The Hundredth Departure

I begged my boss, Arthur Hutton, ninety-eight times for us to get officially married.

Each time, he canceled our plans because his childhood sweetheart deliberately lured him away.

On the ninety-ninth attempt, I waited for him at the city hall.

Arthur simply patted my head and then put up a sign on the door that read, [Serena Xander and Dogs Not Allowed.]

He said indifferently, “Millie’s throwing a fit, and I can’t calm her down. I need to marry her first.

“I’ll divorce her, so just wait for me. Next Wednesday is a good day. I’ll marry you then.”

But he did not know that I only had ninety-nine chances to give.

I would be resigning the following week.

The news about the sign at city hall quickly became the top trending search topic across the entire city.

Everyone was curious about who Serena Xander was and why the billionaire CEO explicitly banned her from entering.

Arthur Hutton remained completely unbothered. He forwarded the trending topic to his social media feed.

[She got jealous and insisted on getting married to me. To make sure no one bothers us, I set up this plan.

[My bad for blowing up the timeline, folks!]

He posted these captions with a photo of him and Camila Leach showing off their official marriage license.

On the license, Arthur was the groom, and Camila was the bride.

This was the very license I had begged Arthur to get with me 99 times before, without any success.

Camila had secured it with a single jealous outburst.

And I was labelled as “no one.”

I dropped a like on the post and sat on the stairs. I was lost in my own thoughts.

Today was Valentine’s Day. It was a good day to get married.

The line of eager couples waiting to be married stretched from the city hall lobby all the way to the next intersection.

Arthur and Camila walked up to me.

Arthur said in surprise, “Why are you still here? I already told you that the divorce won’t be finalized for another three days.

“Don’t worry. I give you my word. Just three days, and I’ll definitely marry you. I mean it this time.”

I remained silent.

I recalled the last time we tried to register our marriage.

Arthur said Camila’s dog was hungry, and he had to go buy pet food for her, so he could not proceed with our registration.

On that day, I cried over that absurd excuse so much that my eyes were swollen.

Arthur simply held Camila and watched me quietly.

Only after my tears had run dry did he reluctantly toss me a tissue.

He told me to go home early and even reminded me to cook dinner.

At that moment, I just looked at the joy in Camila’s face. I felt numb as I said calmly, “Do you want to take a picture?”

Arthur was startled. He did not understand what I meant.

“What?”

I pointed at Camila and said, “Do you want me to take a picture for you two? I brought a veil. She can borrow it.”

Arthur froze. He had only just realized how elaborately I had dressed up for the day.

He had promised me 99 times. I kept holding on to the hope that we would finally get married, and that our love would last a lifetime.

But he broke his promise again.

I smiled, took off my veil, and gave it to Camila before I turned and walked away.

Arthur frowned. He did not understand what I was making a fuss about.

Camila gently tugged at his clothes, and his attention shifted back to her.

He only managed to mutter dismissively, “She’s so dramatic!”

I paused briefly, then continued walking away.

‘Arthur, I won’t wait for you anymore,’ I thought.

…

That night, I did not go home. Instead, I went straight to the best hotel in the city center.

I had originally booked it to celebrate our marriage registration. Sadly, I was the only one there tonight.

Before going to bed, I saw Camila’s social media update.

She and Arthur were at the rooftop bar just one floor away from my room.

She looked youthful as she nestled in Arthur’s arms. They smiled radiantly as she showed off the large pink diamond sparkling on her finger.

The caption read: A limited edition of the season.