A thin mist formed a veil over what had once been a clear sky, stripping away its blue dress and replacing it with a dull, iron-gray shirt.
Elise sat on the bench, her tear-streaked face tilted up as she gazed at the overcast sky. The scenery perfectly mirrored her mood of falling from the clouds, only to be buried in despair.
Pregnancy isn't something that happens overnight. Life doesn't just spring out of a stone. If Graham had fallen out of love so long ago, why didn't he tell her? The thought brought unbearable pain, and a few more tears fell from Elise's eyes.
"What are you crying for? Was it because I kissed you and you felt wronged? Or was it because one little kiss wasn't enough to satisfy you?"
The man's words were carefree and unrestrained, momentarily making Elise forget her earlier sorrow. Her gaze lingered on him briefly before she turned her head away in silence.
"Hey, my lady, I only joked with you to cheer you up." Baden's tall frame moved closer, blocking most of the light. He adjusted her head, saying, "Look at me properly. It's rude to talk without looking at someone."
Elise was stubborn, especially in her sadness. No stern reasoning could get through to her. Though her face had been forced to turn, she still had control over her eyes, and she refused to look at him.
Braden was at a loss with her. He sat down beside her and absentmindedly toyed with the groom's boutonniere still pinned to his chest. His comical actions finally drew Elise's gaze. Her slender fingers stroked his chest for a few minutes, trying to unfasten the stubbornly secured pin on the boutonniere. "Alright, alright, I'll do it myself. It's faster this way." Braden placed her hand back on her knee and began unpinning the groom's boutonniere himself.
He thought, it must be such an eyesore for her.
"Honestly, I'm really sad." After a long silence, Elise finally spoke her first words.
Braden fixed his deep brown eyes on her, giving her a faint smile, but with a trace of helplessness.
Maybe it was because he was a man too? His instincts had always told him that Graham wasn't someone she should trust, but once she fell in love, she held onto her feelings, no matter what anyone said. As her friend, all he could do was give his blessing. If she was happy, then he was happy too. He just didn't expect the betrayal to come so fast, and with such cruelty.
"I said I was sad, why are you ignoring me?" Elise asked shakily, hurriedly wiping away her tears. Was he mad at her?
"Of course I'm sad too, I can totally relate." Braden said seriously, tapping her forehead repeatedly with his finger. "But I told you a long time ago, he didn't seem right for you."
"When I found out about his betrayal, I thought, if it was just a momentary lapse, I could forgive him." Elise clasped her hands, her expression heavy, biting her pale lips. "But there's a child now, and suddenly, I'm the third wheel, the least important person."
Braden paused for a few seconds, his eyes filled with disbelief, as if he were observing some strange, unbelievable creature that had just appeared on Earth.
"What are you even thinking? He's out of the picture, just find someone new. If you actually forgive a guy like that, you'd be the fool. If he's done it once, he'll do it again. Even if you're willing to forgive him, can you really say there'd be no knot left in your heart?" Braden advised her rationally, like an outsider.
Elise furrowed her brows, a sting of sorrow brewing in her nose as her emotions crumbled again. Her tears, like pearls breaking free from a necklace, splattered onto the floor, leaving a trail behind.
Realizing he had said too much, Braden gently pulled her slender shoulders toward him, guiding her head to rest on his shoulder with the palm of his hand. "Why are you crying again? I really shouldn't have said so much."
"I know everything you're saying, but I just can't let go. I liked him so much, I loved him so much. I worked so hard to become the person he liked, but why, why..." Elise no longer cared about keeping up appearances. The pain inside her made her unable to struggle alone any longer. She wrapped her arms around him, her unstoppable tears soaking through his shirt.
"It's not like you don't have your own qualities. Why force yourself to become someone he likes? If he only likes the version of you that you created for him, then he doesn't love the real you. He's in love with a fake, and a love like that, even if it leads to marriage, won't last. It won't bring you happiness." Braden gently patted her back, speaking to her in a tone as if comforting a child.
The truth was hard to hear, but sometimes you had to face it.
"Sometimes, I really envy you. You always seem so unaffected by breakups. You just broke up last week, and it's like nothing ever happened, but I can't learn how to let go like that." Elise sobbed, her words unintentionally cutting straight to the point.
"Hey, don't use this as an opportunity to take a jab at me, alright?" Braden pushed her away slightly, awkwardly wiping her tears from her face with his palm.
"Your comfort is so rough! You're gonna rub my skin raw!" Elise pouted, rubbing her cheeks in frustration. Having her face treated like dough was definitely not a pleasant feeling.
"If I'm too nice to you, you'll get too emotional and cry again, then what?" Braden pointed to the spot on his chest, now soaked with her tears, and maybe even a little snot.
Elise reached out to him, "Well, at least you can take off your clothes now, right?"
Braden froze for a second, eyes wide, crossing his arms over his chest. "For all these years, I've only seen you as one of the guys, like a brother. I know you're upset, but I really don't want our friendship to get... complicated."
Especially since they were in a park. Seriously, could she pick a worse place for this?
"I meant your suit jacket! I'll wash it and give it back, okay?" Elise growled, straddling Braden, determined to wrestle the jacket off him.
------
After dropping off Baden's suit jacket at the cleaners, Elise hailed a taxi and headed home. He had offered to drive her back, but some last-minute issue popped up with his company's project, and he had to apologize before rushing back to the office.
He had spent the entire afternoon by her side, chatting with her, trying to lift her spirits. For a brief moment, she thought, what a shame... he wasn't Graham, the man she truly loved.
The ridiculous wedding had played out, and the not-so-perfect love story had come to an end. The one silver lining? She and Graham hadn't bought a house yet. Now that they'd broken up, there was nothing tying them together—at least they could part ways cleanly.
