The Wedding He Kept Delaying Was Never Coming

1: 1

My boyfriend came home from a business trip abroad with a whole haul of gifts and local specialties for my little sister.

Daniela Sullivan ran over to pick through them, thrilled.

I stayed where I was and didn't move. My mother looked at me.

Aren't you going to see what Irvin Sanchez brought you?

I shook my head. I didn't need to look to know.

All those gifts, every kind you could think of, and never once anything for me.

They chattered away, happy together, while I sat there like an outsider who'd wandered in by mistake.

Then, easy as anything, Irvin slipped Daniela a bank card.

"Here. Your birthday's coming up. Buy whatever you want."

"Irvin, I knew you were the best!"

Daniela was over the moon. She threw her arms around his neck.

Everything about them was warm and easy, and my parents were smiling too.

But I was staring at that bank card with the little cartoon fox on it, and my heart dropped straight to the bottom.

That was the card we'd opened together at the bank, the one where we were saving up the money for our wedding.

Irvin had said that once he'd saved five hundred thousand, he'd use it to marry me.

But at dinner yesterday, Daniela let something slip.

That was how I found out he'd already saved the full five hundred thousand six months ago.

Except that five hundred thousand was being set aside as my sister's dowry.

Watching the two of them laughing and talking in front of me, I lowered my head and agreed to the company transfer, then turned and went back to my room.

That wedding I'd been waiting for and would never get, I didn't want to wait anymore.

I'd let myself be worn down to nothing just trying to get close to him.

But from here on out, the road was long, and all I wanted was to take care of myself.

Seeing that I hadn't said a word and had just gone back to my room,

Irvin sensed something was off and followed me in, frowning.

"Hilda Sullivan, why aren't you saying anything? Are you upset again?"

"Come on, you're not actually jealous of your own little sister, are you?"

A flicker of impatience crossed his eyes, but he kept his voice soft, coaxing.

"All right, enough of this."

"You know how it is. I'm going to marry you one day, so I have to stay on good terms with your family."

"And I dote on Daniela like she's my own little sister. What more could you possibly want?"

Right. I should be satisfied. Grateful, even.

Because he really did treat my sister better than his own sister.

Better than he should have, honestly.

Every business trip, he came back with all kinds of gifts.

And here was the odd part: they were always exactly the things Daniela liked, as if he'd handpicked each one just for her.

While I, the girlfriend, got nothing.

I turned and glanced at that pile of gifts, already divided up, and gave a bitter little smile.

"So you came back from your trip with a gift for everyone. Where's mine?"

Irvin blinked, then broke into a grin.

"Is that all this is about? You're jealous over that?"

He reached out and ruffled my hair, the gesture affectionate and practiced.

"You know how Daniela is. She's young, she's sweet. Whenever I see something a girl her age would like, I know she'll be happy with it."

"You're my girlfriend. Do the two of us really need things like that? I'm all yours already."

He laughed, the same way he'd laughed the countless other times he'd coaxed me out of a mood, his tone just as easy.

And it sent a sharp ache through my chest.

But he hadn't always been like this.

He knew how much I loved little gestures, how much I loved the small ones he used to bring home for me on a whim from some roadside stall.

Even just a bunch of flowers, or a hairclip, and I'd be happy the whole night, glad that he thought of me even when I wasn't around.

But somewhere along the way, overlooking me had become a habit.

I looked him in the eye.

"That bank card with the fox on it, do you still remember it?"

His smile paused, then he gave a careless shrug.

"Of course I remember. Why bring that up all of a sudden?"

I kept my eyes on him. "Nothing. I just suddenly wanted to ask. How much have you saved up now?"

Something evasive flickered through his eyes, but he answered calmly enough.

"I was only fifty thousand short of the goal, but my mom got sick a few days ago and it cost almost a hundred thousand, so now I'm a hundred and fifty thousand short."

Irvin lied without so much as a change in his expression, then took my hand as though moved by feeling.

"Hilda, trust me. I've been working hard to save."

"A year at the most, and I can go to your parents properly to ask for your hand and give you the wedding you deserve."

"Is that so."

I pretended not to see the panic in his eyes and said it quietly.

"But I just heard Daniela bragging that you gave her a bank card with a fox on it and told her to spend whatever she wants for her birthday."

2: 2

Irvin's brow furrowed, a flicker of displeasure crossing his eyes.

"That Daniela's got no filter, she'll say anything."

"That card's just my everyday spending card. I was only teasing her with it. It's not the one where we keep the wedding savings. How could you take that seriously?"

I didn't press him. There was no point.

After all, I wanted more than anyone for the card he'd given Daniela to not be that Chavez Bank card.

