The glass of water in her hand trembled slightly, but she quickly covered it with a sneer.

“Are you changing your tactics? I haven’t even called you out yet, and you’re taking it to the next level?”

I froze, not quite understanding what she meant.

She let out a cold laugh. “Didn’t you have Marcus try to pressure me into marriage today? What’s the matter? Since pressuring me didn’t work, you’ve decided to play hard to get instead?”

Only then did it click. She actually thought I was the one who told Marcus to say those things today just to force her into marrying me.

I found the whole thing absurd, but I didn’t bother to explain. Instead, I just nodded.

“Yeah. Since pressuring you didn’t work, I’m thinking of marrying someone else.”

The moment those words left my mouth, the scornful look on her face deepened.

“Austin, do you honestly think you’d ever break up with me? That’s enough. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. You’re twenty-eight now. Who else would marry you besides me? Go to bed early. We have to go to the Granger estate tomorrow for Grandma Wilma’s birthday.”

With that, she turned around and walked into the bedroom. Looking at her back, I felt nothing but exhaustion.

The next day, I still went to Grandma Wilma’s birthday party. Years ago, Grandma Wilma had given me an antique emerald ring, and I needed to return it.

When I arrived at the estate, Sarah’s mother, Catherine Granger, was standing by the entrance. Logan stood right beside her, a bright smile on his face, looking every bit like the ideal future son-in-law.

Logan spotted us first. His smile widened instantly, and he walked over to me.

“Hey, Austin! Sal said you were upset, so I didn’t think you’d make it today!”

He intentionally flashed the watch on his wrist. It was an heirloom that the family always gifted to their future sons-in-law.

Grandma Wilma’s gift was a pair of rings, while Catherine had prepared the watch. However, Sarah had demanded the watch from her mother a long time ago, claiming she wanted to put it on my wrist herself when the time came. Now, it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary anymore.

Having noticed it as well, Sarah looked down and quickly explained, “Logan is just borrowing it for the day. He’ll give it back, so don’t overthink things.”

Catherine walked over as well. Her expression was flat, and her tone carried a sharp hint of warning.

“You’re here? I heard about what happened yesterday. It’s just a boat. Logan has no family to rely on right now, so it’s only right that we look after him a bit more. Control your temper and don’t make a fool of yourself.”

Everyone expected me to lose my temper, yet not a single person had stopped Sarah from doing what she did. I found it almost ironic.

Out of habit, Sarah reached out to wrap her arm around mine, trying to soothe me with her usual display of affection. However, I stepped aside, avoiding her touch. Her hand froze in mid-air, and her brows instantly knit together.

“What are you up to now?” Sarah lowered her voice, her tone laced with bubbling anger. “It’s Grandma Wilma’s birthday. Don’t ruin the mood for everyone. I’ll apologize to you when we get home, alright?”

I looked up calmly, meeting her gaze head-on. “I’m really not angry.”

I pulled out the emerald ring and steadily held it out to Catherine.

“Mrs. Granger, you should give this to Logan as well. Then, I won’t go inside to disturb Grandma Wilma.”

Seeing the ring, Sarah’s eyes widened. Meanwhile, Logan gripped the edge of his shirt, putting on a worried and deeply understanding act.

“Austin, are you just saying that because you’re upset? Sal, this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have been so greedy and accepted the boat… I’m the reason Austin is angry. How about I return the boat and the watch to him right now…”

As if suddenly remembering something, Logan tried to pull the watch off his wrist as he spoke. Yet somehow, even though the watch looked quite loose, it wouldn’t come off.

Sure enough, the tension Sarah had felt upon seeing the ring vanished instantly. She snickered, snatched the ring right out of my hand, and marched over to Logan.

“There’s no need to return anything. I said it’s yours, so it’s yours. Here, put the ring on, too.”

Then, she turned back to me, her eyes filled with utter disdain.

“Fine, Austin. Let’s see how long you can keep up this little act! Since you don’t want them anymore, Logan can wear them all for now. Didn’t you say you weren’t going in? Why aren’t you leaving yet?”

In the past, the more she provoked me like this, the more stubborn I would become, digging my heels in just to stay. Now, all I felt was relief.

“Then I’ll be taking my leave.”

With that, I turned around and walked away.

Behind me, I could hear Logan’s gentle voice trying to calm her down. This only seemed to fuel Sarah’s rage, and her voice grew louder.

“Just let him go! He’s just desperate to get married and starved for affection, so he thinks he can use this to manipulate me. He needs to take a good look at how old he is!”

I didn’t look back. I just stepped straight into a waiting taxi.

