Last Place in My Own Love Story

During my wedding, someone suggests that we play the game "one dollar and 50 cents". The host will call out an amount that the players will have to match by forming groups. I draw the 50-cent straw, and so does my best friend, Rebecca Cross, who is also the group favorite. My fiance, Ian Chilton, his childhood friend, Richard Price, his older sister, Anne Chilton, and my stepsister, Chelsea Whitmore, all draw one-dollar straws. For the first round, we need to make up a total of 1.50 dollars. I make a beeline toward Ian, but he gazes distractedly at Rebecca. It isn't until he is assured that she won't be eliminated that he finally loosens his painfully tight grip on my hand. Before I can truly feel my disappointment, the second round begins. This time, we need to make up a total of five dollars. Everyone instinctively surges toward Rebecca. I don't pester Ian this time, and he naturally fails to notice that I've been left out. It isn't until the host reminds them that they're 50 cents short that they reluctantly let me into their group. For the third round, we need to make up 2.50 dollars. It's clear that the six of us can conveniently form two groups of said amount, yet they debate heatedly over who gets to be in the group with Rebecca. As time is running out, Richard and Chelsea finally walk reluctantly toward me, having lost in a game of rock-paper-scissors. In the final round, we need to make up 4.50 dollars. As soon as the whistle is blown, they crowd together merrily. Ian even considerately wraps his arm around Rebecca's shoulders out of fear that she'll be jostled. Meanwhile, I'm knocked to the floor by the crowd, my palms digging deeply into splinters sticking out of the wooden floor paneling. From start to finish, nobody spares me a glance. In that instant, everything feels pointless to me. When we played hide-and-seek as children, they only realized I hadn't been "found" after nightfall. When we visited the amusement park as adults, they would always forget to buy my ticket. All things considered, it simply isn't polite to keep trying to fit into a small group that doesn't have room for me. Chapter 1 Shannon's POV "Ian Chilton, let's call off the wedding," I said. As soon as the words left my mouth, the atmosphere in the wedding hall grew tense. The host was left at an awkward loss for words. On the other hand, Ian's childhood friend, Richard Price, burst into laughter. He said condescendingly, "Shannon, stop saying things out of anger. Everyone knows that you can't live without Ian. All he had to do was make a casual remark about liking short hair, and you cut off the long hair you'd been keeping for a decade. "You were as fat as a pig back in junior high, but you went on an extreme diet for half a year and almost starved to death just to court him. Later, you heard that someone was trying to win his heart while you were in a long-distance relationship with him. "As a result, you bought the cheapest bus ticket and spent more than ten hours to visit him, all because you were afraid that he'd have a change of heart. If you really call off the wedding, you're the one who'll end up in tears." Laughter filled the venue, and the atmosphere became lively once more. Ian strode off the stage and placed his hand on my forehead, looking like the perfect boyfriend. "What's wrong? Are you feeling under the weather?" he asked. Perhaps because he'd been hugging my best friend, Rebecca Cross, for too long, he was giving off a sharp scent of jasmine. I was allergic to jasmine, so I reflexively pushed him away. "I'm not feeling unwell. I'm serious. Let's break up. I just don't think I'll be happy marrying a man who doesn't put me first," I replied. The guests immediately burst into an uproar. Richard was the first to express his displeasure. "Shannon, what's wrong this time? Do you really have to throw a fit just because you lost a game? That's such sore-loser behavior." Ian's older sister, Anne Chilton, sounded highly impatient. "Shannon, why are you so immature? There are so many guests present today! Are you trying to embarrass us by abruptly calling off the wedding?" My stepsister, Chelsea Whitmore, leaned in close to me, tugged on the hem of my skirt, and muttered quietly, "Shanny, don't be so sensitive. It wasn't intentional—we were all just too engrossed in the game. Everyone was having a good time, but you just had to be a buzzkill." Rebecca trotted over to me with teary eyes and said, "Shannon, I wasn't intentionally trying to steal the spotlight from you. The others were just overly concerned about me. This round doesn't count, so let's trade places. Please eliminate me