My grandfather raised me after my parents died. Before his health failed, his only wish was to see me married and safe.

So I begged the man I had loved for six years to marry me. Seventeen times. On the seventeenth, Grant Hale finally agreed.

Then, on the day we were supposed to sign our marriage certificate, he walked out of the City Clerk's office with his childhood sweetheart on his arm.

"I lost a bet to Nora," he said, laughing as he handed me a fake certificate. "Take this to your grandfather. He will never know the difference."

When I begged him to come with me, he shook off my hand.

"Stop being dramatic. I got married today. I do not have time for you. If you are that desperate for a husband, go inside and marry some random guy. I will not stop you."

So I did.

Two real marriage certificates and one cheap counterfeit looked almost identical under the blistering noon sun.

Nora Reed held the two real ones like trophies, laughing so hard she had to lean into Grant Hale's arms.

"You are unbelievable, Grant," she said. "You really said that to Elara? Aren't you scared she will get so mad she actually runs off with someone else?"

Grant wrapped an arm around her waist and smiled like the answer was obvious.

"Run off? With who? Who else would marry her?"

He sounded exactly the way he had sounded earlier, when he announced he was going to sign papers with Nora instead of me: relaxed, confident, untouchable.

He was certain that no matter what he did, I would forgive him.

Nora glanced at me over his shoulder. "Elara still isn't angry? Wow. She really is patient."

She was wrong.

I was not patient. I was done.

Grant and I had been together for six years. I had asked him to marry me sixteen times before this.

The first time, Nora had just gone through a breakup. Grant said he needed to be there for her, and that talking about marriage then would be cruel.

The second time, Nora had started a new job and cried to him every night. He was afraid she might fall apart, so he told me to wait.

The third time, the date I picked landed on Nora's birthday. He rented an entire yacht for her and told me, "She has no one else. If I do not show up for her, who will?"

The fourth time, the fifth time, and every time after that, the reason changed. Sometimes it sounded serious. Sometimes it was absurd. But it was always Nora.

My wishes always came after taking care of Nora.

Today was the seventeenth time. Grant had finally said yes. I thought I could finally fulfill Grandpa's last wish.

Instead, I watched him walk out married to another woman.

Nora studied my face for a moment, then said brightly, "Since we are already here, why don't we take wedding photos too? Elara will not mind, right?"

Grant pinched her nose with playful affection, as if I were not standing five feet away.

"No. Wedding photos are for Elara."

Then he turned away from me. "Enough of this. Today is our big day, remember? You said you planned a whole celebration. What are we waiting for?"

Nora laughed and pulled him toward the car.

I watched them leave in silence.

Then my phone rang.

It was Grandpa's doctor.

"Ms. Cross, your grandfather's condition has suddenly worsened. He is stable for the moment, but it is serious. Please come to the hospital right away."

I froze.

I looked at the fake certificate in my hand, then at Grant's car.

I took a breath and raised my voice.

"Grant!"

He paused and looked back.

"If you leave today," I said, each word clear, "I will go back inside and marry someone else."

For one second, he looked stunned.

Then he laughed.

"Someone else? Who? Everyone in New York knows you are in love with me."

He opened the car door. Before it shut, he tossed me one last careless line through the window.

"Be good. Stop making a scene. Once I am done here, I will go see your grandfather with you."

The car pulled away.

I stood there for a long time.

Then I took out my phone, called a number I had not expected to use, and walked back into the City Clerk's office.

The hospital smelled like antiseptic and rain-soaked coats.

"He is stable for now," the doctor told me outside the ICU. "We are waiting on the next set of results. Stay close."

Through the glass, Grandpa looked smaller than he ever had, swallowed by white sheets and machines.

My parents died in a car accident when I was very young. Grandpa raised me with his rough, callused hands.

Anything other children had, he tried to give me. He only ate stale bread, but would travel across town on my birthday to buy my favorite little pastries from the bakery I liked. During summer blackouts, he sat by my bed all night waving a paper fan so I could sleep, while sweat ran down his own face.

When I got into a good university, he was happier than I was. He went around the whole building telling neighbors, "My Elara is going places."

But he got old. Too old, too fast. After the diagnosis, he often held my hand and said, "Elara, I am not afraid of dying. I am afraid of leaving you alone in this world with no one to care whether you are cold or hungry."

That was why I had been so desperate to marry Grant.

I wanted to bring him to Grandpa and say, "You can rest now. I will be all right."

And Grant?

Grant was the man who had helped me contact top specialists after Grandpa got sick. The man who wiped my tears and said, "Do not be afraid. I am here. I will arrange everything."

That same man had handed me a fake marriage certificate without blinking.

He would not even help me satisfy my grandfather's last wish.

Remembering the scene at the City Clerk's office, I opened the pinned chat at the top of my messages, sent one line, and put my phone away.

When I went downstairs, I saw several of Grant's friends gathered near the hospital entrance.

They did not notice me at first.

"Grant went too far," one of them said. "Nora even twisted her ankle."

