don’t be mad. And please… don’t blame Liam.”
She let out a shaky breath, her voice dropping to a near whisper.
“Don’t get the wrong idea about us. I swear to you, nothing happened between us.”
“Liam really, really loves you.”
She said it with such intimate familiarity. “He wouldn’t have been with you for so long, he wouldn't be marrying you if he didn't truly love—”
Ava’s voice cut off abruptly.
There was a fumbling sound, as if Liam had grabbed the phone back.
But just before he hung up, I heard his voice, tight with pain and disbelief, ask one last question.
“Ava, is that what you really think?”
The line went dead, leaving only the dull dial tone.
A heavy, suffocating feeling pressed down on my chest. I stared blankly at the dark screen of my phone.
[OMG I’M SCREAMING. The repressed, simmering love in his voice! I can’t!]
[Imagine the woman you love thinking you’re in love with someone else. The pain! Liam, stop holding back! Just tell her the truth already!]
[The side character is going to be so lost. She threw her little tantrum, ran away from home, and even went to Ava’s post to act crazy, all to get Liam’s attention. She has no idea his mind is completely full of Ava right now. He’s not thinking about her at all.]
[Dying laughing. The side character really thinks she’s so important to him. He probably hasn't even realized she’s not at home!]
My lips twisted into a humorless smile.
So this was what Liam looked like when he was truly in love.
It wasn't that he didn't know how to love someone.
He just didn't know how to love me.
I stopped reading the comments and instead called a real estate agent. I listed the house Liam and I had just bought on the market.
It was a brand-new renovation, and I priced it to sell. It found a buyer almost immediately.
As per the buyer’s request, I had all the furniture removed.
Watching the “nest” that Liam and I had spent six months building piece by piece become an empty, hollow shell…
I thought I would be sad.
But instead, I felt a lightness I hadn’t felt in years.
It was as if a heavy chain had finally been unshackled from my soul.
The man who was only learning to love me…
I could finally let him go.
First, search for and download the MotoNovel app from Google. Then, open the app and use the code "263536" to read the entire book.
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