When Irvin handed it over, maybe he'd forgotten.

The account had been linked to my phone number when it was opened.

Six months ago, that card hit five hundred thousand dollars, and nothing had moved in it since.

But three minutes ago, an account alert had popped up on my phone.

A purchase of thirty thousand. A Chanel bag.

And right after that, a bag in exactly that style showed up on Daniela's feed.

"Ordered a $30K Chanel bag on the spot! Birthday present from Irvin, he spoils me more than a real brother would!"

How badly I wanted to throw that post and that account alert straight in Irvin's face.

But I didn't.

Every time we fought over his favoritism, it ended the same way, both of us storming off with nothing settled.

Seeing that I stayed quiet, Irvin seemed to grow irritated.

"Hilda, we've been together all these years, and you still don't trust me?"

He sighed, his tone softening a little.

"You're the only one in my heart. Daniela's just my little sister. Do you really have to fight me over one card?"

He reached out to take my hand. I stepped back half a pace and let it pass.

"I'm not fighting."

I said, "Irvin, I'm just tired."

Irvin leaned closer, about to say something more, when a voice came from behind him.

"Irvin!"

"My dress zipper's stuck, come help me, quick!"

"Coming!"

Irvin answered in the brightest, lightest voice.

But when he turned back to me, that same faint impatience slipped into his tone.

"See that? It's your sister who needs me."

"Enough. Get some rest, stop letting your mind run in circles. I'm going to help Daniela. She's like a little fool, can't do a single thing on her own."

As Irvin turned and walked out.

I saw it clearly, that doting smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

The bedroom door slammed shut, and the sound landed on my chest like a dull hammer.

I sat on the edge of the bed, watching the dusk deepen outside the window, my fingers slowly tightening around my phone.

Even through the wall, I could catch the faint drift of their conversation.

"Irvin, I heard you lie to my sister. You already saved up the five hundred thousand, so why tell her you hadn't yet?"

Daniela asked in that innocent voice of hers.

"If she knew you gave me the whole bank card, wouldn't she be furious?"

Irvin gave a doting little laugh.

"I don't want to get married that soon."

"And besides, if I really married Hilda, I'd be your brother-in-law. Could you still hang all over me like this?"

"You silly little thing."

I leaned against the door panel, tears spilling over as I let my body slide heavily down it.

Just then, my phone buzzed again.

It was the confirmation email from the company.

"Ms. Hilda Sullivan, are you certain you agree to the transfer to Australia? This assignment will last a minimum of five years, up to ten. Please consider carefully before you reply."

Three minutes ago, I'd still been hesitating.

But now, the last scrap of hesitation left in me scattered like ash blown clean away by the wind.

I hit confirm.

The company had sent out the notice last month: eligible employees could apply.

At the time I'd swiped past it without a second thought.

Irvin's career was on the rise. At the rate he was saving, he'd have the five hundred thousand by the end of this year.

Our wedding was set, naturally, for next spring.

We'd already found the apartment. Everything was moving forward, step by step.

I couldn't leave. I shouldn't leave.

But not until yesterday did I learn that he'd saved up that five-hundred-thousand wedding fund long ago, and had never once meant to use it for our wedding.

He'd even lied that the money wasn't enough yet, only to keep stalling the date, again and again.

My phone buzzed once. It was HR's reply:

"Hilda Sullivan, your application has been approved. The transfer is tentatively set for one week from now. Details to follow by email. Please prepare accordingly."

From the living room came Daniela's bell-bright laughter.

And mixed in, my mother's doting fuss.

"You, always making Irvin spend money on you."

And Irvin's warm, mild voice: "Don't say that, ma'am. What's a little money spent on Daniela? It's the least I can do."

He wasn't wrong. Spending anything on Daniela was the least he could do.

But spend a single cent on me and it was like it might kill him.

Last year on my birthday, he came home at ten at night, empty-handed, said the bakeries were all closed on the way, he'd make it up another day.

That "another day" still hasn't come.

And when Daniela mentioned offhand last month that she wanted some trendy bubble tea.

He drove halfway across the city first thing the next morning to buy it, and it was still warm when he got back.

All the little rituals and care I'd waited for, hoped to have returned to me.

He gave every bit of it to Daniela, holding nothing back.

In that case, I don't want any of it anymore.

3: 3

Early the next morning, I was on my way out to work.

Daniela suddenly knocked on my bedroom door.

"Sis, let me use that most expensive bottle of perfume of yours!"

Her voice came through the doorway, full of righteous entitlement.

It wasn't as if she had no perfume of her own. She had a whole cabinet's worth, while I owned only this one bottle.

I didn't agree.

"Why not use your own?"

She smiled.

