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Love Is a Hymn to the Brave
Novelix
new
Completed
"When my fiancé Henry announced yet another relationship, he tagged me on Instagram as usual. “Number twenty-one. Six more, and once our ex counts are even, I’ll marry you.” The attached photo was still from our unfinished wedding two years ago, along with the twenty-seven “intimate photos” that had ruined me. My parents immediately liked the post. Our friends flooded the comments, praising Henry for being generous enough to give a woman like me another chance. Not long after, Henry messaged me privately. “This one’s going to last a few months longer. Once I break up with her, we’ll get married.” Almost at the same time, my best friend Alva sent me an ultrasound report. “Chloe, I only started dating Henry to help you two reach the number in your agreement, but something unexpected happened.” “Can you wait until after I have the baby before you marry him? I still want to be your bridesmaid.” I stared at the screen and suddenly realized that the two years I’d spent desperately trying to prove myself—and waiting for him—had all been one big joke. I didn’t reply to either of them. Instead, I lowered my head and ran my fingers through the curly hair of the young man resting in my arms. Elton, heir to a Mafia family, looked up at me and spoke softly. “Chloe, are you sure you don’t need me to get rid of him?” Two years was a long time. Long enough for Henry to cycle through twenty-one women. Long enough for me to stop begging him to tear up that ridiculous “equal-exes agreement.” This time, I had a relationship of my own to announce."
Chapters (3)
第1章
When my fiancé Henry announced yet another relationship, he tagged me on Instagram as usual.
“Number twenty-one. Six more, and once our ex counts are even, I’ll marry you.”
The attached photo was still from our unfinished wedding two years ago, along with the twenty-seven “intimate photos” that had ruined me.
My parents immediately liked the post. Our friends flooded the comments, praising Henry for being generous enough to give a woman like me another chance.
Not long after, Henry messaged me privately.
“This one’s going to last a few months longer. Once I break up with her, we’ll get married.”
Almost at the same time, my best friend Alva sent me an ultrasound report.
“Chloe, I only started dating Henry to help you two reach the number in your agreement, but something unexpected happened.”
“Can you wait until after I have the baby before you marry him? I still want to be your bridesmaid.”
I stared at the screen and suddenly realized that the two years I’d spent desperately trying to prove myself—and waiting for him—had all been one big joke.
I didn’t reply to either of them.
Instead, I lowered my head and ran my fingers through the curly hair of the young man resting in my arms.
Elton, heir to a Mafia family, looked up at me and spoke softly.
“Chloe, are you sure you don’t need me to get rid of him?”
Two years was a long time.
Long enough for Henry to cycle through twenty-one women.
Long enough for me to stop begging him to tear up that ridiculous “equal-exes agreement.”
This time, I had a relationship of my own to announce.
...
My phone buzzed several times.
Mom and Dad had finally taken me off their block list.
Our chat history was still frozen two years in the past, filled with vicious words like “slut” and “why don’t you just die?”
Now, beneath all those insults, there was finally one calm message.
“Come home for dinner.”
I stared at it for a moment before replying.
“Okay.”
The Uber ride from my Brooklyn apartment to my family’s Upper East Side home took only half an hour.
But ever since they’d thrown me out two years ago, I’d never made that trip again.
“Don’t ever come back! If we see you anywhere near this house again, you’ll make us sick!”
I stood outside the familiar door.
Laughter drifted from inside.
I raised my hand, but I couldn’t bring myself to knock.
Instead, I sent a message.
“I’m here.”
The house went silent instantly.
A moment later, the door opened.
“Chloe. You’re here.”
Alva was the one who opened it.
Her stomach was slightly rounded, her cheeks rosy, and she had the glow of someone who had been carefully cherished.
Henry came up behind her and slipped a protective arm around her waist.
He gave me an indifferent glance.
“Forgot to tell you. Alva’s my girlfriend now.”
His tone was distant, as if he were introducing his girlfriend to some insignificant acquaintance from his past.
After a long silence, I said only one thing.
“Congratulations.”
Henry froze slightly, apparently not expecting me to be so calm.
I looked past them toward the dining table.
The steaks were already half-eaten. Red wine sat breathing in their glasses.
There wasn’t even a place setting for me.
Mom didn’t bother looking up.
