The night before our wedding, Edward Fowler's friends gather for a celebration. A full set of sex toys lies in the gift box from his tomboy bestie, Winnie Spencer.

I freeze, and Winnie shouts boisterously, "Don't you dare go easy on him, Sarah. That pup might look like someone who's abstaining, but he's actually pretty wild in the sheets.

"During the start of the year, he only used three of these, yet he landed me straight in the hospital with injuries that took me half a month to heal!"

She then hooks an arm around Edward's neck. "Let me give you a piece of advice as your buddy—you need to learn how to be gentle once you're married.

"Sarah looks so delicate, so you'd better not pull the same stunt as last time. I was just recovering, yet you dragged me into it for two whole days. I almost died in bed!"

My face darkens. Winnie covers her mouth in exaggerated shock. "It's just us buddies messing around. You're not mad, are you, Sarah?"

Everyone is anticipating for me to snap. But instead, I let out a soft chuckle before replying, "Why would I be? I should be thanking you for being a free tutor instead. After all, someone who's in your line of work would charge at least three hundred dollars per night just for the same lesson."

I barely finished speaking when Edward Fowler, who had seemed indifferent all along, finally looked up. His face turned cold as he said, "Winnie gave you a gift out of kindness. What exactly did you mean by that?"

I shrugged. "Whatever she means, that's exactly what I mean. Since your tutor went all out for you, yet you still landed her in the hospital, you should at least tip her a little."

The room fell silent at once. Winnie immediately teared up.

Edward's expression darkened. The chair creaked noisily as he shot up. "What do you take Winnie for, Sarah? Is this how the Hudson family raised their daughter? With no restraint and nothing but a filthy mouth?"

I leaned back into my seat, smiling wryly. "She's the one who brought it up first. If anyone's going to be accused of filthy talk, it shouldn't be me."

The atmosphere gradually grew tense.

Edward glared at me. Just as he was about to speak, Winnie started sniffling.

"Don't fight with Sarah, pup. Do it for me. It was all my fault. I'm so used to joking around with you guys that I forgot Sarah is here tonight." She then raised her hand and slapped herself.

Despite it being a light slap, Edward's expression fell almost instantly. "Who allowed you to hit yourself?"

With tears in her eyes, Winnie gave him a careless kick. "How dare you snap at me, pup? Do you want to lose those legs of yours?"

Edward tilted her chin up and inspected her face. Once he made sure her cheek was alright, he turned to look at me. "My buddies are celebrating my marriage tonight. You should head home early if you can't take a joke."

Everyone looked at me. Some were even expressing their clear disgust toward me.

However, I pretended not to see them. I merely asked Winnie out of curiosity, "Is it just a joke? So you weren't actually torn up by him?"

"You're still not done with this yet, Sarah?" Edward questioned, slamming a hand down the table.

His friends started pulling him back, while Winnie gave him another kick. "I just told you to be gentle with Sarah. Why aren't you listening to me?"

Chaos ensued in the private room.

I scoffed before standing up. "I'm done watching your little display of buddy love. Thanks for the dinner, but you can keep this gift for yourself. After all, you've already used it. You'd be more experienced."

I then took my handbag and strode out of the private room, ignoring Edward's furious shouts behind me.

The summer air was stifling. Sweat was already clinging to my skin by the time I slipped into the driver's seat.

My mouth, however, was parched. I had to swallow hard several times before my breathing finally steadied.

How dare Edward do this to me!

We had been dating for three years, and we were about to get married tomorrow. Yet he actually went behind my back to fool around with his so- called "buddy" to the point she ended up in the hospital.

I slammed my fist into the steering wheel.

Before long, my phone chimed. Edward had sent me several texts.

"You were being unreasonable earlier. Winnie was just joking with you. Must you say such harsh words?

"Fortunately, Winnie is kind enough not to hold it against you. Let's just put this behind us.

"You can head back home first. Tell your parents and relatives that the wedding will be pushed back a day—the wedding dress needs to be altered."

I stared at the last text in disbelief before chuckling coldly. How come I didn't know that the wedding dress needed to be altered when I was the bride?

Somehow, I ended up opening the Instagram group chat Edward had added me into tonight. I found Winnie's profile picture and clicked into it.

Her profile was public, and she had just posted a new video five minutes ago.

In it, Edward's wrists were tied with a black tie behind his back as he knelt before Winnie. Like a queen, she was sitting on the main seat with other men surrounding her.

I turned the volume up and heard him chuckling helplessly before barking once at her.

Winnie said, "Some people couldn't take a joke and ended up ruining the whole party. What a shame! Luckily, this pup knows better. He postponed the wedding to make it up for me, and we'll party again tomorrow night."

She clicked her tongue before continuing, "I'll forgive him then. After all, I'm too softhearted as his owner."

Edward and Winnie's conversation was under the comments section of the post.

He commented, "You little devil. This should be enough now, right? I must've owed you in my past life or something."

