Chapter 3Wearing My Rival's Ring

It felt just like that now.

Except this time, I was certain I wouldn't be standing alone.

I took a deep breath, faced the cameras, and smiled. “Thank you all for coming to my wedding. My fiancé will be here shortly. Please be patient.”

My words were a stone tossed into a still pond, sending ripples of shock and mockery through the crowd.

“I’m dying! Is this woman for real? She’s completely delusional.”

“Who’s gonna marry you? Someone from the livestream? Alright boys, hit ‘1’ in the chat if you want to marry her.”

The chat feed flooded with a stream of ‘hell no’ and ‘run away.’

Blake crossed his arms, a smirk playing on his lips. “Ava, this act has gone on long enough. It’s going to be pretty embarrassing when no one shows up.”

“Why don’t you tell us who this fiancé of yours is?” he taunted. “Did you hire an actor? How much does he charge an hour that he thinks he can keep us all waiting?”

He was pretending to be annoyed at my non-existent fiancé, but his real target was me.

The group behind him howled with laughter.

I let my own smile widen. “Ethan Grant. Head of Grant Corporation.”

Blake’s expression flickered, then he threw his head back and laughed, louder than before. “How many drinks have you had today? Ava, even if I gift-wrapped you and handed you to him, he wouldn’t look twice. Not after everything between us.”

Chloe, ever the gentle mediator, wore a look of helpless concern. “Ava, please stop. Is it really that hard to just apologize to Blake? We were just running a test for my article. Now… now you’re just wasting everyone’s time.”

Her sentiment was echoed by the others.

“Yeah, is it so hard to admit that nobody wants you?”

“Just get on your knees and beg Blake to call it off. Either that or marry Gus. I think it’s a great match, he knows how to handle women…”

The men snickered, nudging each other.

I squeezed my fists, my nails digging into my palms. “I told you. My fiancé will be here.”

Blake waved a hand dismissively and had someone bring a chair for Chloe. “Alright then,” he said, settling in for the show. “Don’t blame me for what happens next.”

He lit a cigarette and blew a plume of smoke directly in my face. Chloe coughed delicately, and Blake immediately panicked, crushing the cigarette under his heel.

“Chloe, I’m so sorry, I forgot you hate the smell. I’ll quit, I swear. I’ll quit right now.” He frantically sent someone for wet wipes and breath spray, cleaning himself up as if he’d committed a cardinal sin.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

I’m allergic to cigarette smoke. A severe, throat-closing allergy. The kind that has landed me in the emergency room, coughing up blood. Blake knew this. He never cared. When I first asked him not to smoke around me, he had exploded.

“It’s my only vice, are you going to control that too? You think you’re my girlfriend or my warden?” he had snarled. “If you don’t like it, you can leave.”

After that, I never mentioned it again. He seemed to find my silent suffering amusing, often blowing smoke rings in my face on purpose. Once, he and his friends locked me in a room, sealed the windows, and chain-smoked around me, calling it a “Smoke-Tasting Party.” They made me rank the brands from best to worst. When I pointed out the one that made my lungs burn the most, he made everyone smoke that kind for the rest of the night. My eyes were red and swollen, and later that evening, my throat and tongue went numb from the allergic reaction. I ended up in the ER.

Twenty minutes had passed since my call with Ethan. He was always punctual, pathologically so. If he said he’d be there, he would. I wasn’t worried.

They, however, were convinced I was bluffing.

“She’s really committed to the bit, isn’t she? Does she actually think Ethan Grant is coming?”

“‘My fiancé,’” one of them mimicked in a high-pitched voice. “God, how embarrassing.”

“Hey Ava, there’s a 50-year-old bachelor back in my hometown who needs a wife. You should marry him. You’re not picky, right? As long as it’s a man.”

“Oh, she’s picky!” another chimed in. “She brought the dress and the ring for Blake, didn’t she?”