“We didn’t ask you back because we actually wanted you to eat with us. We just needed to tell you something.”
“I’ve made Alva my goddaughter.”
“She’s pregnant with Henry’s child. Our family’s bloodline cannot have a child branded illegitimate, so they’re getting married next week.”
“If you dare interfere and become the other woman, I’ll remove you from the family trust immediately.”
Henry frowned and was about to speak, but Alva’s eyes had already reddened.
“Chloe, I only started dating Henry because I wanted to help you two fulfill the agreement. I never expected to get pregnant.”
“We’re only getting married to protect the family’s reputation and keep the media from labeling the baby illegitimate.”
“Once the baby’s older, we’ll divorce. I’m not trying to steal Henry from you. I still want to be your bridesmaid.”
Henry’s expression softened immediately when he looked at her.
When he turned to me, his voice hardened.
“Chloe, you were my first love. I promised I’d marry you, and I’m not going back on that promise. We’re just modifying the agreement.”
“Once Alva and I divorce, I’ll honor our engagement. Just wait a little longer, okay?”
I looked at him and suddenly remembered two years ago.
At our wedding, twenty-seven fabricated intimate photos had been enough to convince him that I had an extensive sexual history.
Afterward, he forced me to sign an agreement stating that he had to date twenty-seven women before he could forgive me.
And now he was about to marry my best friend while expecting me to keep waiting for him.
I nodded calmly.
“Whatever you decide.”
Everyone at the table froze.
In the past, I would’ve waved the forensic reports in front of them and explained over and over that the photos were fake.
I would’ve begged them to believe me.
But now I understood.
Whether those photos were real had never mattered to them.
“If that’s all you wanted to tell me, then I know now.”
I turned and left.
Not one person tried to stop me.
The door closed behind me.
My phone buzzed.
It was Elton.
“Chloe, I saved you a sandwich and some hot soup. When are you coming home?”
I stared at the message.
For the first time in a long while, I realized there was at least one place in this world where someone was genuinely waiting for me to come home.
第2章
“Right now.”
When I returned to the apartment, I received an audio recording from Alva.
I tapped play.
Mom’s voice came through.
“Henry, haven’t you had enough fun these past two years?”
“We understood how you felt as a man, so we let you humiliate Chloe with that agreement even though you knew there was nothing wrong with her character.”
“But Alva’s pregnant now. Build a proper life with her and stop getting involved with Chloe.”
“Back then, Alva came to me crying and begged me not to clear Chloe’s name. She’s my best friend’s daughter. I had to help her.”
After a long silence, Henry answered.
“I understand, Aunt Judy. I won’t let Alva down.”
The recording ended there.
I started laughing.
Then tears streamed down my face.
So their silence back then had never been about protecting the family’s reputation.
It was simply because I wasn’t worth it.
I wasn’t worth betraying a friendship for.
I wasn’t worth giving up his fun for.
The wedding two years ago remained a nightmare I could never escape.
I had knelt before Henry and my parents, covered in mud.
In front of every guest, I cried and begged them to believe me.
I begged them to have the photos authenticated.
Henry removed the matching bracelet he’d worn for six years and grabbed the microphone.
“You were my only first love, and I was your twenty-eighth toy!”
“Chloe, you’re disgusting!”
Heat gradually spread through my body.
Through the feverish haze, I remembered the first time I met Henry.
At twenty, he’d stood on campus clutching a stack of heavy books, arguing with several guys about whether a woman’s worth should be determined by her virginity.
“Body count? It’s the twenty-first century and you’re still slut-shaming women? Real respect means never defining a woman by some disgusting standard like that.”
Years later, I used his own words to defend myself.
Twenty-eight-year-old Henry had looked at me with mockery in his eyes.
“A woman with a filthy personal life doesn’t get to lecture me about respect.”
“Don’t worry, Chloe. Once I’m dirty too, you’ll finally deserve me.”
Then came relationship after relationship.
The home we were supposed to share became a gift for his sixth girlfriend.
I became the obsessive ex he complained about.
Still, I stubbornly believed that if I could just prove the truth, we could go back to what we once had.
In the end, he turned my desperation into a game he used to flirt with his lovers.
“Chloe, bring condoms to the hotel and maybe I’ll look at that photo analysis you had done.”
