The Scorned Fiancée's New Life

For three years, my boyfriend Adelard's ex-girlfriend, Aurore, haunted our relationship with her fake brain cancer. He swore his devotion to her was just pity, a sense of duty to his dying first love.

Then, on our anniversary, he asked me to stand by while he held a fake wedding with Aurore. He claimed it was "therapy" to cure her jumbled memories and give her closure so we could finally be together.

He swore it was the last thing he'd ever ask of me. But I soon discovered he'd known she was faking for months. I found the love letters he wrote to her on our anniversaries, on my birthdays. His friends, who knew the truth, mocked me in a language they thought I didn't understand.

He had never loved me. I was just a placeholder, a convenient stand-in until he could get closure with his true love.

So when he publicly proposed to Aurore with a sky full of fireworks, I didn't cry. I packed my bags, took the company shares he'd 'gifted' me as a symbol of our future, and walked away.

The next morning, I put on a different wedding dress.

I was going to marry Grady Barber, the powerful heir my twin sister was supposed to marry. This time, I chose myself.

Chapter 1

The cold leather of the booth felt stuck to my skin. I' d been waiting for an hour. Adelard was never on time, but this was a new record, even for him. Our anniversary. He' d promised.

I stared out the restaurant window, watching the city lights blur. A familiar car pulled up to the curb, Adelard' s sleek black sedan. My heart gave a hopeful little jump, a stupid reflex I couldn' t control.

But he wasn't alone.

He got out of the driver's side and rushed to open the passenger door. Aurore Rivera, his ex-girlfriend, emerged, looking pale and fragile. He wrapped his arm around her, his head bent low as if listening to a precious secret. He guided her into the building next door, a private, members-only club we' d never been to.

The breath left my lungs in a sharp, painful rush. It was happening again.

My phone buzzed on the table. It was him. 'Sorry, baby. Stuck in a meeting. Be there soon.'

Liar.

My fingers felt numb as I typed back a single word. 'Okay.'

I stood up, leaving a hundred-dollar bill on the table to cover the water I' d barely touched. I walked out into the cool night air and didn' t look back. The pain in my chest was a dull, heavy stone. After three years, I should have been used to it, but it still managed to hurt.

I walked without a destination until my feet ached. Finally, I stopped under a streetlamp and pulled out my phone. I didn't call him. I called my twin sister, Hazelle.

She picked up on the first ring, her voice bright and happy. "Arah! How's the anniversary dinner going?"

"It's not," I said, my own voice sounding hollow and distant. "Hazelle, about your engagement... the one to Grady Barber."

There was a pause. "What about it, Arah? Did something happen?"

"Is the offer still open for one of the Galloway twins to marry him?" I asked, the words feeling like gravel in my mouth.

"Arah, what are you saying?" Her voice was laced with confusion. "You know I can't. I love Michael. We're going to get married."

"I know," I said, my gaze fixed on a crack in the pavement. "I'm not asking you to do it."

I took a deep breath.

"I'll do it. I'll marry Grady Barber in your place."

Hazelle was silent for a long moment. I could picture her on the other end, her brow furrowed in concern. "Arah... what did Adelard do this time?"

"The usual," I said, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "He's with Aurore. She's had another 'relapse'."

Aurore Rivera' s faked brain cancer was the ghost that haunted our entire relationship. Two years ago, she had tearfully re-entered Adelard' s life, claiming her cancer was back and she only had months to live. Adelard, my compassionate, ambitious, and utterly spineless boyfriend, had dropped everything to care for her.

He' d sworn to me it was just pity, just a sense of duty to his first love. "She has no one else, Arah," he'd pleaded. "It's the right thing to do. Once she's... gone... it will just be us. Forever."

I, a fool in love, had believed him. I' d waited. I' d put my life, my career as a chef, my everything on hold while he played the devoted nurse to a dying woman who just never seemed to die.

I was the one who found the proof. A stray medical bill I found in his car, a routine check-up for Aurore that showed she was perfectly healthy. I overheard her on the phone, laughing with a friend about how well her plan was working.

When I confronted Adelard, he admitted he knew she was faking. He' d known for months.

"I didn't want to upset her," he'd said, as if that explained everything. "Her mental state is fragile. The doctor said a shock could be very damaging."

The fight was ugly. He' d sworn it was over, that he would cut Aurore off. For a few blissful months, I thought he had. But now, here we were again.Another relapse. Another lie.

