Chapter 1

At our 100th engagement party, Carlos Herrera left me without hesitation once again.

We had been together for seven years. For the previous 99 engagement attempts, he had always made the same claim.

His childhood sweetheart, Celeste Obrien, was not yet married, and he could not betray the promise they had made.

I clenched the ring in my hand and, for the first time, couldn't help asking, "If Celeste never marries for her whole life, will you stay with her forever?

"Then what about me? What do you take me for?"

Carlos's face darkened instantly. He snatched the ring from my hand and hurled it out the window.

He said, "Celeste and I made a promise when we were kids that we'd get married together. How could I leave her alone?

"Besides, Isabel, do you value that piece of paper so much? We've been together for seven years. Does having that paper or not make any difference?"

*****

I stood in the middle of the banquet hall, my hand still frozen in the motion of putting the ring on Carlos's finger. The ring that had been on my fingertip was now gone, thrown out of the window by Carlos.

His complete disregard for the marriage had cut deeper than I could have imagined.

I felt like I had been drenched in ice water, the chill sinking straight into my bones.

I had lived through this exact scene 99 times before.

From the age of 23 to 30, I had dated Carlos for seven years. We had held 99 engagement parties before, and today was the 100th.

For every single one of those 99 previous events, he had turned his back on me, using the excuse that Celeste was not yet married.

And every single time Celeste would call at the critical moment, saying she was in terrible pain and needed Carlos by her side.

Sure enough, Carlos's phone buzzed again.

The second he saw Celeste's name on the screen, he answered the call immediately.

The microphone was still held right up to Carlos's mouth, and Celeste's sobbing voice came through the speaker loud and clear for everyone in the hall to hear.

"Carlos, I'm having an episode. Please come stay with me, okay? I only feel better when you're here," Celeste whimpered.

I felt sick to my stomach hearing that fake, breathy whine in her voice.

Ever since I had started dating Carlos, Celeste had claimed she suffered from separation anxiety and that she could only avoid having episodes if Carlos was with her.

There was no such thing as a bizarre condition that only acted up around one specific person.

But Carlos believed every single word of it.

Because of that, Celeste could call him away at any time, no matter where he was or what he was doing, even in the middle of our engagement party.

Carlos rushed to comfort her through the phone. "Celeste, hold on, I'll be right there."

His reply echoed through the entire hall over the microphone. He hung up and turned to leave, and I grabbed his wrist tightly.

The guests offstage were whispering among themselves, and all their staring eyes made me feel like I was on display for every person in that room to mock.

Today wasn't just our 100th engagement party but also my 30th birthday.

Thirty was supposed to be a major milestone for a woman, a marker of a whole new chapter in life.

That was why I picked this day for our 100th engagement party, hoping that as I stepped into a new decade, Carlos and I could finally start a new chapter together.

I had truly thought this engagement party would go off without a hitch.

But he had turned me down without mercy yet again and was even about to leave me behind once more.

My nails dug into my palms as I stared at Carlos, his face filled with impatience. I spoke again, if only to give myself a final chance to let go of all hope.

"Carlos, we've been together for seven years, and this is our 100th engagement party. Stop messing with me," I said.

Carlos let out a cold scoff, his voice dripping with blatant disregard.

He said, "So what? The bond I have with Celeste goes back over 20 years. You really think seven years with you can compare to that?

"I told you this 99 times before, and this is the 100th time. Listen to me clearly. If Celeste doesn't get married, neither will I. That's the promise we made when we were kids.

"Celeste has separation anxiety now. She can't stand to be away from me. There's no way I would leave her alone when she needs me most.

"Besides, do we really need a flimsy piece of paper to prove what we have?"

Before I could say anything else, Carlos wrenched his wrist out of my grasp and stormed out of the hotel.

Just like the previous ninety-nine times, he retreated with unshakable determination, never giving me a chance to stop him.

I stared at his retreating figure and finally felt tears burning in my eyes.

Carlos, Celeste couldn't stand to be without you, but had you ever spared a single thought for me?

You had left me alone to face the mockery of our friends and family 100 times. Did you really think I could handle being left behind?

The guests offstage were filled with hushed whispers and shocked mutters.

After the fifth engagement party crashed and burned, almost nobody wanted to show up anymore.

This time, convinced it would finally work out, I went out of my way to invite all our friends and family back, hoping they'd witness our happiness at last.

But I had humiliated myself in front of them all over again.

My family had left the venue long ago, humiliated beyond words the second Carlos had rejected me.

Carlos's family had never thought I was good enough for him. They were clearly delighted by the whole mess and left right after he did.

The only people left in the hall were my friends, looking at me with pity in their eyes.

My phone pinged with a notification. I unlocked it, and the first thing I saw was a new post from Celeste on social media.

She wrote: [I'm never alone when you're here with me.]

The photo attached showed her leaning into Carlos's chest, half of his face visible in the top right corner of the frame.

The look in Carlos's eyes in that photo was soft and tender, a complete contrast to the impatient, cold glare he had given me at the engagement banquet just minutes before.

Something inside me shattered when I saw that picture.

I thought to myself that seven years of this back and forth was finally enough. It was time to end it.

Celeste's presence had always bothered me, from the very start.

Shortly after Carlos and I had started dating, I had sat him down and made things clear. If he was in love with Celeste, he could tell me. I would not cling to him and refuse to let go.

But every single time, Carlos had called me petty and accused me of tarnishing the pure friendship he shared with Celeste.

He'd say, "Can you stop being so suspicious? There's nothing between me and Celeste.

"Celeste has separation anxiety. She has episodes when no one is with her. I promised I would stay by her side until she got married. How could I just leave her?

"Can you stop being so petty and jealous all the time?"