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They Bet I’d Stay After the Love Test
Novelix
Completed
"On our seventh anniversary, my boyfriend, my best friend, my parents, and our friends decided to “test” how much I loved him. They faked an affair, a pregnancy, and a breakup, then actually placed bets on how long it would take me to cry and come running back. I didn’t. Even after I told them I was done, they kept pushing the joke further because they were so sure I’d never really leave. By the time my boyfriend actually married my best friend just to prove a point, I was already packing my bags and taking a job across the world."
Chapters (2)
第1章
On our seventh anniversary, my best friend sent me a photo of herself in a hotel room with my boyfriend.
Hailey was wearing Daniel’s shirt, and Daniel was standing behind her with a towel around his waist.
Then she deleted it.
I called him immediately, but he sent me straight to voicemail. A text came through a few seconds later.
You saw it. Come to the hotel. We’ll talk.
So I went.
By the time I got there, I was soaked from the rain and felt like I was going to throw up.
The room from the picture was empty.
Then Hailey sent me a voice note.
“Erin, oh my God, relax. The picture was fake. We were just messing with you.”
I actually had to sit down.
Then another photo popped up on my screen.
A positive pregnancy test.
Eight weeks.
Hailey followed it with another message.
The picture was fake. The baby isn’t.
My hands were shaking when I called my mom.
She went quiet for a second before saying, “If Hailey’s pregnant, Daniel needs to take responsibility.”
“Mom, are you serious?”
“The baby didn’t do anything wrong, Erin. Just don’t go over there and make things worse.”
Then Hailey sent me another room number.
When I walked in, she was sitting on the bed with red eyes, one hand resting on her stomach. Daniel was standing beside her.
“We should break up,” he said. “I’m going to marry Hailey.”
I just stared at him.
“What the hell were the last seven years, then?”
He looked away.
That was answer enough.
I took off my ring and put it on the table.
“Fine. I’m done.”
Someone behind the divider laughed.
Then suddenly everyone did.
My parents came out first, followed by a bunch of our friends. Hailey wiped her eyes and started laughing too.
“Oh my God, Erin. You actually believed us.”
I looked around the room.
“What?”
“The pregnancy’s fake,” she said. “All of it was fake. It was just a test.”
One of our friends still had his phone pointed at me.
“Wait. You’re actually filming this?”
Hailey grinned. “We just wanted to see how much you really loved Daniel.”
Daniel looked more annoyed than sorry.
“Come on, Erin. You seriously thought I’d cheat on you with Hailey?”
“You literally just told me you were going to marry her.”
“Yeah. That was kind of the whole point.”
My mom touched my arm.
“Okay, honey. It’s over now. Just laugh it off.”
I pulled out my phone.
Daniel frowned. “What are you doing?”
I called our landlord.
“Hi, it’s Erin Hayes. I’m moving out. I’ll pay whatever I owe to get off the lease.”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“Erin, seriously?”
I hung up.
“The photo was fake. The pregnancy was fake. The breakup was fake.”
I slid my ring across the table.
“But I’m done with you. That part’s real.”
Daniel followed me into the hallway.
“Erin, wait.”
Then he pulled out a ring box.
“I was going to propose tonight.”
Inside was the exact kind of simple diamond ring I’d told him I liked months ago.
“You’re really throwing away seven years over one stupid prank?”
Before I could answer, my mom came outside.
“You should at least apologize to Hailey. She spent weeks planning all this.”
I looked at her.
“For what? Ruining it?”
Mom sighed. “You know what I mean.”
I did.
Hailey had been getting away with this kind of thing since we were kids. She once locked me outside on the balcony and laughed while I cried. Another year, she hid my birthday presents just to watch me panic.
Mom always said the same thing.
She’s just kidding. Don’t be so sensitive.
Daniel used to stick up for me.
Eventually, he started saying it too.
When I got home, I started packing.