"I want it to spray on my shoes. Mine all cost a fortune, it'd be a waste, throwing good things away."

So she'd decided to use mine instead.

But my one bottle wasn't cheap either.

I'd been so careful with it, hating to waste a spray, and yet the very first day I brought it home she'd knocked over more than half of it by accident.

I'd been so heartsick I couldn't sleep all night.

And now here she was, demanding to borrow it as if it were her right.

"Can't lend it to you."

I refused without hesitation, and Daniela ran off crying, her eyes red.

Not long after, someone kicked my door open.

Irvin walked in, his face full of anger.

"It's just borrowing your perfume for a bit. Why be so stingy?"

"Your sister thinks of you whenever she gets anything good."

"How is it that you're the only one this selfish?"

Irvin had a good temper. Even when we argued, he had never lost it at me like this.

But now, it was as if I'd done something unforgivable.

"Irvin, get it straight, who exactly is your girlfriend?"

"I have one bottle of perfume. When someone wants to borrow it, am I supposed to hold it up and hand it over on my knees?"

"I'll ask you one last time. Are you lending it or not?"

Irvin's face was cold, with no room to negotiate.

"No."

"Fine!" Irvin let out an angry laugh, then suddenly pulled out his phone. "It's just a bottle of perfume. What's the big deal?"

Right there, he photographed it, ran an image search, and ordered Daniela ten bottles of the same brand in different scents.

Daniela froze for a moment, then it hit her and she jumped up, thrilled.

"Irvin, I must have saved the universe in a past life, you're so good to me!"

"Ten bottles of perfume, I couldn't spray my shoes with it in a whole lifetime!"

And I just stood there watching Irvin, digging my nails into my palm until it hurt.

That bottle of perfume was the birthday gift Irvin had given me three years ago.

Every time, I used it so carefully, terrified of wasting it.

And now Irvin was using it to get back at me, hard.

I said nothing. Lips pressed tight, I picked up my bag and turned to leave, and in doing so I accidentally knocked off the glass doll Daniela had set on the sofa.

It shattered into pieces.

Daniela's scream followed at once.

"Ah! Hilda, what are you doing? Even if you don't want to let me use your perfume, you can't take revenge on me like this!"

Daniela cried until her eyes went red.

"This glass doll was bought overseas, a limited edition, more expensive than your perfume!"

I was at a loss. "I didn't do it on purpose..."

"Hilda!"

Irvin's face darkened. "I really never noticed before that you could be this vindictive!"

"You're the one who broke Daniela's doll, so you're the one who pays her back for it!"

Irvin ordered me to take a part-time job in my free time after work and earn back the money for the glass doll.

All at once I remembered how it used to be.

Every time, I was the one doing the chores and cooking, while my sister lay around binge-watching her shows.

The moment I complained even once,

Irvin was sure to snap at me.

"Your sister is so thin, anyone can see she isn't eating or sleeping well, that she's always being put upon. As her older sister, shouldn't you feel a little more for her?"

"Instead of standing here jealous, you'd do better to go help your sister with something."

He was always finding all kinds of part-time jobs for me, and then turning around to take my sister to the movies.

To Disneyland.

They made so many memories together that even the wall in my living room was covered with photos of the two of them.

In every one of those photos, I was the only one missing.

Maybe I should have been used to it all along.

Over the next few days, I went to work, came home, ate, and slept, the same as always.

Irvin was still busy, sending me a message now and then, and I replied in a few words.

He seemed to sense something, but not fully.

He just thought I was still sulking over the gift.

So on Friday night he left work early on purpose, saying he'd take me out for sushi.

"Daniela says a friend recommended a place that just opened, the food's supposed to be amazing. Let's go try it."

He talked as he drove.

I sat in the passenger seat, staring at the streetlights streaming past the window, not answering.

"What's wrong? Don't feel like sushi? Then we'll go somewhere else, what do you want?"

I turned to look at him. "You're taking me out to eat. Why bring up which place Daniela says is good?"

The question caught him off guard, and then he laughed.

"I just said it offhand. When did you start taking everything to heart?"

"Is that so."

I looked away. "Sushi's fine, then."

There was still a message sitting in my phone, one the company had just sent.

"Hilda, for this transfer to Australia, you're the only young woman going, so make sure you're prepared. A car will come pick you up for the airport tomorrow."

Five minutes ago, I'd looked down and replied with one word. "Okay."

After all, I was leaving tomorrow.

This was the last meal. I'd just treat it as a proper goodbye.

4: 4

The sushi place really was nice.

Elegant setting, delicate food.

Irvin ordered a whole table of dishes and fussed over me, putting food on my plate and refilling my tea, playing the part of the flawless boyfriend.