“Chloe, my girlfriend’s competing with you for the same gallery position. Give it to her and maybe I’ll seriously listen to your explanation.”
His games drove me to the edge.
Yet every time he became single again, he would come back with red eyes and beg me to endure a little longer.
“Chloe, I don’t want this either. But I can’t handle how unequal our relationship histories are. Just hold on a little longer, okay?”
“There are only a few left. We’ll be back together soon, and then we can finish our wedding.”
Something inside me had curdled.
But I was still struggling to save myself.
“Chloe, you’re finally awake. You had a fever last night and kept talking in your sleep. You scared me to death.”
Elton leaned over my bed and tucked the blanket around me.
He sighed and removed the damp towel from my forehead.
“Remember to take your medicine on time. My father’s been pushing me to go back and help with the family business, so I might not be around as much. Call me if anything happens.”
He prepared some oatmeal and my medication before leaving.
I didn’t notice the reluctance in his eyes.
I just stared blankly at the ceiling.
I didn’t know how long I lay there before my phone suddenly started vibrating nonstop.
An electronic invitation had arrived.
第3章
Gold-embossed lettering seared into my eyes.
Henry & Alva.
They had even chosen the same hotel where Henry and I were supposed to get married two years ago.
The invitation design was identical.
Then my screen started lighting up nonstop as messages poured into a group chat, each one tagging me.
“Waited two years, huh? How come you’re still not the bride?”
“Chloe, your best friend’s marrying your ex-fiancé. How does that feel?”
“Are you going? Don’t tell me you’re planning to crash the wedding.”
Alva had added me to the bridesmaids’ group chat.
I was about to leave when the keypad lock on my front door beeped.
I got out of bed and found Henry walking in wearing a suit.
He looked displeased.
“Chloe, why is your password still our wedding date from two years ago?”
“Didn’t I tell you? While I’m dating someone else, you need to step back into the role of a friend.”
He handed me a gift box.
“Put on the bridesmaid dress. We’re going to the rehearsal.”
I stepped back.
“I’m not attending your wedding.”
Henry raised an eyebrow.
“Chloe, be reasonable. This wedding is just something I owe Alva. Once we finish the ceremony, you and I will finally be even. There’s no reason for you to throw a tantrum.”
He shoved the box into my hands, then softened his tone.
“Once all this is over and we’re married, if you want, I’ll let the child be your goddaughter.”
“If you don’t want her around, I’ll send them somewhere far away.”
He dragged me to the rehearsal.
The wedding was even more lavish than ours had been two years ago.
Henry had learned from the disaster back then and installed a massive starry canopy over the lawn.
The LED screens overhead showed endless shooting stars alongside their wedding vow:
Never Apart in This Life.
The other bridesmaids covered their mouths as they looked at me with contempt.
“Chloe, you’re hardly qualified to stand at the altar with us. A bride is supposed to be pure, not someone everyone can gossip about.”
“Why don’t you take care of the drunk single guys instead? With your history, you should know better than anyone how to keep men happy.”
Alva smiled at them, then tugged on Henry’s arm.
Henry frowned and hesitated as he looked at me.
I gave them an indifferent glance.
“Henry, I won’t be attending the wedding.”
“I wish you and Alva a long, happy life together.”
I turned to leave.
Henry’s expression darkened as he grabbed my hand.
“Chloe!”
I gave a cold laugh and tried to wrench free, but Henry released me first.
Alva had intertwined her fingers with his.
Her eyes were red.
“Henry, I know our wedding is only for appearances. Chloe is the woman you’re going to marry someday. Don’t make her angry because of me.”
A flicker of pain crossed Henry’s face.
“That’s not true. Right now, you’re my fiancée. Chloe is just...”
He couldn’t even define what I was.
Awkward.
Nameless.
Unrecognized.
Unblessed.
Alva threw herself into his arms, moved to tears, and the two kissed passionately.
I pressed a hand to my chest.
I had witnessed scenes like this more than twenty times.
Yet every time they used my humiliation to draw closer, it still hurt.
I left the rehearsal without trouble.
As I walked away, rain began pouring from the sky again.
But this time, they had a starry roof above them.
They had love.
Her wedding dress would trail across a red carpet instead of sinking into the mud beneath her knees.
