I Waited For The Happy Ending, But I Was Never The Lead

1 After our ninth miserable attempt at playing It Takes Two ended in another screaming match, I went online to vent. I only wanted to ask a simple question.

Why did everyone say this game was the ultimate relationship builder, when for us, it was just a fast track to a bitter argument?

Within seconds, a top comment was upvoted to the peak of the thread. "Stop cloutchasing. That account belongs to a gaming legend.

He cleared the final level with his girlfriend six months ago." I froze.

Just as I was about to type out a reply to explain that the account was indeed ours, the commenter dropped another link, this time containing a digital wedding invitation. "They are getting married tomorrow.

They didn't even bother to change the game theme." I tapped the image. My entire body went numb.

On the screen, the groom was the man I had loved for ten years, the man who promised he would marry me the moment our longdistance stretch ended.

And the bride was Sienna, my childhood best friend. A year ago, she had been the one to comfort me.

She had said, "If you want to know if a man is ready to walk down the aisle with you, play this game with him first.

It shows you who they really are." But the woman who had actually finished the game with my boyfriend was her.

I pinched the screen, zooming in on the image, desperately searching for any sign of photoshop. There was none.

The photo was real, and the bright smile on Lucas’s face was real too. He had been abandoned by his parents as a child, leaving him with a naturally guarded, distant personality.

He rarely smiled, even when he was with me. Yet in this photo, he was holding Sienna’s hand, looking down at her with a warmth so tender it made my throat tight.

A wave of dizzying absurdity washed over me. With trembling fingers, I dialed Lucas’s number. Once, twice, three times. No answer. I called Sienna. It went straight to a busy tone.

My heart sank into a cold, dark place. I grabbed my coat and rushed to the train station. On the threehour journey back to Portland, their phones remained completely unreachable.

Left with no other choice, I used a burner account to search for Lucas’s public gaming profile.

He was a prominent gaming influencer, handsome and talented, with a massive following of female fans who constantly confessed their love to him.

When we first started dating, I had asked him to make our relationship public to avoid the unwanted attention.

He had refused, claiming that a professional channel should never mix with private life. But now, his feed was a glowing tribute to his life with Sienna.

There were videos of him winning plushies for her at arcade cranes, taking her to midnight movie premieres, and staying up until dawn to help her clear It Takes Two.

The night they finally beat the game, I had been curled on my bathroom floor in Seattle, paralyzed by a sudden, agonizing gallstone attack.

That night, I had called him nineteen times. Every single call had gone unanswered.

The next morning, he text me a brief message, claiming he had been buried under a mountain of work. It turned out this was his work.

The train speakers crackled to life, announcing my arrival. I stepped onto the platform, moving like a ghost among the bustling crowd.

Just as I stepped out of the station, my phone buzzed. It was Lucas. "Hey, babe. Sorry, I was tied up.

Is everything okay?" His voice was as gentle as always, perfectly calm, as if the world hadn't just shattered beneath my feet.

I dug my nails into my palms, fighting back the tears that threatened to choke me. "Where are you?" There was a brief pause on the other end, followed by a forced laugh. "Checking up on me?" "I'm at the studio, pulling an allnighter.

You’re coming back next week, so I need to grind and save up enough to marry you." Save up to marry me. That was his favorite line during our year of longdistance.

Whenever I got upset because he went radio silent, or whenever I begged him to catch a flight to see me, he would use those exact words to soothe me.

Back then, those words filled me with a quiet warmth.

Now, they tasted like ash. "How are you going to marry me when you are marrying Sienna tomorrow?" Before the words could fully leave my mouth, Sienna’s voice drifted through the receiver. "Lucas, the coordinator needs us on stage for the rehearsal." The phone was muffled suddenly, emitting a low rustling sound. "Brooke, I’ve got some urgent work to handle.

I’ll call you tonight." He hung up before I could speak. The night air hit my face, freezing the tears on my cheeks.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand and hailed a cab to the hotel listed on the wedding invitation.

Inside the grand ballroom, the decorations were heavily inspired by It Takes Two. It looked whimsical, dreamlike, and incredibly romantic. I stopped in my tracks.

Lucas and I were both obsessed with that game. He had once promised me that he would design a wedding just like this for us. The wedding was here. But the bride had changed.

The rehearsal was still underway.

The officiant's voice boomed through the speakers, filled with rehearsed enthusiasm. "And now, groom, you may embrace and kiss your beautiful bride." I looked up just in time to see Lucas cup Sienna’s face, leaning down to press his lips against hers.

It was the final straw. Whatever remaining thread of my sanity existed snapped completely. I sprinted up the stairs of the stage, grabbing both of them and tearing them apart.

When they saw my face, the smiles on their lips froze instantly. Sienna recovered first. Her wide, innocent eyes immediately filled with tears.

She reached out, trying to grab my sleeve with a fragile, trembling hand. "Brooke, please, just let me explain.

I didn't mean for any of this to happen." She didn't mean for this to happen.