Right then, a text message from my mother popped up on my phone.

[Aussie, take a look! This is the wedding vessel the bride’s family just sent over.]

The boat in the picture was even bigger and more beautiful. Most importantly, the entire hull was covered in irises, my absolute favorite flower. There wasn’t a single rose to be found.

When I got home, I started packing my things. I slowly sorted through my clothes and legal documents, neatly folding everything. Then, I found the photos from all the years we had spent together. Every single one had a note written on the back.

I flipped through them, one by one. On the photo from our trip to Lake Green, she had written, “I want to cling to Aussie for the rest of my life.”

On the one where we watched the sunrise together, she wrote, “Aussie is way more handsome than the sunrise…”

I gathered them all up. After a brief hesitation, I tossed them straight into the trash can.

A little while later, the faint sound of a car echoed from downstairs. Because it had suddenly started raining, Sarah came home much earlier than usual. As the door pushed open, the distinct scent of Logan’s cologne wafted in. My hands didn’t stop moving as I folded the very last piece of clothing.

Sarah changed her shoes and walked over to the bedroom doorway, leaning against the frame. She casually draped her trench coat over her arm, her eyes filled with pure irritation.

“Are you done?” Her tone wasn’t exactly furious, but it sounded condescending and dismissive.

I looked up at her, snapped my suitcase shut, and reached for the zipper.

My indifference completely shattered the last of her patience. She strode over aggressively and yanked the suitcase right out of my hands. She used so much force that the suitcase let out a sharp crack.

“Are you ever going to drop this?” She frowned, her eyebrows knitting tightly together. “I have a mountain of work piling up at the company right now. I’m already stressed out. First the launch ceremony, then Grandma Wilma’s birthday party—you’ve been sulking the entire time! Do you absolutely insist on making me a laughingstock in front of everyone?”

‘You’re not busy,’ I thought. ‘You still have plenty of time to comfort Logan.’

More importantly, the crowd was never laughing at her; they were laughing at me.

“I wasn’t sulking,” I said.

She grabbed my wrist, offering a compromise that she clearly viewed as an act of charity. “I know you’re upset. But it’s just a boat and a watch, isn’t it? It’s no big deal.”

Everything involving me was no big deal, while everything involving Logan was a matter of life and death.

I looked at her, and the words she had spoken to her best friends suddenly flashed through my mind. “Austin is the easiest guy to appease. He’s completely head over heels for me; he wouldn’t dare make a scene.”

“Let me tell you something. Logan and I are going on a business trip tomorrow.” She leaned down, bringing her face close to my ear, and threw out what she believed to be her ultimate bargaining chip. “Once I get back, I’ll carve out some time so we can go register our marriage. You’ve waited seven years. Haven’t you just been waiting for that marriage certificate? Well, I’m granting it to you.”

She spoke with such casual entitlement, as if registering our marriage was some grand favor she was bestowing upon me.

In her heart, the wedding vessel could be given to someone else, and her affection could be given to someone else. Every exception and special treatment belonged exclusively to Logan. Only that cold, lifeless marriage certificate was reserved for me as my ultimate destination.

I looked at her and suddenly laughed. I laughed at the fact that my seven years had gone to waste on that wedding vessel, adorned with roses, that didn’t belong to me.

Seeing me smile, Sarah assumed I was finally appeased. She relaxed completely, and her expression eased.

“Are you happy now? Just stay home and wait for me.”

She began walking out, pulling out her phone and tapping the screen a few times as she moved.

“I need to video call Logan and prep our stuff for tomorrow–”

I cut her off. “Sarah, tomorrow I’m heading back to the lakeside town. I’m going to–”

Her phone suddenly rang. She raised a hand, cutting off the rest of my sentence.

“Logan? What’s wrong?”

The voice on the other end sounded panicked.

"Don’t be scared. I’m coming over right now.”

After hanging up, she threw on her coat while talking to me. “It’s thundering outside. Logan always gets in a terrible mood during this kind of weather. I need to go check on him. Whatever it is, we’ll talk about it when I get back.”

With that, she rushed out the door.

Just like that, the words “get married” were forced right back down my throat.

…

Sarah hurried outside. While she was on the road, her phone buzzed a few times. She let out a scoff, assuming that because she had just promised to marry me, I was already getting impatient and clingy again.

However, when she pulled up under Logan’s apartment building and checked her phone, she realized the messages weren’t from me.

[Sal, the Henderson family’s oldest daughter is getting married next week. Don’t forget to attend.]

Right after that text, an image of a wedding invitation popped up.

The moment she saw the names printed on it, her hand on the car door handle froze.