instead. After all, you're the star of the show today." Ian frowned and tugged her back toward him. "It's not your fault. You don't have to make compromises at your own expense every time," he told her. My parents-in-law looked displeased. My mother-in-law, Helen Pennington, asked, "Alice, why is your daughter so ill-mannered? She just had to make a scene on such a joyous occasion. Look at how sensible Rebecca is! It would've been a blessing to welcome a daughter-in-law like her into the family instead." My mother, Alice Linden, hurriedly stood up and apologized repeatedly. "Yes, of course. You're right, Helen. Shannon grew up in the countryside with her grandmother, and she's always been a rebellious child. We were the ones who failed to educate her properly. Please bear with her…" As she spoke, she gave me a look that indicated she wanted me to quickly lower my head and apologize. I suddenly felt very aggrieved. When I was young, an old man in the village peeked at me while I was bathing, so the village chief summoned my parents home. I was fully convinced that they had arrived to speak up for me. However, my stepfather, Robert Whitmore, slapped me before dragging me over to apologize to the old man. "It takes two to tango. You were the one dressed too provocatively," he scolded. Mom sighed and added, "You're always giving us a headache. Chelsea's still attending tuition classes in the city, yet we're forced to rush back here to clean up your mess." That day, I cried so much that I developed respiratory alkalosis and even considered jumping into the river. It was Ian who grabbed hold of me and broke the old man's window with a rock. "With me around, nobody will be able to bully you," he declared. Rebecca slept by my side every night and helped me get through my trauma. From that day onward, I developed a deep attachment to both of them. I thought that even if the world were to cast me aside, at least I would still have them. But now, in a hall filled with guests and countless "friends", not a single person was on my side. In that case, I had no more lingering attachments here. The next moment, I took off my veil and walked out into the rain without a backward glance. Chapter 2 Shannon's POV After getting into a taxi headed for home, I could no longer hold back my tears. I was going to delete Ian's, Rebecca's, and the others' contact information from my phone when I realized that I'd taken Rebecca's phone with me by mistake. The members of a small four-person group chat were currently engaged in a lively conversation. Chelsea asked via voice message, "Should we go after Shanny? She looked genuinely angry." Ian replied immediately, "There's no need. She's easy to please and can work through things herself." Anne piped up in agreement, "Seriously, she's like a stubborn leech. No matter how much we bully her, she'll always shamelessly stick to us. By the way, do you remember when we played hide-and-seek during our childhood? "Back then, she hid in a large closet. We all deliberately remained quiet and even locked the closet from the outside. When the adults later found her, she'd almost suffocated in there." Richard laughed so hard I could just imagine his shoulders shaking. "Of course I remember! Her mother even beat her up after she got out." Chelsea added, "Every time we have a group dinner, we intentionally order extra-spicy dishes that make her face turn as red as a tomato. I told her that it was to help her become desensitized to spice, and she actually believed me. "Also, we all skipped the bill on her last birthday, leaving her stuck at the restaurant for three hours." As I watched the voice messages appearing one after another, I felt like someone had dumped ice-cold water on me. A second later, Richard sent an unflattering photo of me during the wedding to the chat. He commented below, "Honestly, Shannon really doesn't look like she belongs in our friend group. Look at her wedding dress—it cost thousands of dollars, yet it looks like something from a yard sale on her." Anne added, "Ugly people tend to act out more to get attention. When I went with her for the bridal makeup trial, she was incredibly fussy and dissatisfied with a lot of things." Chelsea sent an emoji of someone giggling with their hand over their mouth. "Shanny's always been stubborn and difficult like that. I felt a lump in my throat. Chelsea had clearly been the one to tell the makeup artist to do Rebecca's bridesmaid makeup instead, leaving me with an assistant artist. It was only after the assistant poked my eye with the eyeliner pencil several times that I complained once. As for the wedding dress, they claimed that the original had