While looking for our lease, I found a hidden folder on Daniel’s laptop.
7-YEAR LOVE TEST
Inside was a spreadsheet with everyone’s job.
Hailey: hotel photo and fake pregnancy test.
Dad: book the rooms.
Mom: tell everyone cheating was my biggest fear.
Daniel: break up with me.
Friends: film my reaction.
Then I saw the bets.
Cries in under 3 minutes.
Takes off ring in under 5.
Asks Daniel to take her back in under 10.
Hailey bet on when I’d cry.
My mom bet I’d call her first.
Daniel had written:
She’ll come back. She always does.
I stared at that one for a while.
Then I moved my half of the money out of our joint account and packed my passport, laptop, and work files.
Six months ago, I’d turned down a design job in Copenhagen because Daniel didn’t want to do long distance.
I found the recruiter’s old email.
I know it’s been a while, but is the position still open?
The reply came twenty minutes later.
It is. If you’re still interested, you can start next week.
I typed back:
I am. When do you need me there?
第2章
The next morning, my parents called.
They said everyone finally understood they’d gone too far and wanted to apologize properly.
At the same hotel.
I wasn’t expecting much. I mostly wanted to hand over the apartment keys, settle whatever was left on the lease, and maybe hear my mom say she was sorry without adding a “but” afterward.
When I got there, the ballroom was covered in flowers.
There was a sign outside the doors.
DANIEL BROOKS & HAILEY REED
I stopped walking.
Hailey was standing at the end of an aisle in a white wedding dress.
Daniel was beside her in the suit I’d helped him pick out.
Even the tie was mine.
He’d bought it months ago and told me he was saving the whole outfit for our anniversary because he wanted to look good when he proposed.
Now he was wearing it for her.
My mom stood beside Hailey, fastening a strand of pearls around her neck.
I knew those pearls.
They’d belonged to my grandmother.
Mom had always said I’d wear them on my wedding day.
Dad was waiting near the aisle like he was about to walk Hailey down it.
And half our friends already had their phones out.
Pointed at me.
That was when I got it.
This wasn’t an apology.
They wanted another reaction.
Daniel came over and lowered his voice.
“This isn’t another prank.”
I looked past him at Hailey in the dress.
“Sure doesn’t look like an apology.”
“Just tell me you don’t want to lose me. In front of everyone. Then we stop.”
I stared at him.
“You’re serious?”
“Erin, come on. You know I’m not actually marrying her.”
Hailey came over and wrapped both hands around his arm.
Her eyes were already shiny.
“I just wanted to know if I mattered to you too,” she said. “If this is really upsetting you that much, I can leave.”
She didn’t move.
I looked at her dress again.
Then I recognized it.
I’d tried on the exact same style months ago.
Daniel had looked at me in it and shrugged.
“It’s kind of plain.”
Now Hailey turned slightly toward him.
He smiled.
“You actually look like a bride.”
I almost laughed.
An officiant stepped up front and started telling everyone how Daniel and Hailey had “found their way to each other.”
Except the stories weren’t theirs.
The rainy night Daniel and I first met.
The restaurant from our first date.
The sunflowers he brought me afterward.
Even the trip to see the northern lights we’d been talking about for years.
They took seven years of my life and handed it to Hailey like it was part of the entertainment.
Someone near the back called out, “Erin’s gonna lose it any second.”
Another person laughed.
“She’s not letting seven years go that easily.”
Daniel glanced at me.
He still thought I was waiting for the right moment to stop them.
The officiant raised the microphone.
“Daniel, do you take Hailey—”
Daniel didn’t answer right away.
He looked straight at me.
The whole room did.
They were waiting for me to cry.
To run up there.
To tell him I still wanted him.
I stayed where I was.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
I could practically see him thinking, Any second now.
The officiant cleared his throat and tried again.
“Daniel?”
He was still looking at me.
I folded my arms.
And waited with everyone else.
