My adoptive younger brother, Jonathan Arden, is getting married soon, so he has invited me to his wedding. It turns out that the bride is Charlotte Vaughn, my childhood sweetheart-slash-fiancee.
My parents think that I'm going to steal Charlotte from Jonathan and cause a huge ruckus at the wedding. That's why they've hired 100 bodyguards, who soon have me surrounded.
When things are getting tense, Jonathan rushes down the stage and starts pleading with me.
"Mom, Dad, I'm sure Harrison showed up without an invitation just so he can give me his blessings. Please don't blame him."
Charlotte takes my hand and says to me pleadingly, "Jonathan is diagnosed with cancer. He's afraid that you might be worried about him, so he's hidden his condition from you. I'm pretending to marry him just so he won't die single."
I express my understanding toward the couple before giving them my blessings.
Delighted, Charlotte promises me, "Don't worry, you're the only one I view as my actual husband. Once the wedding is over, we'll register our marriage right away."
What she doesn't know is that I've already booked an appointment in a fake-death program. A week later, I will leave this place for real.
After all, I don't want anything to do with my parents and Charlotte anymore.
Harrison's POV
My fiancee, Charlotte Vaughn, walked up to me with a glass of wine in hand and looked at me with disappointment. "Harrison, you came with a fake invitation. Are you trying to frame your brother again?"
I originally had no intention of attending the wedding of my adoptive brother, Jonathan Arden. But he had sent me an invitation with complete sincerity, begging me to show up and even saying he wanted to apologize to me in person.
We were still family, after all. I wanted to reconcile with my parents and give Jonathan a chance. Yet I never could have imagined his bride would turn out to be my fiancee.
As I gathered my thoughts and prepared to explain, Mom, standing nearby, angrily splashed her drink in my face. She jabbed a finger at my forehead and snapped, "You really never change! How did I end up with such a vicious son?
"If I had known it would come to this, I never should've begged your dad to go easy on you when you leaked the company's confidential information. We should've sent you overseas to work in the mines!"
Dad stood behind her and glanced at me coldly. "A liar like you doesn't deserve any share in the company. I've given it all to Jonathan."
I had long since grown numb to their favoritism toward Jonathan, but even Charlotte, who had always taken my side before, tried to persuade me. "Harrison, stop being so stubborn. You've already been punished for what happened. Why won't you admit what you did wrong?
"Just listen and apologize to your parents. Even coming back to work as a security guard would've been easier than doing hard labor in a city where the temperature drops to negative 22 degrees."
She grabbed my frostbitten hands, her eyes reddening with concern, but I quietly pulled them away.
A year ago, just like now, I had done nothing wrong, yet all the blame fell on me. My parents despised me, and my coworkers cursed at me. I was thrown out of the house and abandoned by everyone around me.
When I boarded the flight, Charlotte was the only person who came to see me off. She held me tightly and refused to let go, crying as she promised to wait for me to come back and marry her.
Looking back, I regretted it deeply.
To spite my parents, I spent the past year away from home doing the toughest, most exhausting work, stubbornly trying to prove that I had done nothing wrong. But in the end, I only left myself covered in scars, and they still favored Jonathan.
That alone would've been bad enough. But now, even the one person who had ever been a light in my life was leaving me. She was about to marry the man who had torn my happy family apart.
I looked at Charlotte as she wiped the wine from my face. The concern in her eyes didn't seem fake. Could a single year really change a person so drastically?
"Charlotte, you—"
Just as I was about to ask her, Jonathan suddenly stepped in to smooth things over. "Mom, Dad, how could you treat Harrison like this? He may have come uninvited, but I'm sure he's here to give us his blessing. Right, Charlotte?"
After he finished speaking, he took Charlotte's hands affectionately and deliberately held up the one wearing the ring. I saw that a huge diamond ring had replaced the simple silver band she used to wear on her ring finger. It sparkled in the sunlight, making my eyes sting.
Harrison's POV
Charlotte immediately panicked when she saw my reaction. She desperately tried to remove the diamond ring as she hurriedly explained, "Harrison, don't get the wrong idea. I only did this to make everything look more convincing."
Jonathan tightened his grip on her hand. "Charlotte, stop going against what you truly feel. Aren't you embarrassed wearing that cheap silver ring worth only a few hundred dollars?
"You wore it every time you were with him just to protect his pathetic ego, but I've seen you take it off countless times the moment you stepped out the door. It hurts me to watch you put yourself through that.
"Harrison, you keep saying you love Charlotte more than anything. Did it never occur to you how difficult things were for her?"
Charlotte couldn't hide her embarrassment. She looked like she wanted to explain herself to me, but she eventually lowered her head in frustration.
At that moment, my mind was a complete mess. I could no longer bring myself to ask what I wanted to. It turned out that loving me had been such an embarrassment to her.
That made sense. Aside from sentimental value, how could a silver band handcrafted together with a partner compare to a diamond ring worth millions of dollars?
A real son who lived worse than a housekeeper had no business going up against an adopted son who stood to inherit everything and had his whole future ahead of him.
Charlotte had made the right choice. Staying with me would have only brought her hardship.
I stood up and handed them a crystal cross pendant that had been blessed at a church and was meant to keep them safe. "I wish you both a happy marriage."
Charlotte was about to accept the pendant, but Jonathan stopped her. He scornfully lifted the pendant with a pure-gold spoon and flicked it to the ground. It shattered instantly.
He sighed and looked over at me. "I was born rich, and accepting a cheap gift like this would only make me sick. Harrison, I appreciate the thought, but next time, just come yourself. There's no need to bring a gift."
