False Marriage, True Love
My name's Mike Collins. I'm heading home to marry Lydia Lynn, my fiancee of three years.
When the car stopped at the rest area, Lydia said she wanted some hot water.
Wait in the car, I'll grab some hot water and be right back. I ruffled her hair and grabbed her thermos on my way out.
"Hurry up, don't keep me waiting too long." She leaned back in her seat, her tone a little playful, like she was teasing me.
The rest area was crowded, and the line for hot water took a while.
I couldn't stop thinking about Lydia as I finally got the water and rushed back to the parking lot.
But when I got to where the car had been parked, I just stood there, stunned.
Our white car's gone.
I thought I'd gotten lost in the wrong area, so I circled the parking lot twice, checked every corner, but still couldn't find it.
I pulled out my phone to call Lydia Lynn, but all I got was an automated message saying, "The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable."
That uneasy feeling kept swelling—I called her over ten times straight, but still no answer.
Just as I was about to head over to the rest area police station to report it, my phone suddenly rang. It was Lydia.
"Lydia! Where are you? What happened to the car?" I almost shouted it.
"Dylan and I are leaving first." Her voice was calm, not a trace of apology.
Dylan Jones—her childhood friend.
I'd always known he was there, and I wasn't shy about how pissed off I was about them being so close.
"What did you say? Dylan Jones? Why are you leaving without me? Didn't we agree to go home and get married together?" My voice was trembling.
"Mike, you're always knocking my relationship with Dylan. I'm sick of it." Her tone suddenly turned sharp, "You don't like him, right? Fine, then I'm leaving with him on purpose—this is my way of getting back at you."
"Revenge?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "We're about to get married, and you're doing this to get back at me?"
"So what? I don't want to marry you anymore." She said it and just hung up on me.
I stood there in the busy rest area, holding my phone, feeling this chill run through me.
Three years together, a wedding just around the corner, and to her, it was all just meaningless.
Turns out, all her tenderness and hopes for me couldn't hold up against one word: 'revenge.'
I took a deep breath and deleted the wedding planning checklist from my phone.
I'm done with this relationship.
After taking a cab from the rest area back home, I shut myself in my room for two whole days.
Mom and Dad could tell something was wrong, but they didn't press me—they just quietly left meals outside my door.
On the third day, my good buddy Leo knocked on my door.
"Mike, I know you're feeling rough, but you can't just stay holed up in your room forever." He sat beside me, handing me a beer. "I've got something to tell you. Wanna hear it?"
"What is it?" I was barely present and asked without much interest.
"I know this girl, Melody Scott. She comes from a really well-off family, but her parents are constantly pushing her to get married. She doesn't want to just settle for some random guy to ease the pressure, so she's looking for someone reliable to pretend to be her husband. That way, they can calm her family down—and she's offering a pretty decent pay for it." Leo Carter looked at me and said, "I think you'd be perfect for it. If you're up for it, I can connect you with her."
Pretending to be a married couple? I blinked, caught off guard. This sounded like something out of a TV drama.
"Why me?" I asked, confused.
"I told her about your situation. She thinks you're a stand-up guy. Besides, aren't you kind of in the same spot, needing to stall your family about marriage?" Leo said, "You two can just meet up first and talk things over. If you're not into it, that's fine too."
I was quiet for a moment, thinking about the way my parents were looking at me with hope, then about Lydia's betrayal, and suddenly an idea hit me.
"Alright, you set it up for me," I said.
After I hung up with Leo, I lay back on the bed and my eyes caught an old photo of Lydia and me on the nightstand.
In the picture, she was smiling so sweetly, leaning against me.
I remembered once she wrapped her arms around my waist, her eyes red, and said, "Mike Collins, all I want is to marry you. No matter what comes our way, I'll never leave you."
Back then, her eyes were full of sincerity. I thought that was forever.
But now? She didn't hesitate for a second to run off with someone else for some so-called revenge, tossing our future aside.
Those heartfelt confessions we once shared have now turned into nothing but mockery.
My phone buzzed. It was a message from Leo saying Melody Scott agreed to meet tomorrow, at a coffee shop.
I switched off my phone and flipped the photo over.
What's done is done. It's time to move forward.
The next day, I arrived at the coffee shop ten minutes early.
Not long after I sat down, a woman in a black dress walked in.
She was tall, elegant, and looked sharp.
"Are you Mike Collins?" She came over and asked politely from across the table.
"Yeah, that's me. You're Melody Scott?" I stood up and nodded.
"That's right, I'm Melody." She sat down, called the waiter over, and ordered an Americano. "Sorry, traffic was a nightmare. Hope I didn't keep you waiting."
"No, I just got here too." I said.
Once the waiter brought the coffee, Melody cut straight to it: "Leo Carter probably already filled you in on the fake marriage deal, right? Let me tell you what I need. We have to act like a married couple in front of my family, sometimes show up together at family events. It's for a year, and I'll pay you twenty grand a month. If anything unusual comes up, we can work it out."
