08
The romantic moments that led up to the wedding were edited into a short video and posted online. Before long, it went viral. Many young women envied me for marrying my true love.
The day before the wedding, my uncle finally returned from the army. Coincidently, Tom and Jeff were coming around the same time with him.
They ran into my uncle right at the entrance of the villa. Unaware of the awful things they had done to me, my uncle invited them inside.
“I thought you both arrived in Ansel City a long time ago. Why are you only getting here today?” he asked.
For a moment, they were both at a loss for words.
Eventually, Tom, with a pale face, asked my uncle, “Uncle McKenzie, is Joy really marrying that stranger?“.
My uncle looked momentarily taken aback.
“How could a wedding be fake?” he replied.
Their already pale faces turned even whiter.
Jeff, still unwilling to accept the situation, pressed on, “Why is Joy suddenly getting married without a word? She promised she would choose between Tom and me.”
My uncle was a shrewd man. It did not take long to realize that something was not right if I did not tell them about the wedding. It seemed there was some understanding in play here.
However, he did not expose his thoughts. Instead, he teased lightly, “Is that so? Hasn’t Joy always seen you two as her older brothers? She agreed to this marriage herself and you’ve seen how in love that couple is.”
Something in his words must have struck a nerve because Tom and Jeff’s turned red with frustration.
When we returned from our wedding rehearsal, Keith and I were met with the sight of their dejected and heartbroken state.
My uncle, who was never one to miss the chance for some drama, pulled me aside. He then asked me a stern expression, “Joy, I am right, am I not? The man that I chose is pretty good, right?”
“However, you’re so ruthless. I heard that you did not give them any invitations. Well, they are here now. I want to see how you’ll handle this.”
I twirled the diamond ring on my finger and scoffed, “Well, they are not exactly important enough to attend my wedding.”
Love Fruitless, Why Long for is?
When he heard this, Keith immediately instructed someone to arrange a hotel for Tom and Jeff to stay and gave them an invitation each.
As impatient and hot–headed as always, Jeff tore the invitation into pieces.
“I never thought that after all our precautions, a schemer like you would swoop in to get Joy! What gives you the right to marry her? Do you even know what she loves or fears?” he shouted.
Unfazed, Keith’s eyes narrowed as he began to list every single thing I loved and hated, down to the smallest
detail.
He did not even spare them a glance and ended with a mocking remark, “I’m not like some people, who only remember Joy’s flaws while trying to please another woman.”
His words were a cold slap in the face, draining all color from their expressions.
Tom looked at me with regret and panic, then blurted out his apology, “Joy, I’m sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have spoken without thinking. Will you forgive me?”
“Marriage is a lifelong decision. Jeff and I don’t want you to throw away your future over a misunderstanding with a stranger,” he added.
However, the man that they call “a stranger” took a step forward and blocked me from their desperate gaze. “I think you’re misunderstanding something,” Keith said calmly.
“You’ve been by her side for ten years, but you let a cat come near her that made her into anaphylactic shock and she had to be rushed to the hospital to save her life. You even let her recover alone after that.”
“When a fire broke out at the building, you two ran off first and left her behind. Then, you still had the audacity to blame her for not saving the same cat that made her sick while she was dragging her suitcase and running to safety.”
“You made her sell the house she had lived in for ten years just so your precious Lizbeth could have it.”
“Oh, and let’s not forget, if it weren’t for saving that darm woman, Joy wouldn’t have almost drowned and ended up hospitalized! Perhaps you should figure out who truly saved whom and who showed nothing but ingratitude.”
Seeing my uncle’s stern face, I knew he initially thought I had been the one to exclude them from the wedding on purpose. However now, his expression turned deadly serious.
His sharp, predatory eyes lingered on Tom and Jeff.
“Everything Keith had just said is true, isn’t it?” he asked. He said it with conviction.
Tom and Jeff hung their head and kept their mouth shut. They were unable to refute his accusation.
