My Fiancé's Earring Made Me Call Off the Engagement

1: 1

A video came up online saying that a guy with a pierced ear had made a vow to spend the next life with someone.

It made me think of Mason Rodriguez's pierced ear.

Smiling, I turned the screen to show him.

So who did you secretly promise your next life to?

Ali.

I stared at him, thrown, while his face stayed perfectly calm.

Alison Fox was my best friend. She was also his adoptive sister.

I thought about every anniversary Mason and I had ever spent together, how he always brought Alison along.

He picked whatever restaurant she wanted.

Even when we chose the wedding house, Mason bought the one in the neighborhood Alison liked.

When he bought my wedding jewelry, he picked the style Alison liked too.

No matter the occasion, Alison always came before me.

"This is the bridesmaid dress Ali picked."

I came back to myself and lowered my head stiffly.

I noticed he'd saved Alison in his phone as "my little darling."

Me, he'd saved under my name.

I'd once made a fuss and gotten him to change it.

He'd frowned and said it wouldn't look good if anyone saw.

The moment the picture came into focus, my throat went dry.

"She chose white. Isn't that a bit much?"

A white bridesmaid dress was the same as a wedding gown.

"I think it suits her fine."

Mason studied the picture with complete seriousness.

I remembered how bored and distracted he'd looked when he came with me to choose my wedding gown.

All at once none of it seemed worth anything.

There's no need to wait for the next life. In this one, I'll let the two of you have each other.

A key turned in the front door.

I looked up. Alison had arrived.

"Mason, come shopping for bridesmaid dresses with me."

There were only two keys to the wedding house.

He'd said,

"You have me, what do you need a key for? The other one goes to Ali."

Then one night I waited until midnight.

He called to say Ali was scared of the thunder, so he was going to stay with her tonight.

He'd forgotten I couldn't get into the house. He'd forgotten I was scared of thunder too.

I curled up at the door until morning.

Afterward I went and had my own key made.

"Elaine Summers's spacing out."

I snapped back.

"Ali gets carsick, so you sit in the back."

Mason used that same reason every time to put me in the back seat.

I'd gone out with the two of them so many times, and Alison had never once gotten carsick.

I was the one who stepped out of the car dizzy and nauseous, sick to my stomach.

The two of them talked through the wedding schedule up front.

"Mason, walk in to this song! I love it."

I heard Mason say yes, indulgent as ever.

No one had ever asked what I thought.

My head and my chest both felt thick and tight.

They looked more like the couple getting married than he and I did.

When we arrived, the shop manager brought out the bridesmaid dress Alison had ordered.

"Miss Fox has such good taste. This gown is very popular."

Alison took the dress and went into the fitting room.

Mason opened his phone, eyes bright with anticipation, and aimed the camera at the fitting room door.

The sight took me back to when I'd tried on my wedding gown.

He'd worn the same look then, and it had made me feel loved.

"Mason, does it look good?"

"The bride is gorgeous. And this must be the groom? What a match. Would you two like to try one of those photo poses that are trending online?"

The clerk pulled up a set of photos.

The groom sat with one leg crossed over the other, photographing the bride from behind in her gown.

Hearing that, Mason frowned.

"What she's wearing is a bridesmaid dress."

The clerk looked at us, embarrassed.

"Oh, Mason, don't bother. I want to take this one."

The instant Mason nodded, the fists I'd been clenching loosened.

Back then I'd wanted to take that photo too.

But he'd said, "Elaine, don't just follow trends. That one isn't right for us."

In the end we only took the tired, ordinary posed shot.

"I also want the one where you're looking at my back! Elaine, take it for us."

Stiffly, I took the phone Alison held out.

"Don't read into it, Elaine. I just wanted to do the trending pose."

"You've already made the bridesmaid dress into a wedding gown. What else is there for me to read into?"

Saying it felt like it took everything I had left.

"Elaine, I just think it's pretty. I don't want to embarrass you at your own wedding."

Mason's eyes went dark.

"Elaine, you're marrying into this family as her older sister-in-lawAli asks for one little thing and you have to nickel-and-dime her over it?"

From the day I met them until now, I was the one who bent for them.

They wanted something spicy, I ate through the stomach pain to keep them company.

They wanted the roller coaster, I choked down my fear and rode it with them.

And now I was the one nickel-and-diming.

He saw how white my face had gone and let out a sigh.

"Elaine, don't get jealous over nothing. We're getting married the day after tomorrow."

Hearing that, realizing he thought I was just fighting for his attention, the last bit of warmth in me went out.

I opened my phone and said yes to the overseas assignment the company wanted me to take the day after tomorrow.

2: 2

"Should I pick out a different one instead?"

Alison had tears at the corners of her eyes.

