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He Made Her His Bride to Punish Me for Jealousy
Novelix
Completed
Every time I get jealous, my best friend earns another day with my fiancé. They call it teaching me trust. She gets our anniversary, his company during my mother’s surgery, and finally, my place at the altar. He slides my ring onto her finger and tells me tomorrow is my turn. Instead, I leave with my mother and send both families proof of their cruel game. Now he’s begging for another wedding. But the records reveal something worse: her bridal debut was planned a month before she supposedly earned it.
Chapters (3)
第1章
Every time I get jealous, my best friend gets a day with my fiancé.
He and the two guys I grew up with call it teaching me to trust him.
Tonight, Sophie picks up Ryan's glass and drinks from it.
Her own is full.
I reach across the table and pick up the glass.
"That's Ryan's."
Luke blows his whistle before I can set it down.
People at the next table turn.
Adam pulls a little notebook from his jacket. "Possessive behavior. One pass."
He tears a card from the back and slides it toward Sophie. Luke presses his stamp into the red ink pad and stamps the card. He carries both everywhere now.
APPROVED.
Sophie presses her lips together, trying not to smile.
"Guys. Maybe we shouldn't."
Ryan puts an arm along the back of her chair.
"She needs to learn."
I'm sitting across from him.
There's an empty chair beside me.
Sophie turns the card over. "Can I use this tomorrow?"
"What do you want?" Ryan asks.
"The whole day. You pick me up, we get brunch, maybe drive somewhere."
"And the front seat," Luke adds.
Sophie laughs. "Obviously."
They high-five across the table.
Ryan joins in.
I put his glass down.
A year ago, the passes were handwritten on cocktail napkins.
Now they have expiration dates.
Sophie has used them to take his birthday, our anniversary dinner, and two weekends I planned.
Once, she used one on the day my mother had surgery.
I called Ryan from the hospital parking garage.
"Please. I know you said you'd take her to the movie, but I don't want to do this alone."
Before he could answer, I heard pages turning.
Adam was with him.
"Full-day pass," he said. "It's on the calendar."
Then Sophie, softer.
"I can give it up. Really."
"No," Ryan said. "If we make exceptions every time Claire gets upset, what's the point?"
He told me to call when my mother was out.
I sat outside the operating room until the surgeon came to find me.
By then, all four of them had posted pictures from the premiere.
Tonight, the notebook is on the table again.
We're supposed to be picking a wedding date.
Or confirming one.
It has become difficult to tell the difference.
Adam empties the remaining passes beside the breadbasket.
Luke counts them.
"Huh. These take us right through the wedding."
Ryan glances at the cards, then at me.
"We can move it one more day."
"The invitations have gone out."
"So we send an update."
"We've already sent an update."
He reaches across the table and squeezes my cheek.
"Come on. You've made so much progress."
Sophie looks down at the cards.
"I don't have to use them all."
"Of course you do," Luke says. "You earned them."
Ryan keeps looking at me.
"Get through the rest without a scene, and we're done. You'll have me all to yourself."
I look at his hand.
At the man who has postponed our wedding eight times and still expects me to be grateful that he plans to marry me eventually.
Then I slide my engagement ring off.
I drop it into the little wooden box Sophie uses to keep her passes.
The sound is small.
Everyone hears it.
"You don't have to keep redeeming them," I tell her. "You can have him."
For a moment, nobody moves.
Then Luke laughs.
Adam reaches for his notebook.
"Leaving in a huff. That's another—"
"Don't."
My voice is quiet enough that he stops.
I open our group chat and leave it.
Luke's phone lights up.
"Oh, come on."
An invitation appears on my screen.
I decline it.
Sophie takes the ring out of the box.
"Claire, I never wanted to take him from you."
I stand.
Ryan's hand closes around my wrist.
"Sit down."
I look at his fingers until he lets go.
"We're talking about our wedding," he says.
"No. You're talking about how long I have to wait for you to stop dating my friend."
His jaw tightens.
"That is not what this is."
"What was it when my mother was in surgery?"
He leans back.
"She's fine."
Adam nods. "And that was an important test. If it only works when nothing matters, you haven't really learned anything."
Luke reaches for his drink.
"You can't expect a free pass every time life gets hard."
Sophie holds my ring between two fingers.
"I said I'd cancel that day."
The date was written on her card.
I remember seeing it in her photo.
She knew.
They all knew.
I pick up my bag.
Ryan doesn't follow me.
Outside, my phone buzzes before I reach the corner.
Come home when you're done.
Then:
Don't throw away our wedding over a game.
I go to the hospital instead.
Mom is awake when I step into her room.
"Did you eat?"
"Yes."
She looks at me for a moment.