As soon as she opened the door to her home, her mother rushed over, worry etched on her face, giving her daughter a once-over.
"Elise, you're finally back. You have no idea how worried your father and I were." Once her mother confirmed she was safe, she pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Mom, I'm twenty-nine. I'm not a kid anymore." Elise pushed aside her earlier heartache, her eyes curving into little crescents as she smiled.
"No matter how old you are, you'll always be my little girl. If you're upset, if you're hurt, you can always tell me. If you really don't want to get married, don't force yourself. This will always be your home. Even if you never want to get married, your father and I will be just fine with that," her mother said, brushing a few strands of graying hair behind her ears.
That small, unintentional gesture burned itself into Elise's heart. She felt a deep guilt for worrying her parents all afternoon, being so wrapped up in her own misery that she forgot they were anxiously waiting for her return.
"I wouldn't say I was pitiful. I thought today would be a huge joke, but Braden came through for me. I called him the night before, told him what was going on, and he agreed to help me out. So, really, I wasn't that unfortunate," Elise said, trying to sound strong. She poured herself a glass of water, hoping it would help suppress the grief threatening to overflow once again.
"Speaking of which, your father and I still haven't thanked Braden. Is he busy with work again?" With a new topic in hand, her mother shifted the focus to Braden.
"That's just how his company is, right? It's a gaming company. I think something went wrong during the testing phase, and they needed him to go back and fix it," Elise said, swirling the glass in her hand, wishing it were a magic potion that could help her forget everything.
"Make sure to tell him that we'll treat him to a meal sometime to thank him for helping out today," her mother continued. "You must be exhausted. Have you eaten yet?"
Elise shook her head. "I'm not hungry yet. If I get hungry, I'll cook something for myself."
Her mother's gaze softened as she gently reminded her, "Alright, I have to revise some exam questions tomorrow morning, so I'll head to bed. Don't stay up too late, okay?"
Elise nodded, watching as her mother's figure disappeared down the hallway, step by step, back to her father's room.
Sitting alone in the living room only added to her frustration. Elise turned off the lights and walked into her room, clutching her cup.
Tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep, Elise unlocked her phone and opened a social app. The first image that popped up was a photo of her mother visiting a young female teacher at the hospital a few days ago. The teacher, with long black curly hair, was surnamed House and had just given birth to a daughter.
It was said that Mrs. House and her husband had been friends for years. They hadn't planned to be together, but fate had a way of turning friendship into love, and after overcoming many obstacles, they were finally able to marry.
As a result, her mother would casually mention Braden, always managing to praise him in front of her.
Only she and Braden knew that even if they held hands, they would never feel that electric spark of love.
"Elise, just a reminder, when you return to work in a few days, you need to submit the next Chapter of your story. Otherwise, it won't make it into the next game update," texted her supervisor, Madisyn Bass.
Elise gave a bitter smile. Yes, there were only three days left of her wedding leave. It was time to refocus and pour her energy into work.
Like Braden, she worked at a gaming company, but theirs were different companies, and they did different things. He was one of the developers, while she wrote romantic storylines, mostly for otome-style games.
In the game, her heroine, Sabrina Haley, was about to reach her happy ending. Yet, her own life had just taken a tragic turn. How could it be that, despite both being women, her own fate was worse than that of her virtual character?
Elise opened her computer and pulled up her unfinished story draft. She wrote only three lines before stopping. She just couldn't find the motivation to continue.
"Braden, are you still working overtime?" Elise called him. The first thing she asked was whether he was free to chat.
"I was just about to leave the office, what's up?" came Baden's voice from the other end, followed by a yawn, clearly exhausted from work.
"How did you get over the sadness from your breakup last week?" Elise asked earnestly. She figured it made sense to ask someone who had been through it.
Braden paused for a few seconds, then sighed lightly. "There wasn't much to be sad about. Uh, no... What I mean is, if it wasn't meant to be, there's no point in dwelling on the sadness. Breaking up because you're not right for each other is actually a good thing for both sides."
He almost slipped, nearly mentioning how he had gone to karaoke with his buddies the night of the breakup to celebrate.
Really? Why does it feel like he's just talking nonsense?"What does that even mean?"
"It means it sounded like a load of nonsense..." Elise held her phone farther away, not wanting him to catch every word in case he decided to scold her.
Braden cleared his throat. "Ahem, don't think I didn't hear what you just said."
Elise stifled a laugh. "I didn't say anything."
"But you're still awake. You're not still upset, are you?" Braden, too tired to maintain his image, cut straight to the point.
It didn't make sense for Elise, who always went to bed early, to be awake at midnight just to hear him talk... nonsense.
"Yes and no. Half of my mind is sad, and the other half is focused on work. I have to go back to work in a few days, but I haven't finished my story. So, I'm thinking about how to continue it." As she spoke, Elise's fingers tapped on her keyboard, typing a few words before saving the file.
"You're in a bad mood, probably haven't eaten yet, right? How about I take you for a late-night snack and we invite my cousin too?" Braden suggested. He had spent the entire afternoon with Elise without having lunch, and now it was already midnight—he was truly hungry.
"Invite Ruth? Of course, that's perfect!" Elise's mood improved dramatically the moment she heard that Ruth would join them.
She, Braden, and Ruth had grown up together, but after they started working, they rarely saw Ruth. Now being able to catch up and vent a little sounded great.
"Yeah, otherwise I'm afraid you'll get handsy with me again, and I can't handle that." Braden teased her.
"Sorry, but I'm not the woman you think I am!" Elise gripped her phone tightly, though not hard enough to break it. Otherwise, she might have been the first woman in her friend group to crush her phone like a superhero.