"No need."

"I knew you were the best."

I felt the warmth of Alison's arms around me.

After my parents died in the car accident, I'd closed myself off from everyone.

Alison was the first person in college to walk up and say hi to me.

She brought me along, remembered the things I liked.

She set me up with a boyfriend.

I thought I'd found a true friend.

"There we go."

Mason patted my head, satisfied.

"Then let's try a few more shops."

After that, every dress Alison tried on was finer than the last.

I said nothing more.

The message came through that my plane ticket had gone through.

Quietly, I ordered the things I'd need overseas.

At dinner, they still chose the spicy option.

I watched the steam rise off the boiling pot.

Maybe I just wanted to know, before I left, whether they'd ever cared about me at all.

I asked softly.

"Why not get the split broth?"

The moment I said it, the two of them across the table went blank.

Mason came around to it and frowned at me.

"Don't we always get the spicy broth?"

Maybe it was the steam, but my eyes started to sting like I might cry.

"But I've never been able to eat spicy food."

"We've already put the food in the pot. Next time we'll be sure to get the split broth."

The first time I ate the spicy broth with them, I woke up in the middle of the night with stomach pains and ended up at the hospital.

Mason looked after me the whole night, and when I woke, he said,

"From now on we'll get the split broth."

But every time we had hot pot after that,

Alison said the spicy broth was the real deal, and the split broth turned back into spicy broth.

I mentioned a few times that I couldn't eat spicy food, but no one paid attention.

Little by little, I stopped saying it too.

"Once Elaine marries in, her taste will have to follow ours."

Mason dropped a piece of sliced brisket coated in chili into my bowl.

"I'm done eating."

I looked at the boiling red broth and didn't want to swallow it down for their sake anymore.

I set down my chopsticks and got ready to leave.

"Don't ruin the mood. Worst case, we'll get the split broth next time."

Mason came over and pulled me back.

I looked up at him. The love that used to be in my eyes was gone.

"There won't be a next time."

"Don't be upset. We'll switch the broth right now."

Mason's face went dark, and he stopped Alison from calling the server.

"What's with the pointless temper?"

When he saw I wouldn't answer, he snapped, furious,

"If you don't want to eat, then leave!"

The second he said it, I got a cab straight home.

The moment I was in the door, I started packing.

Digging through the cabinet, I found a diary.

I opened it. It was Mason's.

Once I read what was inside, my eyes went cold.

It said,

"Ali and I are together now. I'll do everything I can to take care of her."

I gripped the diary hard.

At the very end, it said,

"Ali, in my next life I will marry you, no matter what."

Nausea rose in my stomach.

I didn't understand why Alison would set me up with her own ex.

And keep it hidden on top of that.

Then I saw the photo on the drawer.

Alison stood in the middle, with Mason's arm around her.

At last I understood why the way they acted together had always felt off.

Once I'd finished packing, I sat on the couch all night with the diary in front of me.

And Mason didn't come home all night either.

The next day, I took the diary to the wedding rehearsal.

I wanted to confront the two of them.

3: 3

"Bride, where's the groom? He's the only one we're missing."

The wedding host prompted me again.

I gripped the phone that no one would answer.

In the end, I called Alison.

"Something wrong?"

It was Mason's hoarse voice.

"You two are all that's left for the rehearsal."

"Got it."

After the call ended.

I heard the staff whispering nearby.

"They're getting married tomorrow, and they don't even show up for the rehearsal."

"The bride's been here waiting since first thing this morning."

"If you ask me, the groom doesn't want to marry her at all."

The staff had all clocked out, and they still hadn't come.

"I'll send you the run of the ceremony. Just follow it tomorrow and nothing will go wrong."

"Thank you."

They only arrived after everyone was gone.

"Do you two even know there was a rehearsal today?"

I looked at them, my face far from pleased.

"Elaine, honestly, rehearsal or no rehearsal, it's the same. As long as we're both there tomorrow for the wedding, that's all that matters."

"He's right, Elaine. The rehearsal's just a formality. Showing up is enough."

I stepped back, out of reach of the two hands trying to take mine.

"Still upset about yesterday? Next time we'll order the split broth, I promise."

"Don't be angry. Mom's still waiting for us to go book the reception."

Mason's mother had always been good to me.

Every holiday she sent me something.

She often called just to ask how I was doing.

She probably had no idea the two of them had ever been together.

At that thought.

I glanced at the diary I'd tucked into my bag.

What if she found out and couldn't take it, and passed out from the shock.

Better not to bring it out yet.

"Elaine, come look at what dishes you want for the wedding."

"I know both your parents are gone. From now on, I'll be your mother."

At her words, my eyes went red in an instant.

A warmth spread through me.