been damaged before the wedding and swapped it for a cheap knockoff instead. I clutched Rebecca's phone, my body trembling uncontrollably. Just as I was about to ask why they did all of that, Anne changed the subject. "Speaking of which, isn't it strange that she flipped out over a game today? Doesn't she usually just roll with the punches? Do you think she's figured something out? Could she have found out that Rebecca and Ian have been together for five years and that we've kept it from her despite being aware of it?" Richard replied, "No way. She's pretty dim-witted. She hasn't even realized that Rebecca and Ian have been living together for an entire year. "She didn't notice that we invited the teacher who used to physically punish her and caused her to develop depression today or that we ordered the jasmine flowers that she's allergic to for her bridal bouquet." I was aware that they'd been picking on me all these years, but I'd put up with it time and again because of what Ian told me. "They're also important people to me, so you have to learn to accept them too." I assumed that as long as I did better, they would be able to accept me. But now, it all felt like a joke. I was completely disillusioned now. I saved screenshots of their chat logs and then dialed an overseas number. "Mr. Lewis, I've thought things over and would like to accept the overseas posting." Chapter 3 Shannon's POV When I arrived at Ian's and my new home, I couldn't unlock the door with my fingerprints no matter what I tried. After knocking on the door for a while, it was Rebecca who finally answered the door. She held my hands with concern written all over her face. "Shannon, why did you run off without a word? Do you know how worried I was?" I retorted, "Were you? It clearly wasn't enough to keep you from redoing your makeup and getting your hair curled, though." She didn't expect me to expose her lie so directly and turned pale. I pushed past her and walked inside, only to discover that the house I'd only moved into the day before my wedding was already filled with traces of a third person. The bedsheets were all in Rebecca's favorite pink shades, and her mini hair ties filled the nightstand drawer. Besides, a couple's set of mouthwash cups was arranged neatly on the bathroom sink. Ian had stuck a sticky note for Rebecca on the refrigerator that read, "Your period's due in three days. No cold treats allowed." I suddenly found the situation ridiculous. Shannon Langley, you really were a dim-witted fool. Just then, Ian walked out carrying my favorite pastries. "Shannon, you're back. Guess what I bought? It was my fault for neglecting you today, but everyone was doing it for your own good and didn't have ill intentions. If they said anything to upset you, I apologize on their behalf." Instead of replying, I asked, "Why can't I unlock the door with my fingerprints anymore?" He looked away guiltily. "I lost a bet with Rebecca, and my punishment was to delete your fingerprints from the system." Afraid that I would get angry, Rebecca put on an aggrieved expression and grabbed my hand. "Shannon, you're not angry, are you? It's my fault. Please don't get into a fight because of me," she said pitifully. I irritably shook her off, feeling utterly disgusted. I barely used any strength, but Rebecca fell backward with an exclamation. Ian quickly steadied her before glaring furiously at me. He yelled, "Shannon, don't go overboard! What did Rebecca ever do to be on the receiving end of your tantrums every time? She's your best friend, not your punching bag!" Seeing how single-mindedly he was defending Rebecca, I no longer wanted to be involved with them. I grabbed my suitcase and walked out. Neither of them chased after me. It was raining cats and dogs outside, and I was soaked to the bone. When I finally managed to hail a taxi, my debit card was rejected due to insufficient funds. The card was linked to a joint account Ian and I had opened together. Back then, Ian promised me that he would marry me once we saved up a million dollars, because he didn't want me to settle for any less than I deserved. I scrimped and saved for three years, to the point that I even limited the amount of toilet paper I used. But now, there were only 23.80 dollars remaining in the account. The final transaction was listed clearly in the records. The money hadn't been spent on our wedding or marital home but on a custom-made Yiggarian piano worth 900,000 dollars. Feeling dazed, I called Ian to question him about the transaction. "You bought the piano for Rebecca, didn't you?" Ian admitted openly, "Yes, but I'm only lending it to her. 900,000 dollars out of that one