Chapter 7

• Aurora’s Point of View
• The moment Kevin stepped into the elevator, I was already slipping out of my hospital gown.
• At the back door of the hospital, a long black stretch Lincoln was waiting quietly.
• The car door opened, and I bent down to get inside.
• My assistant handed me a tablet right away, speaking in a low voice, “Miss, here is the camera footage you asked for. That church belonged to our company, full coverage, no blind spots.”
• The screen came on.
• I saw Kevin and his group of hangers-on gathered there, smoking and chatting like they had no worries at all.
• “Kevin only really cared about Betty. That Aurora? She’s just a dead fish face. Betty is the one who gets him, who is sweet and careful.”
• “Yeah. Kevin is the romantic type. He’s doing everything he can to give Betty the dreamy wedding she wanted since she was a kid. Renting that church costs hundreds of thousands a day.”
• “Now that is real love. Aurora is just trash. Betty is the one Kevin truly loves.”
• I stared at the screen, my nails digging deep into the leather armrest.
• So all these years I spent trying? To them, I was not even worth laughing at.
• Half an hour later, the car stopped quietly at a hidden side entrance of the church.
• My assistant led me straight up to the VIP lounge on the second floor. There was a one-way glass wall that let us see the whole hall below, while no one down there had any idea we were watching.
• The church was set up like some kind of dream.
• Countless white roses brought in from who knew where lined the aisle all the way to the altar. Thousands of crystal lights hung down from the dome, their shine bright and blinding.
• This was the wedding I had dreamed about countless times.
• But when Kevin and I got married, he said the company had no money and insisted on keeping things simple. I believed him. To save costs, I even rented my own wedding dress.
• Now I understood, he wasn’t short on money. He just didn’t want to spend anything on me.
• I told my assistant to pull up the cameras from the backstage lounge, too.
• On the big screen, Betty was already dressed in a fancy mermaid-style wedding gown, fixing her makeup in front of the mirror. Kevin walked in wearing a clean white tuxedo, and the way he looked at her, so gentle, I had never seen him look at me like that.
• “Betty, you look amazing today.” Kevin stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
• “Even though we can’t get a marriage license, this is the real wedding for me. This is the dream I always wanted.”
• Right then, Kevin’s buddy Liam walked over and asked with a confused face, “If you cared about her so much, why didn’t you just be together back then? Why act out this whole sad love story now?”
• Betty put down her lipstick, and her eyes instantly filled with tears.
• “We were young and silly back then,” she said, her voice shaking. “I thought being bros would last forever. I didn’t want love to mess it up. It wasn’t until I saw Kevin marry someone else that I realized he meant something totally different to me.”
• She turned around and looked right at Kevin, her voice cracking.
• “Kevin, do you remember the day before your wedding? You asked me if I wanted to be your bride. I felt bad for Aurora, so I said no. Now, when I think back, I regret it so much… If I had been braver, maybe none of this would have happened.”
• Boom. My mind went blank.
• My mind was pulled back to the day before our wedding.
• That afternoon, Kevin took a call and rushed out, not coming home until late at night.
• He smelled like alcohol, sat on the couch without speaking, his eyes red and swollen.
• I thought he was stressed about the wedding or dealing with work trouble. Feeling bad for him, I held him all night, telling him that no matter what happened, I would always be by his side.
• Turns out, that night he had gone to ask Betty to marry him.
• Turns out, the reason he looked so empty wasn’t nerves, it was because the woman he cared about the most had just turned him down.
• I felt like a complete fool, holding onto a man who had just been rejected, thinking I was holding onto happiness.
• On the screen, Kevin gently wiped Betty’s tears.
• “You’re so silly. It’s not your fault. I just never gave you enough comfort.”
• He held Betty’s face and said each word slowly and clearly.
• “Now, I’m going to make your dream real. I’ll give you the biggest wedding ever. Betty, remember this: no matter if I marry someone else, the one I care about the most in this life will always be you.”
• Watching that, my stomach twisted like a mess, but I still let out a small laugh.
• How touching.
• If I weren’t the fool being played, I might have clapped for their so-called great love story.
• Downstairs, the ceremony started.
• The guests were all seated. Kevin gave a signal, and flower petals dropped from the ceiling like a show.
• With cheers from his buddies, he took Betty’s hand and walked toward the altar, step by step.
• The pastor opened the vow book and started to read.
• When it came to Betty, she couldn’t wait to answer, her voice sweet like honey.
• “I do!”
• The pastor smiled and nodded, then turned to Kevin.
• “Mr. Gonzalez, do you take Miss Betty to be your wife, to care for her, to stand by her, until death separates you?”
• Kevin took a deep breath, his face bright with pure happiness. He opened his mouth to answer.
• I fixed my clothes and gave a small nod to my assistant and the camera team waiting behind me.
• “Let’s go. It was our turn.”
• Just as Kevin barely got out the first half of the word “I…”
• BANG!
• The heavy church doors were pushed open with a loud crash.
• Every person in the hall turned toward the entrance.
• I walked in with dozens of photographers, all carrying long lenses and heavy cameras, like a crowd storming in.
• Flashes went off nonstop, lighting up the whole church like it was broad daylight.
• Kevin’s smile froze. Betty covered her mouth, her eyes wide in shock.
• I stood at the end of the red carpet, looking straight at Kevin’s stunned face, and slowly curled my mouth into a small smirk.
• My voice wasn’t loud, but it reached every corner of the church, clear as day.
• “I don’t.”