Chapter 3 — The Groom Swap on Wedding Day

Still recovering from my initial astonishment, he gently slid the ring onto my finger. I did the same for him. Zhou Che looked into my eyes and made a solemn vow: "Zhao, I have no childhood sweetfriends, no junior female mentees, and no female colleagues. In my eyes, there has only ever been you from the very beginning." After a brief moment of thought, he added, "Besides, the women always rule the roost in my family. My father says any major expense must first be approved by the wife." The master of ceremonies chuckled upon hearing this, but I did not smile. Zhou Che knew precisely what I cared about, and he was willing to respect my boundaries. Naturally, after exchanging rings, the bride and groom were expected to kiss. Fearing that I might feel uncomfortable, Zhou Che murmured, "Zhao, you do not have to force yourself. Shall I ask the emcee to cancel it..." I leaned in effortlessly and interrupted him with a quick kiss on the lips. Zhou Che’s eyes darkened for a fraction of a second before suddenly lighting up with a brilliant radiance. I said earnestly, "Zhou Che, I am not joking with you. Since you are willing to marry me, let us live a peaceful and steady life together from now on!" Zhou Che grabbed my shoulders, his hands trembling slightly, his eye rims turning a deep shade of red. He choked out, "Okay!"

Once the ceremony concluded, I retreated to the dressing room to change. My phone buzzed incessantly, displaying a call from an unfamiliar number. The moment I answered, Chen Yao’s shrill voice came through the receiver, lashing out furiously: "Zhao, you despicable bitch!"

"You called off the wedding in front of everyone and even let them beat up Yan."

"Zhao, if you have a shred of conscience left, you will immediately go apologize to Yan and reorganize the wedding."

I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. "Chen Yao, stop putting on an act." Silence fell on the other end of the line. I continued leisurely, "Chen Yao, the moment you demanded an exorbitant eighty-eight thousand for a form-of-address fee, you never intended for my wedding to go smoothly in the first place."

"You were never genuinely worried about Yan."

"You were simply terrified!"

"Because your unspeakable, hidden feelings ruined Yan's marriage right in your own hands, and you are terrified of facing the consequences."

Chen Yao scrambled to justify herself, "No, that is not it, I..." Too lazy to listen to her prevarication, I cut her off entirely. "Chen Yao, I am not your mother; I have no obligation to indulge you." With that, I blocked her number immediately. Zhou Che walked in and pulled me into an embrace. "Is there anything I can do?" I shook my head. "I will handle this issue myself." This had long been a knot in my heart. Whether it was Chen Yao or Yan, I had to face them myself and make a clean break. Only then could I walk toward my new life unburdened. After slipping into a red gown meant for toasting guests, Zhou Che and I went from table to table to greet everyone. Throughout the entire wedding, Zhou Che had bustled about taking care of every single detail at the venue. Our friends and relatives silently acknowledged his place by my side.

When we reached the table where my college friends sat, my former roommate pulled me aside and took out her phone. Giving Zhou Che a cautious, sideways glance, she handed the screen to me. "Zhao, we all know your character. Changing the groom at the last minute means Yan definitely crossed the line."

"Yet he keeps posting on social media, claiming that you abandoned him and chose to spend your life with another man."

"Moreover, Chen Yao has been making snide remarks in our college alumni group chat."

"Many people who do not know the whole truth actually think you are the one at fault. Do you think we should find a way to explain?"

I pondered for a moment and nodded. Pulling out my phone, I compiled all the text messages Chen Yao had sent me, the call recordings, and my chat logs with Yan, then posted the entire bundle on my social media timeline. I added a caption: Nobody ever warned me that marrying Yan would also mean becoming a surrogate mother and raising his precious childhood friend for free! My family is merely ordinary folks and cannot afford such a burden, so I am making my escape!

My roommate gave me a thumbs-up. She immediately came to my support, generously liking my post and screenshotting it to forward directly into the alumni group. The group chat erupted instantly. Quite a few members spoke up on my behalf:

"Good grief, I have heard of sky-high bride prices, but this is the first time I am hearing of an exorbitant form-of-address fee!"

"And it is not even meant for the groom's sister, but for some so-called childhood sweetheart!"

"Chen Yao has always been nasty, but Yan is a complete fool. He actually enabled a little green tea bitch to extort eighty-eight thousand from his fiancee. Was his brain kicked by a donkey?"

"To be precise, his *former* fiancee."

Naturally, a fair number of Yan and Chen Yao’s friends popped up to counter:

"Yan only did that to test Zhao's true sincerity."

"I heard Yan gave Zhao a bride price of one hundred and eighty thousand, so could she really not afford a mere eighty-eight thousand?"

"Zhao married another man right there at the wedding, who knows if he was just her backup plan all along? Do not pretend she is so innocent!"

I directly tagged the person who posted that last comment and replied: "You seem to understand my romantic history better than I do. Shall we discuss this in court?" The user instantly unsent the message. A quick check revealed that they had already left the group chat. Hmph. Cowards. My stance was so resolute that the voices defending Yan and Chen Yao dwindled to almost nothing. Turning off my phone, Zhou Che looked over at me with eyes full of tender concern.