Bridesmaid in My Own Love Story

The sound of car horns blared all around me, jolting me from my thoughts. I clutched my stomach, too terrified to speak.

On the other end of the phone, Yzail’s voice grew tense.

“Lanaya, something doesn’t sound right. Did you get into an accident?” His worry was unmistakable, but I knew it wasn’t because he loved me—it was just his instinct to help others.

“I was in a car accident,” I said quietly.

“Don’t be scared. Where are you? I’m coming right now!” he exclaimed, filled with concern.

By the time he arrived in the passenger seat with Zolenn, the traffic police had already handled everything. Yzail’s relief was obvious once he saw I wasn’t hurt, but I couldn’t ignore the sight of her sitting next to him.

Calmly, I asked, “When did you two get so close?”

He knew exactly what Zolenn had done to me, yet here she was, by his side. Had he already decided to make me the bridesmaid, leaving him with no need to hide the affair anymore?

Yzail looked a bit guilty, rubbing his nose as he replied,

“Lanaya, I went to the hospital to get our premarital checkup report and ran into Zolenn. When she heard you were in an accident, she insisted on coming to check on you.”

I watched them coldly, barely keeping my emotions in check. Then, I asked, “Is she here to check if I am dead?”

Yzail’s face darkened. “Lanaya! Watch your words! Apologize to Zolenn!”

Zolenn, eyes brimming with fake tears, reached for my hand hesitantly.

“Lanaya, I’ve regretted what I did for the past two years. I know I ruined your dream of playing the piano. It was my fault. Can you forgive me?”

After she said those words, Yzail nudged me, signaling that I should say something.

I turned to him, my voice soft yet cold, “Do you think I should forgive her?”

The pain of my severed tendons, the agony of never being able to play the piano again, the loss of my dream—it all flashed through my mind. But I wasn’t weak enough to ask him why he had fallen for her. That would make me seem pathetic.

Guilt flickered briefly across Yzail’s face. “Zolenn made a mistake in a moment of impulse back then. The law already punished her, and she’s been remorseful for years. She’s apologizing now. Why hold on to the past?”

A moment of impulse? Was destroying my future just a fleeting mistake for him? The chronic pain I endured whenever it rained was something I was supposed to let go of.

Not forgiving her made me petty in his eyes.

Back then, Yzail had been by my side in the emergency room, holding my hand, sharing in my hatred for Zolenn. Now, he wanted me to forgive her.

When he reached for my hand to encourage reconciliation, I slapped it away and said bitterly,

“Yzail, you didn’t have your tendons severed. What right do you have to ask me to forgive the person who almost killed me?”

If Yzail hadn’t blocked the knife that day, I wouldn’t even be alive.

Just because he took the blow for me, did that mean I had to forgive her? I wasn’t as magnanimous as he wanted me to be.

His face hardened, and his tone became authoritative.

“Lanaya, I’m doing this for your own good. You’ve always been withdrawn. Zolenn was your only close friend for years. Why not bury the hatchet and rekindle that friendship? You have to move forward in life, don’t you?”

His words were firm, almost domineering, but the warmth and tenderness I once knew were gone. The pain in my abdomen and heart made it hard to even breathe, but I noticed the hidden satisfaction in Zolenn’s tear-filled eyes. The same satisfaction she had shown when she had gone mad that day.

“Lanaya, even if you don’t forgive me, I’ll keep repenting. One day, I hope we can be friends again,” Zolenn said, her voice trembling with feigned remorse.

“Get lost!” I spat out.