Loading promotion info...
After the Face-Blind Bride Chose the Wrong Groom, They All Went Crazy with Regret
Novelix
new
Completed
"I was born face-blind. I can't remember faces. My best friend and my boyfriend loved to tease me about it. At family gatherings, Enzo would have someone dress exactly like him and make me guess which one he was. When we went shopping, the two of them would slip into fitting rooms and swap clothes with strangers, then make me find them. Every time, I'd stand there helpless, sobbing. I begged them to stop messing with me. Then came the wedding day. Enzo hired six fake grooms dressed exactly like him. He wanted me to pick the real one out of the lineup. This time, I didn't cry. I just put my hand in one of theirs. They all looked the same to me anyway. Enzo or someone else—it made no difference."
Chapters (3)
第1章
I was born face-blind. I can't remember faces.
My best friend and my boyfriend loved to tease me about it.
At family gatherings, Enzo would have someone dress exactly like him and make me guess which one he was.
When we went shopping, the two of them would slip into fitting rooms and swap clothes with strangers, then make me find them.
Every time, I'd stand there helpless, sobbing.
I begged them to stop messing with me.
Then came the wedding day.
Enzo hired six fake grooms dressed exactly like him.
He wanted me to pick the real one out of the lineup.
This time, I didn't cry.
I just put my hand in one of theirs.
They all looked the same to me anyway.
Enzo or someone else—it made no difference.
I walked around the six grooms.
Then I stopped back where I started.
I placed my hand in the palm of the man closest to me.
My best friend Ella, standing nearby in a bridesmaid dress, let out a soft sigh of relief.
Like she was glad their plan was half done.
The night before the wedding, I woke up to get water.
I heard my parents and the two of them having a family meeting in the living room.
They weren't planning a surprise for me.
They were using my wedding to give my unmarried, childless best friend her dream wedding.
My mother, the family's decision-maker, spoke first.
"Luna's face-blind anyway. She won't know who's who."
"We can find a groom who looks like Enzo to walk through the ceremony."
My father helped with details.
"Luna's suspicious. Letting her pick the groom makes the switch look natural."
"If she picks wrong, we just say she couldn't recognize her own husband."
Enzo made the final call.
"Two weddings at the same time. After it's over, I'll say I need the bathroom, then switch back and get the license with Luna."
"As long as the best man keeps quiet, Luna won't figure it out."
Ella had no objections. She just asked one thing.
"What if she picks the right one?"
Enzo took that seriously.
To be safe, he made me find the real groom among six best men.
But he wasn't even among those six.
Now Ella was lying through her teeth.
"Today really is the lucky day the fortune teller picked."
"Luna's so lucky—she recognized Enzo on the first try!"
I smiled.
I rubbed the hand I was holding.
His palm was wider than Enzo's. Rougher, too.
I may be face-blind, but I'm not stupid.
I didn't call out their pathetic lie.
Instead, I squeezed the fake groom's hand and smiled.
"Don't just stand there. Carry me downstairs."
He froze, then quickly crouched in front of me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck.
I lay on his broad back and waved goodbye to Ella.
"We're going down first. You follow."
When Enzo came back from the bathroom, all he saw was me leaving on someone else's back.
He instinctively reached out.
He wanted to pull me off that man's back.
But Ella gripped his shoulder hard.
"Don't forget our plan from last night."
Enzo pulled his hand back, voice low.
"The plan didn't say the chosen groom would carry Luna downstairs!"
Ella let go of him.
Her face was pale, her expression strained.
"Then go stop her right now."
"Tell her yourself how despicable I am."
"How I stole her groom and made her marry another man just to satisfy myself."
Enzo sighed and wiped her tears.
"That's not what I meant."
My mother rushed to smooth things over.
"All right, all right. Is this little thing worth fighting over?"
My father smiled and patted Enzo's shoulder.
"Your mom and I love Ella like our own."
"She's the bride today. You can't make her cry."
"We can still make it to Ella's wedding if we leave now."
第2章
Even though I'd cried last night, my eyes still stung.
My parents loved Ella. I'd always known.
She was sweet-tongued. She'd wave at them from far away.
She showered them with compliments.
She always made them beam.
Not like me. Because I'm face-blind, sometimes my parents would walk right up to me.
I'd walk past them like strangers.
They got angry about that more than once.
They'd say I'd lived with them for years.
And still couldn't remember their faces.
But I never thought—
On something as big as my wedding—
My parents would agree to swap the groom for Ella.
Let a stranger marry me in Enzo's place.
Tears fell on the fake groom's neck.
His back stiffened. He tried to mimic Enzo's voice and whispered.
"Why are you crying? Is my back too bony?"
"Want me to put you down? I can hold your hand and walk."
I shook my head and held his neck tighter.
"It's a happy day. I'm just happy."
I got to see the truth about the man beside me before the wedding.
And I learned my parents didn't love me that much.
That was a happy thing.