Winnie replied, "What nonsense are you talking about, pup? You still owe me in this lifetime too. Have you forgotten the time you got into a fight when you were younger and got your clothes torn? You ran to my house and stripped me off my clothes to put them on yourself."

Edward commented, "And you've got the nerve to bring that up? If it weren't for you scaring them with a toad, they wouldn't have blocked you in. I was only trying to save you!"

Winnie's next comment read, "It's only natural for a pet dog to save its master. Are you trying to rebel here?"

I couldn't help but tighten my fists as I read about them reminiscing in their past memories.

I didn't even want to rewatch the video a second time, afraid that I might just throw up in my car.

I slammed the accelerator.

…

The moment I got home, I opened Edward's computer.

He was well-known as the monastic miracle doctor with the perfect reputation as an elite. He was meticulous, serious and steady, and was practically married to his work.

What Edward and Winnie did tonight was beyond his "serious and steady" reputation. However, there was something else I couldn't wrap my head around.

He devoted himself to his work in the hospital during our entire relationship, refusing to even take a day off for my birthday.

Once, I couldn't get out of bed due to high fever. Yet he left me the second his phone rang, rushing off to the ER.

So where did Edward find time to fool around with Winnie for "two whole days"?

I quickly opened the digital calendar on his desktop. Checking back, I only found one schedule in the entire month of January—Hordole Medical Summit month.

Hordole seemed to be Winnie's hometown.

I suddenly remembered that Edward had been away the entire month on "business".

Something in my mind snapped.

I quickly searched it up, only to realize there were at least 200 entries labelled "Hordale" over the past year—summits, consultations, overnight ER shifts.

Which meant every time Edward told me he was away in Hordale for work, he was actually with Winnie.

Was he even hiding those sex toys in his backpack whenever he attended his so-called overnight ER shifts?

The more I thought about it, the more nauseating I felt. I closed my eyes, suppressing my urge to throw up.

When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was his graduation photo on the bookshelf—one where he wore a dead serious look.

Unable to hold myself back, I walked over, took down the graduation photo, and tore it apart.

The monastic miracle doctor? What an irony.

However, a thought crossed my mind as my gaze swept across the two shelves of trophies beside it.

This wedding wasn't just about the two of us. It was a calculated exchange between the Fowlers and the Hudsons.

I couldn't just think about myself.

After a moment of consideration, I tossed the shredded pieces of the photo into the trash can before returning to my bedroom to make some calls.

…

The next morning, I heard a key turning in the lock as I stepped out of the bedroom. However, it wasn't Edward who came in—it was Winnie.

"Morning, Sarah. I'm here to grab that pup's razor. I can't stand seeing that scruffy beard of his," she said.

Winnie then walked right into the master bedroom's bathroom and took the electric razor like she knew exactly where everything was.

I glanced at the key ring dangling from her fingers. It wasn't Edward's set.

This was the marital home we bought just last year, and I'd only moved in a week ago—yet her set of keys looked more worn out than mine.

By the time Winnie walked out, I was waiting for her by the doorframe with my arms crossed in front of my chest. I raised a brow and asked, "So this is where you usually hold lessons for my fiancé, Ms. Spencer?"

She was momentarily stunned, then turned away quickly. Almost under her breath, yet loud enough for me to hear, she mumbled, "Here we go again. Women are always so troublesome—jealous over nothing."

As Winnie walked past the guest bedroom where my lacey wedding dress was hung, she let out a laugh. "Why did you pick such an ugly wedding dress, Sarah? It's way worse than the set I bought with that pup last year!"

I narrowed my eyes just as Edward walked in. "What's taking you so long? Didn't we make plans to go to the bridal shop today?"

His words made me laugh.

"Who did you make plans with? It shouldn't be me, considering I was the last one to know about the postponement of the wedding," I replied.

Edward frowned when he caught the edge in my tone. He then gestured for Winnie to step out.

She shrugged and gave him a kick as she walked past him. "Don't start a fight with Sarah. I'll break your leg if you dare to upset her!"

"Alright, alright. You win, okay?" Edward all but ushered Winnie out.

However, his expression hardened as soon as the door closed behind him. "Haven't you made enough of a scene? Can't you take a joke? You ruined our mood last night, and you're planning to drag it into today as well?

"Don't forget, the Hudsons are banking on our five generations of medical prestige to grab half the healthcare business in the country. Keep this up, and you'll blow the deal and walk away with nothing!"

The way Edward was quietly threatening me now was a far cry from the doting act he'd just put on for Winnie.

This was the first time I'd ever seen his abrupt change of mood.

Edward first added me into his friends' group chat three days ago. He said that they were all buddies he grew up with.

At first, I thought it was normal for married couples to learn of each other's friend circles. As such, I'd even introduced my own friends to him without hesitation.

I wasn't expecting Edward's buddies to be different from my friends.

They went wedding dress-shopping together and fooled around with sex toys to the point of being admitted into the hospital. They could even make a celebrated, elite school-trained doctor drop to his knees and roleplay as a dog.

Upon revisiting that thought, I couldn't help but clutch my stomach. I nodded to him and said, "You're right. I was being immature."