"Arah, you can't be serious," Hazelle's voice broke through my thoughts. "You don't even know Grady Barber. This is a business arrangement, a merger of our family's company with theirs. It's not about love."

"What do you think I've had with Adelard for the past three years?" I shot back, the anger finally bubbling up. "It hasn't been love. It's been a sick, one-woman show with me as the unpaid audience."

"So, I'm taking your place," I stated, my voice firm now. "You get to be with the man you love. I get to escape this hell. It's a win-win."

"I..." She sighed, a sound of defeat and sisterly love. "Okay, Arah. If this is what you really want. I'll support you."

"It is," I said, a strange sense of calm washing over me. The decision was made. The pain was still there, but it was overshadowed by a cold, hard resolve. "My relationship with Adelard Kim is over."

I hung up and started walking again, this time with purpose. I went back to the hotel where Adelard and I were staying for our "anniversary getaway." I took the elevator to our suite, my mind a blank slate.

I didn't have to wait long. A few hours later, Adelard came back. He looked tired and guilty.

"Arah, I'm so sorry. The meeting ran late, and then Aurore called. She had a panic attack."

I just looked at him, not saying a word.

He sat next to me on the bed, taking my hands. They were ice-cold. "Listen, I know this is hard to understand. But her condition is really bad this time. The doctor says her memories are all jumbled. She thinks we're still together, back in college."

I stared at him, my expression unreadable.

"She needs closure," he continued, his voice earnest. "Her therapist suggested something... unconventional. A way to give her that closure so she can heal and I can finally, truly be with you without this hanging over us."

"What is it?" I asked, my voice flat.

He hesitated, then plunged ahead. "We're going to have a wedding ceremony. A fake one, of course. Just for her. It'll fulfill an old promise I made to her. The therapist thinks it will act as a final, definitive end to that chapter of her life. After that, she'll be able to move on, and we can get married for real. I promise, Arah. It's the last thing I'll ever ask of you."

I looked at his handsome, pleading face, the face I had loved so much it physically hurt. The absurdity of his request was so profound it was almost funny. A fake wedding. To heal his manipulative ex-girlfriend's fake illness.

And he expected me to just stand by and watch.

A normal person would have screamed, or cried, or thrown something. But I was beyond that. I was somewhere else entirely, a place of cold, clear certainty.

I met his hopeful eyes.

"Okay," I said, my voice shockingly steady.

He blinked, surprised by my quick agreement. "Really? You're okay with this?"

"Yes," I said. "Are there any other conditions? Anything else you need from me to help Aurore heal?"

He seemed taken aback. "Well... she's going to be around a lot while we 'plan' this. It might be better if... if we kept some distance. Just until it's over. So she doesn't get suspicious."

He wanted me out of the way. Of course he did.

I gave a small, tight nod. "I understand. I agree."

He stared at me, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. He had expected a fight. He had a whole speech prepared. My easy compliance left him wrong-footed, and for a second, he looked almost... uneasy. But the relief of getting what he wanted quickly smoothed it over.

"Thank you, Arah," Adelard whispered, relief washing over his features. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I'll make it all up to you, I swear."

Before he could say more, his phone rang. His friends, the ones from the club next door, were calling him back to the party. He gave me an apologetic look, a look I knew all too well, and turned his back to me, his voice dropping as he spoke to Aurore.

"Where are you going now?" she asked, her voice a little whiny.

"We decided to go to the hot springs," one of his friends, a guy named Jin, called out. He was speaking in Korean, a language they all shared from their families. A language they assumed I didn't understand. "Just like we used to after exams!"

Aurore giggled, a fake, girlish sound. "Oh, stop. That was so long ago."

"Yeah, we all remember what happened last time!" another friend chimed in, and the group erupted in crude laughter.

They were a tight-knit circle, sharing inside jokes and a language that built a wall around them, leaving me on the outside. I had been on the outside for three years.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked, my voice quiet.

Jin glanced over, his smile strained. "Oh, nothing, Arah. Just old college stuff. Ancient history. Adelard and Aurore are totally over."

Another friend, Leo, muttered to Jin in Korean, "Why is she even asking? She wouldn't get it anyway."

"Just text her a ride-share and send her back to the hotel," Jin whispered back. "We don't need her killing the vibe for Adelard."

I felt a cold stillness settle over me. I had spent two years in night classes learning Korean, hoping to feel closer to Adelard, to understand his world, his family. He never knew. He never bothered to ask.

In a low voice, almost to myself, I murmured in perfect Korean, "They think I'm an idiot who can't understand a word."