If it had been the me from two weeks ago sitting across from him, I'd probably have been beaming by now, completely won over.

But the salmon sashimi I was eating tasted like nothing at all.

Halfway through the meal, Irvin's phone rang.

He glanced at the screen, his expression shifting in some subtle way, and then hit decline.

"Who was that?"

"No one. Telemarketer."

The words were barely out when the phone rang again.

He declined it. It rang again.

On the third time, I finally caught the caller ID on the screen: "Daniela."

There'd been a time when this stung me, when I'd resented it. I was her own sister, right there, and yet she never came to me when she needed help.

It was always Irvin.

I couldn't be bothered to get angry over it anymore. I just said, flat and even,

"Answer it. She might actually need something."

Irvin hesitated, then took the call.

On the other end, Daniela's voice came through bright and urgent.

"Irvin, where are you? My car broke down, I'm stuck here at the mall and can't get anywhere. Can you come get me?"

"Which mall are you at?"

Irvin's tone tightened instantly. "Don't worry, I'm on my way."

He hung up and looked at me, a little awkward. "Hilda, it's dark out now, Daniela's car broke down, and it isn't safe for a girl alone"

"Go." I picked up my teacup and took a sip. "I'll just grab a cab home."

"Will you be okay on your own? Or you could wait here for me. I'll come back for you once I've picked up Daniela"

"No need."

I cut him off. "She's waiting at the mall by herself. Don't make her wait too long."

Irvin looked at me for a couple of seconds, like he was gauging whether I was really not upset.

I gave him a little smile, and his face eased at once.

"Hilda, I always knew you were sensible. I knew you'd understand."

"I'll come back for you once I'm done."

He stood, grabbed his coat, hurriedly told me to text him when I got home, and left.

I sat alone in the empty private room.

In front of me was a table of food barely touched.

A server came over to ask if I wanted it boxed up. I shook my head, paid the bill, and walked out of the restaurant by myself.

It was the last farewell dinner anyway.

If Irvin wouldn't treasure it, why should I bother.

The night wind outside was cold, a faint sting against my face.

I stood at the curb flagging a cab when my phone buzzed again.

It was a post from Daniela.

In the photo she stood at the entrance of the mall, Irvin's car parked beside her.

The caption read: "There's always someone who shows up right when you need them. So lucky."

Just then a cab pulled up, and I turned my phone off and got in.

Back home, my mom was making chicken soup.

I chose my words carefully.

"Mom, I have an overseas posting starting tomorrow. I might not be back for a while."

Her hands froze over the pot.

"How long will you be gone?"

"Hard to say."

The porridge bubbled in the pot, the kitchen thick with steam, and I couldn't make out my mom's face.

I only heard her go quiet for a long moment before she spoke. "What about Irvin? Is he going with you?"

"He has his own job. He can't go."

"Are you two"

She weighed her words. "Did you two have a fight?"

"No."

I bent my head over the vegetables, snapping a green bean between my fingers.

"Mom, I just want to get out and see something new, change my surroundings. I'm twenty-six this year. I want to go out and make something of myself."

My mom didn't press. She knew me too well.

Ever since I was little I'd been the type to keep everything bottled up and say nothing. Once I'd made a decision, nothing she said would change it.

She only let out a long sigh. "Then take good care of yourself."

My eyes went hot, and I turned my head away, pretending to watch the sparrows out the window.

Early the next morning, over breakfast, Daniela was chattering away, delighted.

"Mom! Irvin says he's taking me to that new amusement park today. I won't be home for lunch!"

My mom said nothing. She lifted her head and looked at me, her eyes complicated.

I smiled. "That's nice. While you're off work, you should go have fun."

My mom started to say something, then held it back.

Soon Irvin drove up to pick her up.

Daniela had changed into a cute princess-style dress and climbed into the passenger seat.

Once, I would have made an issue of it.

The passenger seat was mine, and only mine. Why did Daniela slide into it like she'd always belonged there?

But I didn't have the energy to make an issue of anything anymore.

Once their car was out of sight, I picked up my suitcase and left without looking back.

It wasn't until Irvin had finished making the rounds of the amusement park with Daniela that it suddenly struck him: I hadn't answered his messages in two days.

The last one was the line he'd sent after leaving the sushi place the night before.

"Hilda, are you home yet?"

No reply.

And that morning he'd messaged me, "Are you free after work tonight? Want to go see a movie together?"

Still, nothing but silence.

After work Irvin went and waited downstairs at my company until it got dark, and never caught sight of me.

He went back to my place to look for me and found no trace of me either.

Only then did it hit him that something was wrong. His face went a little pale, and he ran upstairs and knocked on Daniela's door.

"Daniela, where's your sister?"