million belongs to me. We aren't legally married yet, so don't be so possessive over my money." I felt chilled from head to toe. Ian and Rebecca were music majors, while I was tone-deaf. I suggested that Ian and I sign up for an adult hobby class so that we could share some common ground, but he chided me for wasting money. "Music requires talent. It can't simply be learned." According to him, it was a waste of money to try following in his footsteps. He was willing to spend on Rebecca, but I wasn't allowed to be too possessive over his money. Chapter 4 Shannon's POV After hanging up my call to Mr. Edward Lewis, I borrowed some money from an old schoolmate and flagged down a van. As there were only two hours remaining before my flight, I got in without much thought. Once inside, various past memories surfaced before my eyes. Soon, tears gradually blurred my vision. By the time I realized something was amiss, the van had already arrived at a wasteland. Alarm bells went off in my head, but I did my best to remain calm. "Sir, aren't we headed for the airport?" I asked the driver. Instead of replying, the driver floored the gas. Shocked and scared, I couldn't help recalling the recent missing women cases. I attempted to open the door, but the driver then started insulting and threatening to kill me. In a fit of terror, I quickly rolled down the window as he turned a corner and leaped out of the van. My body hit the ground with a loud thump. I felt as if my insides had been shaken loose, but I dared not tarry for even a moment and picked up my phone. However, my phone was broken and could only be used to call my emergency contacts. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and call Ian. He finally picked up after many rings and asked, "Shannon? What's wrong? If you're calling to apologize after coming around, I'm afraid I'm busy at the moment." The hospital's automated patient call system interrupted him. He continued, "Rebecca ate something bad during the wedding, so I'm at the hospital right now. Whatever the matter is, we can talk about it after I get home." He then hung up. Just as I was about to call him back, my phone died. I almost fainted upon seeing the driver walking toward me. At the crucial moment, an older woman on the way home from working on the farm appeared. Perhaps because he was afraid of leaving witnesses, the driver quickly got back inside the van and sped off. I was soon taken to the hospital. Fortunately, I hadn't broken any bones. On my way to settle the bills, I saw several familiar figures—Ian and his regular company. Chelsea had taken off her coat and was carefully draping it over a sleeping Rebecca. Ian held the IV tube in his hand, using his body heat to warm the medication. Anne had purchased some bread from the convenience store while Richard was on an errand to buy medicine. I couldn't help but recall an outing where I'd fallen behind the group due to lack of oxygen. Not a single one of them had felt sorry for me, who was laden with baggage of all sizes. Instead, I was blamed for keeping them from watching the sunrise. We'd both been sick, yet we were treated in completely different ways. I rubbed my dry eyes and changed my flight to one scheduled for tonight. On the way to the airport, I removed Ian's and Rebecca's chats from my pinned chats and deleted their contact information one by one. Just then, Ian sent me a text that read, "Shannon, I'm free now. Where are you? Do you need me to pick you up? I've already booked an appointment with the city hall tomorrow, so remember to come. "However, there's something I want to discuss with you. Regarding our previous plans to have our honeymoon in Septentria, can we settle with Norasia instead? Rebecca hasn't recovered yet, and the doctor has advised her against going anywhere too cold." I stared at the screen for a long time. I'd put together a thorough itinerary for this honeymoon trip, but a single word from Rebecca could so easily render all my efforts useless. Too tired to argue, I simply replied softly through voice message, "Okay." Ian replied immediately, "Really? That's wonderful. I knew you'd agree. "Shannon, I know you've suffered grievances over this period of time, and I'll definitely make it up to you. After we get our marriage certificates tomorrow, I'll treat you to the Fernanese cuisine you've wanted to eat for a long time. How does that sound?" I couldn't help but smile bitterly. I'd told him so many times that I wanted to try Fernanese cuisine, but he never once took me to eat it. I didn't want to hear any more of his false promises, so I closed the app. Then, I boarded the flight to Desvark without looking back.