Then she moves her hand across the blanket, making room for mine.
I sit beside her.
She doesn't ask where Ryan is.
That makes it worse.
Around eleven, my phone lights up with a message from our wedding planner.
Hi, Claire. Before I revise the vendor schedule again, can you confirm the new date?
I step into the hallway and call her.
"Ryan said you'd agreed," Melissa tells me.
"I didn't."
There's a pause.
"Okay. I'll hold off."
"Has he been making other changes?"
Another pause.
"I thought you were getting the updates from Sophie."
"What updates?"
"She's been coming to the appointments with him."
I stare through the glass at my mother sleeping.
"Since when?"
"About a month."
Melissa sounds uncomfortable now.
"Ryan said wedding planning was getting overwhelming for you. He asked me to coordinate with her."
I open the planning portal.
My name is still there.
So is Ryan's.
Under Primary Contact, there's a third name.
Sophie Reed.
第2章
Ryan texts at eight the next morning.
Still picking you up at eleven.
My mother is being discharged.
I type back:
I'll arrange a ride.
His reply comes immediately.
Stop being difficult. I said I'd be there.
At ten forty-five, Mom is dressed, her medication is packed, and a volunteer has brought a wheelchair.
At eleven fifteen, Ryan texts again.
Change of plans. Sophie's using her pass today. Taking her to my parents'.
I call him.
He answers on the third ring.
"Can you ask them to bring the car around?" Sophie says in the background.
"The family lunch?" I ask.
"Yes."
"The lunch to discuss our wedding?"
"Claire."
"You told me you were coming."
"I can send a car."
"My mother is sitting in a wheelchair waiting for you."
"And a driver can bring the car to the entrance. What difference does it make?"
I look at Mom.
She's pretending not to listen.
"None," I say.
Ryan exhales, relieved.
"Good. Thank you."
I hang up before he can tell me I'm improving.
Mom and I take a cab.
By the time I get her settled, Ryan's mother has posted a picture in the wedding group chat.
Sophie is sitting beside him.
She's wearing the pearl bracelet his mother showed me last Christmas.
The one she said she would give me when I joined the family.
An aunt comments beneath the picture.
Is this our bride?
Ryan doesn't answer.
Ten minutes later, someone asks where I am.
Claire's with her mom, he writes. Sophie's filling in.
My phone buzzes with a private message.
Sophie has sent a close-up of the bracelet.
Your future mother-in-law insisted. Just for today!
I reply:
Give it back to her when you're done.
A minute later, Luke texts me.
She spends her afternoon being nice to your in-laws and that's all you've got?
Then Adam:
You weren't there. Somebody had to make an effort.
I put the phone facedown.
Mom is trying to open a bottle of water with one hand.
I open it for her.
"Go eat something," she says.
"I will."
"You've been saying that since yesterday."
I make us toast.
While it browns, I check the wedding portal again.
The menu has changed.
The song I picked for the processional is gone.
My mother's seat has been moved from the family table to a table near the back.
I call Melissa.
"Why was my mother moved?"
"Ryan approved a revised seating chart."
"Who revised it?"
She doesn't answer quickly enough.
I close my eyes.
"Please send me every change made since Sophie was added."
"Of course."
"And an itemized statement. Everything I've paid, everything still refundable, and everything you haven't charged yet."
"Claire, is the wedding going ahead?"
"I'm not going ahead with it."
Melissa is quiet.
Then her voice changes.
"All right. Let's work out what you need."
I ask her to remove my card from future payments and send me the terms for withdrawing from the remaining arrangements.
She explains that some deposits are already committed. Ryan can keep the venue reservation if he takes responsibility for the balance.
"Send that to both of us," I say.
Ryan calls less than an hour later.
"Why is Melissa asking me for a credit card?"
"Because I removed mine."
"You can't just stop paying."
"I can."
"This is our wedding."
"Then why is Sophie choosing the music?"
"She's helping."
"And moving my mother?"
"Your mother doesn't like being in the middle of things."
"My mother likes sitting beside me."
He goes silent.
Then he says, "Do you hear yourself? You're turning a seating chart into another fight about Sophie."
I lean against Mom's kitchen counter.
"When does she stop filling in for me?"
"When you stop treating everything like a competition."
I end the call.
That evening, I email the manager who offered me a position in Portland six months ago.
I turned it down because I was getting married.
I ask whether there are still any openings.
Then I call the rehabilitation clinic Mom's surgeon recommended near her sister's old neighborhood.
For the first time in months, I spend an evening making plans that don't depend on Ryan.
At nine, Melissa forwards his response.
Keep everything. I'll cover the balance. Claire and I will sort this out.
Below it is a new photograph Sophie has posted.
Her fingers are laced through Ryan's.