"I don't have any problems, it's just that my family might need you to cooperate a bit." I thought it over and added,
"No problem. We're on the same page—both of us just trying to handle family pressure." Melody Scott was straightforward. "Alright, let's lock this in first. Here's the agreement—take a look, and if everything's fine, we'll sign."
She pulled the contract out of her bag. I went through it carefully; the terms were fair, nothing unreasonable.
"I have no objections." I grabbed the pen and signed my name.
Melody Scott signed too, handing me a copy. "Looking forward to working together."
"Pleasure working with you." I took the contract and slipped it into my bag.
As I was leaving the coffee shop, I unexpectedly saw Lydia Lynn and Dylan Jones standing right by the door.
They were holding hands, laughing and chatting as they walked out of the nearby mall.
Lydia was wearing the new dress Dylan had bought her, her face lighting up with happiness.
I instinctively wanted to slip away, but they'd already spotted me.
Lydia's smile froze for a second; she squeezed Dylan's hand tighter.
Dylan gave me a cocky look, wrapped his arm around Lydia's waist, and walked off without even saying hi.
I didn't care about their attitude—I just turned around and got ready to hail a cab home.
Just as I pulled out my phone, I heard someone talking nearby. The voice was familiar—it was Lily, Lydia's close friend.
"Lydia, I just saw Mike. He was alone, looking pretty miserable." Lily's voice had a hint of hesitation.
"What does him feeling miserable have to do with me?" Lydia's voice came through, laced with scorn, "Serves him right. Who told him to keep controlling me all the time?""Besides, what can he really do? Without me, do you think he can find anyone better?"
"But I heard he's been getting pretty close to some rich woman." Lily said.
"Rich woman?" Lydia snorted, "With him? Knowing a rich woman? That's definitely a lie. Even if it's true, she's just playing with him. He really thinks he can climb the social ladder?"
I stood there listening to her, feeling no anger—just a strange sense of relief.
Turns out, she never really understood me or appreciated what we had.
Someone like that isn't worth holding onto.
I never expected that just a few days later, I'd run into Lydia and Dylan again—this time on the way back to my old hometown in the countryside.
I was on my way back home to talk to my parents about Melody, but out of nowhere, I spotted them at the bus stop near the village entrance.
Lydia saw me, her face looking a little off, but she still came over.
"Mike, what are you doing here?" She asked.
"Just came back to see my parents." I said flatly, "What about you guys?"
"Dylan and I came back to visit my grandma." She said, leaning a little closer to Dylan.
Right then, the shuttle bus to town pulled up.
There weren't many people on the bus, and the three of us ended up sitting in the same row—I was by the window, Lydia in the middle, and Dylan on the other side.
All the way, Lydia Lynn and Dylan Jones were laughing and chatting, completely treating me like I wasn't even there.
"Dylan, you said last time you'd take me abroad to travel. So when are we actually going?" Lydia leaned against Dylan's shoulder, her voice sweet and playful.
"Once this busy period is over, we'll go. I'll take you wherever you want." Dylan gently ran his fingers through her hair as he spoke.
They were deep in animated conversation, from travel plans to dreams about the future, as if I didn't even exist.
I looked out the window, feeling completely numb inside.
The car stopped at a rest area halfway through the trip. Dylan said he was going to grab some water, and Lydia got off with him.
"Mike, you wanna come?" Dylan asked, his tone dripping with a bit of teasing challenge.
"No thanks, I'll just hang out in the car." I said.
After they got out, I leaned back in my seat and shut my eyes to rest.
I'm not sure how long passed before I heard the driver yell, "Anyone else coming? We're about to leave!"
I opened my eyes, looked outside, but there was no sign of Lydia or Dylan.
"Hey, driver, wait a sec — two people still haven't gotten back on." I quickly told the driver.
The driver glanced at his watch. "We've been waiting for ten minutes already. I can't wait any longer—there's another shift coming up."
With that, the driver started the car.
I hurriedly pulled out my phone and called Lydia Lynn; this time, she answered.
"Lydia, where are you? The car's about to leave!" I said, panic rising in my voice.
"We're already in another car." Lydia sounded relaxed. "Dylan said the bus was too slow, so we found a private car and left ahead."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I couldn't believe it—they'd ditched me again.
"Why tell you? You're not part of our group anyway." Lydia said matter-of-factly, "Mike, let me make this clear — it's over between us. Don't ever contact me again."
"Alright, got it." I said calmly, then hung up.
The car slowly pulled out of the rest area. I stared out the window as the scenery slipped away, finally letting it all go.
This whole thing with Lydia ended the second she walked away from me.
I grabbed my phone and texted Melody: "About the fake marriage thing — let's get it started ASAP."
Not long after, Melody texted back, "Okay, I'll take you to meet my parents this weekend."
I stared at my phone screen, a rare smile tugging at the corner of my mouth.
Maybe, just maybe, a fresh start was right around the corner.
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