Mom slapped me across the face. "For a second, I thought you had changed. I didn't expect you to still be the same, trying to curse Jonathan again."
Charlotte looked like she wanted to come over and check on me, but she stopped in her tracks after hearing Mom's words, disappointment clear on her face.
She said, "Harrison, I didn't believe them when they spoke badly about you before, but I never expected you'd stoop to such underhanded tactics just to frame Jonathan. What exactly happened between the two of you? It's been so many years. Can you still not let it go?"
Couldn't let it go? I, the one who had been hurt, had already moved on. It was the one who hurt me who refused to.
When I was younger, every attempt I made to be kind to Jonathan always ended the same way as today. My good intentions were mistaken for curses, and I was met with everyone's anger.
Charlotte knew these past events better than anyone. There had been a time when she cried while comforting me, cursed everyone out on my behalf, and told me she would always be my safe place. But now, she looked at me with sheer disappointment and frustration.
So she had never truly believed in me after all. That made everything feel pointless.
"I'll get going. I wouldn't want to ruin your day," I said.
I turned and left. No one spared me a second glance. They all looked relieved, as if a burden had been lifted.
Charlotte was the only one who gathered up the hem of her dress and chased after me, grabbing my hand. "Harrison, stop acting stubborn. You pushed Jonathan down the stairs once and nearly got him killed.
"Now he's been diagnosed with advanced cancer and doesn't have much time left. I'm only fulfilling his final wish to help you make up for your sins."
I had explained countless times that he fell on his own. Yet she never believed me, never checked the surveillance footage, and never looked at the evidence. By now, I was tired of repeating myself.
When I remained silent, Charlotte let out a sigh. Looking as though she had finally given in, she straightened my clothes. "Harrison, once the wedding is over, we'll go register our marriage. I'll only ever be your wife."
I didn't respond. This time around, she wanted to marry me, but I no longer wanted to marry her.
Just then, my phone buzzed. A text message came through. "Mr. Harrison Arden, the staged death you requested has been arranged. In seven days, you'll die in a car accident."
Harrison's POV
As Charlotte looked over, I quickly turned off my phone's screen.
"Alright. Go on back. I'm leaving first," I said.
After hearing my answer, Charlotte hesitated before speaking. "Harrison, where are you going?"
"Just walking around. It's been a while since I've been back," I replied.
Only then did she finally relax and smile sweetly at me. "Okay. Don't go too far. Once I'm done here, we'll go register our marriage."
I watched her run back into the wedding venue before turning away and wandering aimlessly. Familiar scenery filled my vision, but my thoughts drifted far away.
Jonathan was the orphaned son of the person who had saved my parents' lives. From the moment he took our family name and was brought into our home, he stole all of my parents' affection.
I had heard that parents loved children who did well in school. Desperate for them to notice me too, I pushed myself to study as hard as I could.
The year I took the SAT, I brought home an acceptance letter from a top university, hoping they would praise me the way they praised Jonathan and gently tell me what a great son I was. But they never did.
What I got instead was Jonathan dropping to his knees, convulsing and foaming at the mouth. Mom and Dad personally destroyed my future and sent me to an obscure community college.
"Harrison, this is a matter of life and death. You don't want to see Jonathan die either, do you?" they said.
It turned out that love needed no reason. I could never compete with Jonathan.
Every time I curled up alone to nurse my wounds, Charlotte would stand by my side and chatter endlessly. "They're just blind. You're the absolute best, the most outstanding.
"You're such a kind person. There's no way you'd hurt anyone. It must be your adopted brother stirring up trouble again. Don't worry. One day, I'll help you take back everything you lost."
Charlotte was the only light in my life. She was cheerful, confident, and carefree. She gave me her undivided affection, something she reserved for me alone. Whenever I was with her, even if we said nothing and simply walked side by side down the street, I still felt incredibly happy.
But now, as I stood there looking at the bustling, noisy street, I was utterly alone with nowhere to go.
While wandering around, I found myself back at the house I shared with Charlotte without even realizing it. That place held the happiest memories of my life and was the only reason I had left to keep going.
I stood at the front door and entered my birthday into the keypad, but the screen indicated that the password was incorrect. I froze for a moment. Charlotte had never told me about changing the password.
I tried again and again, entering every meaningful date I could think of, including our anniversary, her birthday, and other special occasions we had shared. None of them worked.
Something suddenly hit me. With trembling hands, I entered Jonathan's birthday.
A beep sounded. As the door swung open, my heart shattered.
The furnishings inside remained the same, yet every trace of me had disappeared.
My shoes were gone from the shoe rack, replaced by Jonathan's limited-edition sneakers. The clothes hanging on the balcony belonged to him as well. Even the framed photo of Charlotte and me on the table had been swapped out for a photo of her and Jonathan.
So during the year I disappeared, even the last role I had left had been taken over.
I sat on the couch, waiting for Charlotte to come back and give me an explanation. I waited until sunset, until the courthouse had closed for the day, yet Charlotte still hadn't returned.
Even my phone stayed unusually silent. Not a single person sent me a message.
Even though I hadn't expected much from getting the marriage certificate, I still couldn't help but feel sad after seeing Charlotte break her promise.
Love had such a short shelf life. I watched something good rot away little by little, yet I still wanted to wait until it was completely spoiled before finally throwing it away.
In the silent darkness of the night, the only glow came from the cigarette between my lips.
It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that Charlotte finally called, sounding drunk. "Harrison, where are you? I'm coming to find you."