The bracelet hangs against his wrist.
Borrowing him for one more day.
Underneath, Ryan has commented about the bracelet.
Keep it on. No point taking it off and putting it back on.
I look at the photo once.
Then I save it with the others.
第3章
Adam sends the spreadsheet because he thinks it will prove I'm overreacting.
I ask for a record of every pass.
Want to check our math?
"All of it," I tell him. "Dates. Reasons. Who approved what."
A file arrives a few minutes later.
See? We've been consistent.
There are four tabs.
Issued.
Redeemed.
Upcoming.
Prompts.
I open the last one.
Dinner: S uses R's glass. Watch whether C intervenes.
Weekend trip: front passenger seat. Don't offer to switch.
Anniversary: R leaves phone unanswered until C calls twice.
Matching profile pictures: Luke to select.
Each line has a result.
Each result has a number beside it.
One pass.
Two passes.
A full weekend.
I scroll until I find the hospital date.
High-stakes test. No exceptions. She needs to accept not coming first.
Ryan's initials are in the approval column.
I read the sentence again.
Then I call Adam.
"You planned it."
"What?"
"The glass. The trip. My anniversary."
"We had to give you opportunities to practice."
"My mother's surgery?"
He sighs.
"Claire, we've been through this."
I look at the time.
All four of them are at Ryan's apartment. Sophie posted a picture of the takeout ten minutes ago.
I go there.
Luke opens the door with a carton in his hand.
"Hey. Finally."
Sophie is curled up on the couch, wearing my slippers.
Ryan gets up from the couch.
"Are you ready to talk?"
I hold up my phone.
"Did you approve this?"
His eyes move across the screen.
Then he looks toward Adam.
Adam shrugs.
"She asked for the records."
"I'm asking you," I tell Ryan.
"Yes."
The word lands without hesitation.
"You knew I'd be alone at the hospital."
"I knew you'd be upset."
"You knew I was scared."
"And I knew your mother was with a surgical team. There was nothing I could do there."
"You could have sat beside me."
Sophie sets down her food.
"I offered to give the pass back."
"You knew the date when you used it."
She looks at Ryan.
He steps closer to her.
"Don't put this all on Sophie. I made the decision."
"I know."
Something in my voice makes him stop.
Luke places his carton on the coffee table.
"Nobody wanted anything bad to happen to your mom."
"But you were willing to use it."
Adam rubs the back of his neck.
"It was a test, Claire."
"Of what?"
No one answers.
"How much I'd let you do before I left?"
Ryan gives a short, disbelieving laugh.
"You're not leaving over this."
I look around the apartment.
At the photographs I arranged on the shelves.
The blanket Mom knitted for us.
The couch where Sophie sits with her feet tucked into my slippers.
"I came for my things."
Ryan's smile disappears.
"Don't start."
I take two bags from the hall closet.
He follows me into the bedroom.
"You're seriously doing this?"
I fold my clothes.
"We have one pass left."
I keep folding.
"One day. You've waited this long, and now you're going to blow everything up?"
I put my passport in my bag.
Ryan watches me zip it.
Then he reaches into his pocket.
My engagement ring rests in his palm.
A few weeks ago, he had it for three days because he said the setting needed checking.
"I'll put this back on you when it's over."
I pick up the bags.
He doesn't move out of the doorway.
"What if I'm done now?" I ask.
He stares at me.
Then his face softens into the expression he uses when he thinks I'm being unreasonable but adorable.
"You've loved me since we were nineteen."
I wait.
"You're not going anywhere."
Eventually, he steps aside.
Luke offers to carry a bag.
I tell him no.
That night, the Portland manager calls.
There's an opening on her team.
The salary is slightly better. I can start in three weeks.
"Is that enough time?" she asks.
"Yes."
Mom is sitting beside me when I book our flights.
The evening of the wedding.
"Are you sure?" she asks.
"About leaving him?"
"About waiting until then."
I show her the appointment confirmation from her doctor. One last follow-up before we travel.
"We'll go after this."
She nods.
I send Melissa written confirmation that I will not participate as the bride. I ask her to have my garment bag and personal items ready for collection that afternoon.
She calls to make sure I mean it.
I do.
Then I draft a message for both families.
I keep it short.
I attach the records.
Before I can finish, Sophie sends me a screenshot.
She has written in their four-person chat:
For my last pass, can I be the bride for a day?
Luke replies with a string of laughing faces.
Adam writes:
Full experience. Walk down the aisle, vows, rings, cake, pictures.
Sophie answers:
Too much? We don't have to.
Ryan's reply is directly underneath.
Sure. It's the last one.
Another message arrives from Sophie.
You don't mind, right? Tomorrow he's all yours.
I save that too.