I didn't wait for their reaction. I turned and walked away, leaving them frozen in stunned silence.

The emotional exhaustion hit me like a physical blow. I went back to my hotel room and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. When I woke, it was dark outside. My stomach rumbled. I hadn't eaten a thing.

I changed and went down to the hotel's lobby, planning to grab a quiet dinner at the restaurant. But as the elevator doors opened, my heart sank.

There they were. Adelard, Aurore, and their whole crew, laughing and talking in the center of the lobby.

Aurore saw me first. A malicious glint appeared in her eyes. She walked right up to me, her arm linked possessively through Adelard's.

"Arah! There you are!" she chirped, her voice sickeningly sweet. "I have the most wonderful news! Adelard just proposed! Aren't you happy for us? You will give us your blessing, won't you?"

Behind her, some of their friends looked uneasy. They knew this was going too far.

I looked past her, directly at Adelard. His face was a mess of guilt and conflict.

Then I smiled, a wide, bright, terrifying smile.

"Of course," I said, my voice clear and steady, ringing through the suddenly quiet lobby. "I wish you both a long and happy life together. May you be bound to each other, forever and ever, never to be parted."

I held her gaze, letting the true meaning of my words sink in. You made this bed, Aurore. Now you can lie in it with him for all eternity.

Adelard stared at me, his mouth slightly open. He hadn't expected that.

Aurore, however, preened under the attention. "Oh, thank you, Arah! That's so sweet of you." She turned to Adelard, "Honey, I need to go change for dinner. Wait for me at the restaurant, okay?"

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and sashayed towards the elevators, leaving a cloud of expensive perfume in her wake.

I turned and walked towards the restaurant elevators myself, wanting nothing more than to be away from him. But he followed me, stepping into the car just as the doors were closing.

The small space felt suffocating.

"What was that back there?" he demanded, his voice low. "Why did you say that?"

"What's wrong?" I asked, my voice deceptively calm. "It's all an act, right? We're all just playing our parts for Aurore's 'therapy'. I was just playing along."

He flinched, the sarcasm in my voice hitting its mark. He said nothing else.

The elevator opened onto the restaurant floor. I walked in and sat at a small table for two, ordering a steak and a glass of red wine without looking at the menu. Adelard sat down across from me, a silent, brooding presence.

A few minutes later, Aurore arrived, now in a slinky red dress. "Adelard, darling!"

He immediately stood up, pulling out her chair at the large table where their friends were gathering. He was a different person with her, attentive and gentle. He held her hand as they sat down.

Their friends started talking in Korean again, their voices loud and boisterous.

"Look at them! He can't keep his hands off her."

"Hey, Adelard, getting some tonight?" one of them joked crudely.

Aurore blushed and leaned into Adelard's side. "Stop it, you guys!"

Adelard shot them a warning look, but he was smiling. "Watch what you say," he said in Korean, his tone indulgent.

"What's the big deal?" one of them laughed. "We're all just celebrating our future Mrs. Kim!"

The title hit me like a splash of icy water. My fork clattered against my plate. I took a steadying breath.

Aurore's eyes found mine across the room. A triumphant smirk played on her lips. "Oh, Arah," she called out, "I was just thinking. Since you're so supportive, would you be my maid of honor? It would mean so much to me."

The entire table went silent, all eyes on me.

I took a slow sip of my wine before answering. "I'm afraid I can't, Aurore. I'm going to be a bit busy."

I smiled faintly. "I'll be a bride myself, you see."

Before she could process that, she was complaining to Adelard. "But darling, who will be my maid of honor then? I need someone special!"

"You're the only special one here," he cooed, comforting her.

It was the most excruciating meal of my life.

After he walked Aurore back to her room, I stood to leave. But one of Aurore's closest friends, a woman named Chloe, stopped me.

"You should just give up," Chloe said, her voice dripping with condescension. "Don't you get it? You were just a placeholder. Adelard was just using you to get over Aurore. He never really loved you."

The words were meant to be cruel, and they were. But they were also a key, unlocking the final door of my self-delusion. A placeholder. That's all I'd ever been.

The last flicker of love I had for Adelard Kim died right there in that overpriced restaurant. It was a quiet death, with no fanfare, just a cold, empty finality.

Back in my room, my phone lit up. It was a message from Aurore. Attached were dozens of files. Photos. Videos. Scanned letters.

"I thought you should see these," her message read. "Just so you know how much he's always loved me. He's kept every little thing."