Ding
I check my phone, only to find my mom's text. I read the text over the notification bar while the makeup artist was discussing my final makeup touches with my sister.
"The groom ran away."
What the…
One day left until the wedding, my mom texts me that the groom ran away.
I quickly get up from my dressing table to rush to my future in-laws' house, where my mom claimed to be at that moment. As my sister rushed to stop me talking about how there's almost no time left for the wedding, I quickly whisper to her not to waste her energy too much, since the wedding might as well be cancelled. Leaving my shocked sister, I take a cab, hoping to somehow manage to save face in front of hundreds of people tomorrow.
Half an hour later,
As I enter the huge mansion, I find all the elders together, sitting in the living room, their faces telling me I still don't have a groom for the wedding that's about to take place soon.
"What happened?" I ask, directed at no one specific, hoping someone would give me a proper answer. After all, everyone had a habit of twisting the truth.
"Ron, he ran away," my mom said again, as if she didn't already inform me of that over text.
"Yeah, I heard that half an hour ago. Something more detailed please," I said as I took a seat beside my mom. A quick scan let me know that even Ron's older brother, who's rarely around, was present. Being a strictly principled person, he might be feeling anger only second to mine.
"It's that girl again. That girl from the countryside. He just left a letter on his bed and left. We found out just a little while ago, when we went to wake him up," my to-be mother-in-law said, guilt shadowing her face.
"Where's the letter?" I asked, already guessing the contents.
Dear parents,
I know what I'm about to do is going to bring you embarrassment and I truly wish there was some other solution to this. However, it is clear that you will not accept Jasmine as my wife and I cannot live without Jasmine. Going through this marriage will ultimately cause all three of us—me, Jasmine, and Ariana—
How dare he use my name!
—to be extremely unhappy. So I'm leaving. I hope one day you will be able to accept me and Jasmine. I also wholeheartedly apologize to Ariana for the trouble she'll be going through. I hope all of you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
That's it. This is all he had to say while leaving me to deal with this mess alone. I crumple up the piece of paper and look at Mrs. Caldwell, the woman who I thought would be my mother-in-law even a few hours ago.
Suppressing my anger, I ask, "So? What are we going to do now? The wedding is tomorrow. It can't be canceled now."
"Don't worry honey, we are trying our best to find him."
"And what if you can't find him before then? And even if you do, how does that matter? I'm not going to marry someone so unwilling to marry me."
Sure, this marriage may be for mutual benefits, but there's something called mutual respect as well. And I'm not going to get married without that.
"We all thought he was over that girl. Everyone can see she's after his money. I just don't understand why he is so blind?" Mrs. Caldwell asks no one specifically, crying.
"Auntie, we need a solution right now."
Everyone goes quiet for a while. As everyone is thinking, I lock eyes with him, Adrian Caldwell, and a bold idea passes my mind.
"Adrian Caldwell," I call out loudly, "if I'm not wrong, you're single right?"
A look of confusion passes through everyone's face at my untimely question.
Confused, he answers, "Yes, I am," his face asking me why.
I then turn my attention to Mrs. Caldwell. "Auntie, I'm sure cancellation of this wedding is something none of us wants, right?"
It was true. I was the perfect daughter-in-law for them. Good family background, good education, strong and self-made career, and most importantly, I got along well with everyone in the family. As for me, this wedding was even more perfect. The Caldwells were generally good people, kind and easy-going. And they were about to invest a large amount of money in my father's company for this marriage. This was a wedding I absolutely couldn't let go.
"Of course, Ana. You know how much I like you. It's that brat who doesn't know how to separate pearls from stones."
"Then Auntie, if the groom's not here, why don't we switch him?"
Before anyone could process what I said and make any comments, I look at Adrian and ask, "Would you like to marry me?"