A Bet That Changed My Life

Marcus picked up a glass of punch.

We leaned quietly against the wall beside the stage, side by side. After a moment, he suddenly asked, “You still haven’t told me why you were at the city hall that day.”

I wasn’t great with alcohol. I could feel warmth slowly creeping up my face.

I narrowed my eyes and thought for a moment before replying, “It was just a coincidence, I guess.”

In truth, that day was my birthday. I hadn’t been in touch with Finn for a while when he suddenly contacted me, saying he had a birthday surprise for me. Even though I didn’t believe him, as I had been fooled by him more times than I could count, I still went, pathetically hoping to see it for myself.

When I was near the city hall, a loud rumbling sound suddenly thundered overhead. A helicopter scattering flower petals flew above me. Finn was sitting inside.

My heart skipped a beat. The petals were custom-made, each one unusually large, with words printed on them. I picked one up and unfolded it, my hands shaking.

“Be with me–”

At the same time, my phone rang. When I answered, it was Finn.

“I told you it was a surprise, didn’t I?”

Then, I froze because when I turned the petal over, I saw the name written on the back—Sophie.

Finn burst into laughter over the deafening roar of the helicopter.

“Ruth, she said yes! Shouldn’t you be congratulating me on finally getting a girlfriend?”

In that instant, my entire body went ice-cold. I couldn’t hear anything he said after that. I was suddenly taken back to the time when we were still in university, and Finn had confessed to me. He had lost a truth-or-dare game and picked me out of a group of girls.

It wasn’t a serious setting at all. I should’ve just laughed it off. However, at the time, I thought maybe he just needed the right moment and a little courage. So, I agreed, and just like that, we were together for four years, like any ordinary couple.

As I looked up at the sky filled with petals, I suddenly realized something. Between Finn and me, he had never once confessed his feelings to me sincerely. The thought of me made me feel exhausted, all at once. No matter how closely I followed behind him, there was never going to be an ending for us.

That was when Marcus walked toward me from a corner outside the city hall. His face was strikingly handsome, so much so that he was surrounded by people.

He pleaded with me, “Please. I’m really just passing by. Can you help me out and pretend to be my girlfriend?”

That same afternoon, we went straight inside and registered our marriage. It felt unreal. He said his family was pressuring him hard to get married, and I had been pursuing Finn for so many years—I was already twenty-eight. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but somehow, it didn’t seem like a bad one at all.