So, in the end, I married my best friend’s
brother, without telling her.
The next day, Ethan and I went to the
courthouse. I was completely numb during the
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whole process. I had no idea how to tell Sarah. I
was terrified of losing her friendship.
“Sir,” I asked Ethan, “what if Sarah finds out
and gets mad? What do I do?”
Ethan was staring at our marriage certificate,
completely engrossed. Seriously? It was that
fascinating?
“Sir.” I raised my voice.
“Hmm? Oh, what?”
“I said, what if Sarah finds out I married you
behind her back, and she gets furious?”
“Sarah’s temper flares up quickly, but it dies
down just as fast. We can’t keep this from her anyway. Tell you what, I’ll go with you to see
her.”
Ethan’s logic made sense. I wouldn’t know what
to say on my own. I felt like a traitor. I was the
worst.
Ethan drove us to his family’s mansion. I texted
Sarah that I was coming over. And, oh god, the
moment I sent the text, she appeared on the
balcony, waving frantically, and then raced
downstairs. She was so genuinely happy to see
me, which made it even harder to break the
news.
I gave Ethan a pleading look. “Sir, will you tell
her?”
“We’ll face this together.”
99
Sarah stopped dead in her tracks when she saw
Ethan and me standing together.
“Lisa? Ethan? What’s going on?”
<
“We’re married.” Ethan said it. I was stunned.
He was so blunt! Sarah was equally shocked.
Her jaw practically hit the floor.
:
Sarah scrutinized both marriage certificates, verifying they were indeed legally binding. Then, she turned to Ethan, her voice sharp. “Ethan, what did you do to my Lisa?”
“It was mutual, Sarah. Don’t think so poorly of your brother,” Ethan said softly, looking at her.
Then, her voice softening, she turned to me.
“Lisa, is this true? When did this happen? Babe, you always said all men are trash and you’d
never get married!”
Guilt gnawed at me. I’d fended off countless
bad dates for Sarah, and here I was, married
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”
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斎
before her. “Sarah, I’m so sorry. I’ll explain
everything later, I promise. Please don’t be
mad.”
Sarah didn’t say anything, just stared at her
phone. Then my phone buzzed with two new
messages.
“Lisa, are you sure about this? My brother has
a terrible temper.”
“Will you still go out for drinks and hit up the
clubs with me after you’re married?”
That hit me hard. This was what she really
cared about. I nodded at her, and she grinned
back, the unspoken understanding passing
between us.
To my surprise, Sarah took the news of me
becoming her sister–in–law, at least nominally,
remarkably well. Ethan and I were both taken
aback by her calm reaction. It felt…suspicious.
く
10:09
“Your family must be really eager for you to
settle down,” I joked to Ethan.
“They are.”
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“So, where do you live? I’ll help you move.”
Move? Crap. I’d completely forgotten about the
part of the agreement where I had to move in
with him.
“My apartment’s on the west side, kind of far. I
can manage on my own.”
“I’ll help you. And here are the keys to our
place.”
“Our place.” The words made my chest ache. I’d never had a real home, always drifting through other people’s houses. And now, I was moving in with my boss.
Way to go. Lisa.
Г
Ethan was incredibly efficient. We had
everything moved within a day. Of course, I
didn’t own much. Living in cheap rentals meant
being prepared to move at any moment. My
belongings were minimal.
“You live in…that tiny place?” Ethan asked.
“Yeah.” What was there to explain? Wasn’t my
poverty obvious enough?
“I didn’t realize…” He trailed off.
Didn’t realize what? That Sarah had a friend as
broke as me? Or that I could still be optimistic despite my circumstances?
He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t know how to
respond. We finished moving in silence.
That night, back at his place, after we’d
unpacked, we sat on opposite ends of the
sofa He didn’t say a word just fiddled with a
<
10:09
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sofa… He didn’t say a word, just fiddled with a collectible figurine. I busied myself texting
Sarah.
“Sarah, how do I talk to your brother?”
“He’s playing with his toys, not talking… ́
“He has this blank expression, is he mad
again?”
وو
Instead of texting back, Sarah called me on
video. The sudden ringing startled me, and I
dropped my phone. Ethan finally looked up,
glancing at the phone on the floor, then at me.
“Complaining about me to Sarah again?”
“Sir, you’ve got it all wrong.”
“My brother’s always like this. You married him, didn’t you know?” Sarah’s voice came through the speaker. “And what’s this whole fake
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CDD2
marriage thing about? Don’t think I don’t know
what you’re up to, you traitor. I thought we
were besties, and you went and became my
sister–in–law behind my back.”
I could practically see her grinding her teeth. I
spammed her with apologies.
“I don’t know why you agreed to this ridiculous
arrangement. Ethan’s probably still hung up on his first love. They’ve been on and off for years,
but…”
“But what? Why’d you stop talking?”
“???”
My gossip senses were tingling, but Sarah went
silent, a master of the cliffhanger.
“Come out with me tomorrow. I’ll tell you
everything.”