"Mom, you're so good to Elaine, I'm going to get jealous."

His mother didn't so much as glance at Alison.

She held on to me and went over the wedding details.

"Mom, Ali's talking to you."

Only when Mason spoke did his mother give a flat, indifferent hum.

The whole meal left me uneasy from head to toe.

I didn't know how to bring up calling off the wedding.

Coming back from the restroom, I stood outside the door for a moment.

And heard his mother's cold voice.

"Once you and Elaine are married, I won't interfere with you and Alison anymore."

My hand stopped halfway to the door.

I pressed myself flat against it, straining to make out what they were saying.

"I know, Mom. Elaine's a good person. I like her well enough too."

Alison's crying drifted out in broken pieces.

"Alison can't have children. Playing around with her is fine. Marrying her isn't."

My heart skipped half a beat, and the blood went cold all through me.

So his mother knew about them too.

"Elaine said before that she wanted to start having kids after the wedding. She even turned down an overseas assignment for him."

Hearing that, my whole mind went numb.

Now I knew why Alison kept asking me when I planned to have children.

And why she'd introduced Mason to me.

"Whatever you do, you can't let Elaine find out. The wedding's tomorrow, the invitations are already out. I won't be humiliated!"

"Mom, she's starved for love. She won't leave us."

The world went dark in front of me.

I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

4: 4

The moment I walked in, their voices cut off.

"Elaine, you're back? See anything else you feel like eating?"

This time I didn't take the menu his mother held out.

I dug the diary out of my bag.

And threw it on the table.

Mason's face went bone-white.

"Call the wedding off tomorrow."

His mother's expression froze, then she smiled. "What's this all about?"

Alison shot to her feet, worked up. "You can't call it off!"

"Is it so bad, me letting you be with Mason?"

Maybe it was the mocking smile on my face that set her off.

Her eyes went red as she stared at me.

"Elaine, don't be so ungrateful. Look at what you've got. How would someone like you ever have climbed high enough to reach our family?"

"If it weren't for us, do you think you'd be at the company you're at now?"

The company had sent me the offer before I'd even graduated.

They actually believed I only got in because of them.

"Sneaking around with Mason every single day. Aren't you exhausted?"

"Elaine, what nonsense are you spouting!"

Mason's shout made me turn to him.

"Mason, in the whole time we've been together, when have I ever wronged you?"

He lowered his head and said nothing.

I went on.

"You deleted the proposal I'd stayed up all night to finish, and I didn't say a word. You said you didn't want to do long distance, so I turned down the company's overseas assignment."

"Elaine, calm down."

I blocked his mother's hand as she reached over to soothe me.

"I am calm."

I let out a breath and looked at them.

"Mason and Alison want each other. Just give them your blessing, and stop letting them ruin other people's lives."

Seeing how set I was, Alison finally started to panic.

"Elaine, you always used to go on about how great my brother is. That's all me, I trained him to be that way, and I don't even mind you enjoying the shade. So just don't make a thing of all this."

"I do mind."

I picked up my bag to leave.

But Mason grabbed me, panic flickering in his eyes.

"You can't go! We're getting married tomorrow."

I looked at the piercing in his ear.

And remembered that a boy who got his ears pierced had made a promise with someone for the next life.

"You and Alison don't need to save it for the next life. I'll hand this one to you both."

Mason went rigid all over, but he still wouldn't let go.

"You're supposed to be marrying my brother, and you'd walk out on us? With a personality like yours, who's ever going to want you?"

"All this time, I've been your only friend. And I'm the only one willing to be your bridesmaid."

Alison edged closer to me.

Every word landing straight in my chest.

I raised my hand and slapped her.

She clapped a hand to her face and stared at me, unable to believe it.

Like it had never crossed her mind that I would hit her.

Then, furious, she ran out.

Mason's face was frantic.

"Elaine, you know how Alison can't stand pain, and you still hit her."

Finally he sighed.

"I'll come to fetch you for the wedding tomorrow."

And with that he went chasing after Alison.

"Elaine, Alison's right. If it weren't for her, you'd never have touched a class like ours. Think it over carefully."

His mother said her piece and left too.

I went home, turning their words over in my mind.

I gave a cold laugh.

Then took my suitcase to a hotel near the airport.

Alison had gotten one thing right.

I was starved for love, and I don't walk away from people easily.

But I'm stubborn too. Once I've made up my mind, I don't look back.

The next day, on the way to fetch his bride, Mason's heart was in his throat.

"Alison, I keep feeling like Elaine's gone."

"Didn't she already turn down that overseas assignment? There's no way she'd leave us."

Seeing how sure Alison was, Mason let out a breath.

He took out the key and opened the door.

The moment it swung open he went rigid all over. There was no one inside at all.