Marcus picked up a glass of punch.

We leaned quietly against the wall beside the stage, side by side. After a moment, he suddenly asked, “You still haven’t told me why you were at the city hall that day.”

I wasn’t great with alcohol. I could feel warmth slowly creeping up my face.

I narrowed my eyes and thought for a moment before replying, “It was just a coincidence, I guess.”

In truth, that day was my birthday. I hadn’t been in touch with Finn for a while when he suddenly contacted me, saying he had a birthday surprise for me. Even though I didn’t believe him, as I had been fooled by him more times than I could count, I still went, pathetically hoping to see it for myself.

When I was near the city hall, a loud rumbling sound suddenly thundered overhead. A helicopter scattering flower petals flew above me. Finn was sitting inside.

My heart skipped a beat. The petals were custom-made, each one unusually large, with words printed on them. I picked one up and unfolded it, my hands shaking.

“Be with me–”

At the same time, my phone rang. When I answered, it was Finn.

“I told you it was a surprise, didn’t I?”

Then, I froze because when I turned the petal over, I saw the name written on the back—Sophie.

Finn burst into laughter over the deafening roar of the helicopter.

“Ruth, she said yes! Shouldn’t you be congratulating me on finally getting a girlfriend?”

In that instant, my entire body went ice-cold. I couldn’t hear anything he said after that. I was suddenly taken back to the time when we were still in university, and Finn had confessed to me. He had lost a truth-or-dare game and picked me out of a group of girls.

It wasn’t a serious setting at all. I should’ve just laughed it off. However, at the time, I thought maybe he just needed the right moment and a little courage. So, I agreed, and just like that, we were together for four years, like any ordinary couple.

As I looked up at the sky filled with petals, I suddenly realized something. Between Finn and me, he had never once confessed his feelings to me sincerely. The thought of me made me feel exhausted, all at once. No matter how closely I followed behind him, there was never going to be an ending for us.

That was when Marcus walked toward me from a corner outside the city hall. His face was strikingly handsome, so much so that he was surrounded by people.

He pleaded with me, “Please. I’m really just passing by. Can you help me out and pretend to be my girlfriend?”

That same afternoon, we went straight inside and registered our marriage. It felt unreal. He said his family was pressuring him hard to get married, and I had been pursuing Finn for so many years—I was already twenty-eight. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but somehow, it didn’t seem like a bad one at all.

Marcus finished the glass of punch in his hand. Then, he helped me into the car as my head felt a little dizzy.

Halfway through the drive, the car suddenly slammed on the brakes. I jolted awake and saw a black SUV blocking the road in front of us. I recognized it instantly. It was Finn’s car. Through the window, I could clearly see Sophie sitting in the passenger seat as well.

Finn got out in just a few strides and walked over, knocking on my door.

Marcus rolled the window down halfway. In his sunglasses, he met Finn’s gaze head-on.

“Are you looking for my wife?” he asked calmly.

Finn looked him up and down. Leaning one hand against the car window, he smiled with blatant mockery.

“Ruth, the actor you hired is pretty convincing. A wedding that drags on so long must’ve taken quite some effort, huh?”

The corner of my mouth twitched. If I’d brought the marriage certificate with me, I would’ve slapped it right in his face. However, when it came to Finn, I didn’t even have the patience to prove myself anymore.

“Get off the road,” I said coldly.

Finn’s expression shifted subtly. Then, he quickly returned to normal, saying, “Soph forgot her coat. It’s cold outside. Give her yours.”

Sophie glanced at me. Then, she turned her head away in open disdain.

I was honestly speechless.

“Finn,” I said, “are you really that broke now?”

He used to do things like that all the time. He enjoyed watching me get jealous and upset over him. Then, when I finally lost my temper, he’d toss out a few words to placate me. Over and over, my emotions would rebound. I always left room for false hope, thinking maybe, to him, I was different.

Yet now, I was calm. I reached back, grabbed the coat from the back seat, and tossed it straight at Finn.

“It’s fine,” I said flatly. “Consider it a gift.”

That coat was a matching couple’s design that we’d bought together back in university. It really was time to throw it away.

He recognized it instantly and froze. A second later, anger crept into his voice.

“Ruth, isn’t this enough? Don’t push it too far.”

Before he could say more, Marcus stepped on the gas. The car sped forward, smoothly turning and passing the SUV. A moment later, the car came to a stop. Only then did I realize this wasn’t Marcus’s home. It was a high-end luxury clothing store.

Marcus got out and opened the door for me.

“Come on,” he said.

“Huh? Today?” I hesitated. “I don’t really need clothes.”

Without missing a beat, he shifted the topic.

“Maybe you don’t,” he replied. “But I do. Mainly, I’m short on some couple-matching outfits.”

He then took long strides toward the entrance.

Meanwhile, I stood there stiffly for a long moment. How did Marcus know that coat had a his and hers?

Thinking back carefully, Finn had barely worn that coat more than a few times.

I rushed into the store, grabbed Marcus, and studied his face closely.

He touched his chin, asking, “Hm? Is there something on my face?”

“No… that’s not it.”

Something was wrong. Then, it hit me. An image from Finn’s social media suddenly surfaced in my mind, and one of the people in that photo was Marcus.

I froze in shock for a long moment.

“You… You and Finn know each other?”

Marcus curled his lips into a smirk, responding in a vague, noncommittal way. “Maybe. But he didn’t seem to recognize me just now.”

He was wearing sunglasses, after all. He did look different from his usual self. As for my wedding invitation, Finn probably hadn’t even bothered to look at it.

Marcus narrowed his long eyes slightly.

“There happens to be a gathering party of friends tomorrow. Go, and you’ll find out.”

The next day, I arrived a little later after buying something. At the door, I could hear noise coming from inside.

Finn asked Marcus, “Long time no see. What have you been busy with lately?”

“I just got married.”

The moment he said those words, the room exploded.

Finn sounded genuinely shocked. “You got married? Are you kidding me? Since when have you ever dated anyone?”

Marcus crossed his legs and took a sip of wine.

“You met her yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” Finn scoffed. “You must be mistaken. Yesterday I was on a date with Sophie. We even went to a hotel. And then…”

He paused, as if remembering something. Suddenly, he stopped speaking. A trace of loneliness flashed across his eyes, so faint it was almost imperceptible.

He then pulled out his phone, deliberately changing the subject. “You guys talk. I just remembered I’ve got something to take care of.”

I was just about to push the door open when a message popped up on my phone.

“Ruth, about the bet, can we call it my apology? Come and see me. Sophie isn’t here this time.”

Finn apologizing to me was a first, but I couldn’t understand what he was thinking. Just as I was about to turn off my phone, a call came in almost immediately. At nearly the same time, the same ringtone sounded both outside and inside the room.

Finn followed the sound, and when he saw me, his eyes lit up. However, in the very next second, his expression changed.

Marcus wrapped an arm around me and pressed a kiss to the corner of my lips.

“Let me introduce her,” he said. “This is Ruth, my wife. We just got married.”