He carefully carried me into the car.
Probably afraid I'd notice he wasn't Enzo.
He barely spoke the whole way.
But when he saw me hugging my arms,
He quietly reached over and turned up the AC.
Halfway there, the wedding car was forced to stop.
I'd just put down the mirror to fix my makeup.
The sudden brake threw me forward.
He was fast—he put his hand between my forehead and the dashboard.
"Did you hit your head?"
I shook my head. He explained.
"Another wedding car is coming. The road's too narrow."
Wedding cars don't go backward.
So neither convoy would move. We were stuck.
I opened my eyes. When I saw the familiar license plate, my pupils shrank.
Half a month before the wedding, Enzo bought a new car.
He said it would be our lead car on the wedding day.
The plate was L5201. A lucky number.
I hadn't thought much about it then.
I even praised his luck for getting such a lucky number.
Now it hit me. The first letter of the plate.
Together, it was Enzo·L5201.
The letter was Ella's initial.
The lucky number was Enzo openly declaring his love for her in front of me.
So the car across from us held Ella and Enzo.
But Enzo had told me the plate wasn't ready.
We couldn't use that car as the lead.
My phone buzzed. Ella's message popped up.
"Luna, looks like traffic."
"Can you ask Enzo to back up a bit?"
"We'll miss the auspicious hour."
The "Enzo" beside me was frowning at the road.
"I'll go see if we can squeeze past."
He reached for his seatbelt.
I stopped him and pointed to another road.
"Turn in there."
He frowned and refused.
"That road's bumpy. Bad luck for a wedding car."
"Bad luck?"
I dropped my smile and shot back.
"What's worse luck than swapping grooms on the wedding day?"
第3章
He froze. He turned to look at me, stunned.
"When did you figure it out?"
"The moment I took your hand."
"I also know you're not one of Enzo's original best men."
He stubbornly denied it.
"I am!"
"Don't lie to me."
"I've met most of Enzo's friends. None of them wear that cologne."
"Most importantly, anyone Enzo hired wouldn't agree to carry me downstairs."
"Much less talk to me first."
He didn't expect to give himself away on something so small. He finally admitted it.
"I'm Marco Vito. I'm not one of Enzo's men."
Then he turned to look at me.
His face was full of hope.
I frowned.
I searched my memory for the name.
Nothing.
He looked down, disappointed. His hands tightened on the wheel.
"We played together when we were kids. You don't remember me."
When I was little, I was the leader of the kids in the family territory.
I'd hand out candy from my jar every day.
Too many kids played with me.
And I'm face-blind.
"Actually, I just wanted to see you in your wedding dress."
"That guy said he needed a stand-in, shoved the boutonniere in my hand, and left."
"Just a look? You don't want to be the real groom today?"
He grunted.
I pointed to the side road.
"Listen to me. Turn here."
Our car turned onto the small road.
None of the cars behind followed.
A best man got out and knocked on Enzo's window.
"Enzo, maybe we should follow your wedding car."
Enzo frowned. Before he could refuse,
Ella rolled down the back window and smiled.
"Sure. I thought we didn't have enough cars anyway."
Enzo glanced at our direction.
"But then Luna won't have any wedding cars."
"Just say the others got stuck in traffic. As long as we meet at the hotel."
Ella poked his back with a finger.
"You promised I'd get to feel like a bride today."
"You're not backing out, are you?"
Enzo pushed down his unease and spoke calmly.
"I'm not backing out."
Meanwhile, I had Marco stop at City Hall.
"Do you have your ID?"
He blinked, then quickly understood.
He pulled out his ID.
Turning onto this road led to City Hall.
I'd found it half a month ago while test-driving the wedding route.
Back then, I'd thought—
On the way to pick up the bride, we could stop and get the license.
So I kept my ID in my pocket.
"So, will you marry me and be the real groom at today's wedding?"
"Wait. Let me make a call."
Marco didn't answer right away. He pulled out his phone.
"Mom, I'm getting married in an hour."
"Get Dad and come to the estate, third floor, second crystal hall. Have them change the groom's name to mine."
"Especially the welcome poster at the door—take it down!"
"I'll bring the bride soon."
He hung up and grinned at me.
"Now we're good."
We walked out of City Hall with the marriage license.
My anger-cooled brain finally settled a little.
But Marco immediately snatched the license from my hand.
"No pockets in the dress. I'll hold it for you."
My phone rang. Mom's number flashed on the screen.
I answered.
Her anxious voice came through.
"Luna, the wedding's about to start. Where are you?"
I lied without blinking.
"We got a flat tire. It's fixed. We're on our way."
My mother relaxed.
"Good. Hurry."
My mother never hangs up first.
She always waits for the other person.
She thought I'd hung up. She turned to Enzo.
"Luna's fine. Just a flat tire."
"Start your wedding without her."
"The stand-ins for her wedding are already arranged. Nothing will go wrong."