"They just got married. Emotions run high."

"Still, I cannot believe he actually honored the bet and married Nora right in front of Elara."

"Honestly? Elara is the reason he dares to do it. She is so whipped. He can do anything, and she will forgive him."

The speaker turned and met my eyes.

He choked on the last word. "S-sister-in-law? What are you doing here?"

Another man straightened immediately. "Elara, we were kidding. Do not take it seriously."

But not all jokes are lies.

In my relationship with Grant, I had always been the one reaching.

If he casually mentioned a restaurant, I waited in line for three hours to buy him takeout. If he worked late, I cooked soup and drove across the city. If he forgot our anniversary, I smiled and said work mattered more. I sorted his clothes by season. I memorized his tastes, habits, and every impatient expression, terrified that one small mistake would make him tired of me.

I used to think love did not need a ledger. I loved him. He loved me. That was enough.

I never imagined my love would become the knife he used to cut me.

After a long silence, Luke Barnes, the friend who knew me best, spoke again.

"Elara, why are you here?"

I steadied myself and smiled.

"I came to pick up my husband."

For a moment, all of them froze. They assumed I meant Grant.

Their faces were almost funny.

"Elara, Grant is still busy," one of them said quickly. "Nora's ankle is actually pretty bad."

"I know it looks awful, but it was just a bet. They are not really like that."

"Yeah. If Grant did not love you, he would not have stayed with you for six years."

He stopped halfway when Luke elbowed him hard.

"That is not what he meant," Luke said.

I said nothing.

Before today, I had refused to believe Grant would cross that line. He and Nora had grown up together. They were close, yes, but I told myself it was like the way he was close to his male friends. Even when his concern went too far, I lied to myself and called it friendship.

Now he had signed a marriage certificate with her.

If I still pretended there was nothing between them, I would be a fool.

But I truly did not care anymore.

From this moment forward, Grant Hale had nothing to do with me.

My silence made Luke uneasy.

"Wait here," he said. "I will call him."

The phone rang for a long time before Grant answered, sounding irritated.

"What?"

"Grant, Elara is here," Luke said. "Aren't you coming down? Weren't you supposed to visit her grandfather together?"

Grant was quiet for a beat.

Then he said lightly, "What is the rush? Let her wait. I said I would go, didn't I? I am not done here."

Right after he spoke, Nora let out a soft, suggestive cry in the background.

Luke's face changed. He hung up so fast his thumb slipped.

After a long, awkward silence, he said, "Elara, do not misunderstand."

I almost laughed.

Before I could answer, my best friend called.

Madison's voice exploded through the speaker. "Elara, I just landed and saw your message. You and Grant did not get married? Are you serious?"

Everyone nearby could hear her.

"Has he lost his mind? He used to talk about marrying you until my ears hurt. Now the day finally comes and he marries someone else?"

The men around me scratched their heads, looked at the ceiling, or pretended to check their phones.

Madison was still going. "Wasn't this the same man who swore he would love only you when he confessed back in college? How did he turn into this?"

I did not answer.

A notification appeared on my screen.

Nora had sent me a sixty-second voice message.

I tried the transcript feature. It produced almost nothing except a few breathy sounds, then one final sentence:

"Elara, hang in there a little longer. Grant is almost finished."

I replied, "No rush."

Then I said to Madison, "I got married."

She went silent.

"What?"

"He is a good man," I said. "When you are back, I will introduce you."

Grant's friends laughed nervously.

"Elara, come on."

"Everyone knows about you and Grant. He does care about you."

"Six years does not just disappear overnight."

As soon as he finished speaking, a black car stopped at the curb.

The door opened, and a man in a perfectly tailored suit stepped out.

The laughter died.

He walked toward me slowly. No one said another word.

-

Across town, Grant finished rubbing Nora's ankle and stood to put on his jacket.

"This is the last time I let you play games like this," he said.

Nora lounged on the couch with one foot propped up. "What game? You rubbed too hard, so I cried out. What is wrong with that?"

Grant shook his head. He knew exactly what she had done, but he did not call her out.

Nora rested her chin on her hand. "What do you think Elara looked like when she heard that voice message?"

Then she answered herself. "Oh, right. She is so sweet. She probably did not mind."

Something in those words made Grant's smile fade.

After he fixed his cuffs, he opened the door and said with certainty, "She says she does not mind because she is pretending. She minds more than anyone."

"I have been with her six years. I know her."

He called Elara first. She did not answer.

He sent several messages. She did not reply.

A strange restlessness rose in him.

Carrying that irritation, he went to see Grandpa.

The old man was sitting upright in bed, carefully studying two marriage certificates.

Grant relaxed at once. He smiled and walked in.

"Grandpa, Elara had something to handle, so I came first. Remember me? I am your grandson-in-law."

Grandpa looked at him, then at the photo of me and my husband taken in front of the city hall.

"Huh? How could you be my grandson-in-law? You do not look anything like the man in the photo."

He handed one over.

When Grant saw the photo, his eyes went wide.