Six months ago, she had messaged me out of the blue, boasting that she had finally found someone who could help her beat It Takes Two.

At the time, I had been genuinely happy for her.

Even when she subtly mocked how Lucas, a professional gamer, couldn't seem to clear a simple coop game with me, I had brushed it off.

I never could have imagined that the man staying up all night with her was my own boyfriend. Two decades of friendship crumbled into dust right there on the stage.

I slapped her hand away, my voice dripping with venom. "Sienna, you really are your mother's daughter.

Shameless to the core." "That is enough!" Lucas stepped in front of Sienna, shielding her trembling body in his arms.

He looked at me with a complicated mixture of guilt and frustration. "This is on me. It has nothing to do with Sienna.

Don't cause a scene here, it's not good for her health." I stared at him. The fury that had been boiling inside me suddenly drained away, leaving a hollow, freezing ache.

Since discovering the truth, I had played out a hundred different scenarios of what he might say to me. I had prepared myself for lies, excuses, or even anger.

But I never expected this. It's not good for her. Just those few words made it entirely clear where his loyalty now lay.

A bitter, desperate sense of injustice reared its head. "Not good for her? What about me?" "Lucas, does any of this feel fair to you?" I had loved him for ten years.

I had stayed up late with him to edit his videos. I had stood under the scorching sun to pitch his channel to skeptical sponsors.

When his studio was in its infancy, I had pawned my grandmother’s antique jade bracelet just to keep his business afloat.

On the day his studio officially launched, he had held me tightly, his eyes red. He had sworn, "Brooke, I promise you a beautiful life.

If I ever betray you, I deserve to lose everything." The vows felt like they were spoken yesterday, but the promise itself had already become a useless scrap of paper.

Perhaps reminded of the past, Lucas's eyes softened slightly.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the whispers from the wedding staff and guests below the stage had already begun. "What's going on?

Is that an ex?" "Who crashes a wedding the day before? Talk about a desperate side chick." "She looks decent, but she's actually trying to steal someone else's man?

How pathetic." The vicious murmurs drifted up, piercing my ears like needles. "I am not a side chick!" I screamed, but no one was listening.

With tears blurring my vision, I looked at Lucas, waiting for him to say one word of defense for me. Just one. He pressed his lips together and took a step forward.

But before a spark of hope could ignite in my chest, his next words extinguished it completely. "Security, please escort her out." I stared at him, unable to believe my ears.

He walked over, leaning down to whisper in my ear, "Go home first, Brooke.

I will come over and explain everything tonight." As the guard pushed me off the stage, I heard Lucas turning back to the wedding coordinator, his voice clear and attentive. "Make sure there are no orange juices on the menu.

Sienna is severely allergic." "Have some stomach medication ready at every table, just in case her gastritis flares up." "And adjust the air conditioning vents.

The cold air shouldn't blow directly on her." He was meticulous, handling every minor detail with care. He had never been this attentive when he was with me.

Standing there, I realized how utterly pathetic my ten years of devotion had been. "I can walk myself," I said, shaking off the guard’s hand.

I walked out of the hotel, my head held high despite the tears streaming down my face. My phone vibrated in my pocket.

It was my director in Seattle. "Brooke, a talent like yours is wasted in Portland.

Are you absolutely sure you want to transfer back?" Over the past year, he had asked me that question dozens of times. My answer had always been a firm yes.

But now, everything had changed. "No," I whispered into the receiver. "I'm staying in Seattle." I walked back to our shared apartment, packed my remaining belongings into a single suitcase, and sat on the couch to wait for him.

Ten years of history deserved a clean, explicit ending. Lucas returned sooner than I expected.

Seeing me on the couch, he walked over, naturally resting his head against my shoulder with a heavy sigh. "Brooke, I’m so exhausted.

Just let me hold you for a second." In the early days of his startup, he used to come home late and do this very thing.

He used to say that holding me was the only thing that kept him sane. But now, his exhaustion was from planning a wedding for another woman.

I let out a cold laugh and shoved him away. "When did it start?" He was silent for a few seconds. "A year ago." A bitter memory flashed in my mind.

A year ago, my mother was diagnosed with gastric cancer, and my company offered me a major promotion in Seattle.

I hadn’t wanted to go, but Lucas had insisted. "Brooke, don't let life clip your wings. Go to Seattle.

I will take care of your mother here." I had been so incredibly moved, viewing him as my rock. But my rock had been crumbling from the very start.

I struggled to find my voice. "Why?" He loosened his tie, his expression growing irritable. "It was an accident at first.

She was drinking heavily at a bar because of some personal issues, and I happened to be there.

The alcohol got the better of us." "I tried to break it off, but she was so vulnerable, so entirely alone in the world.

I couldn't just abandon her." "So I promised her we would only have this one year.

I wanted to give her her dream wedding, to give her some closure, and then end it before you came back.

Brooke, you have to believe me, you are the one I love." He reached out, trying to take my hand. "We can go register our marriage tomorrow, right after the ceremony.

I promise." I had waited ten years for him to propose a marriage license. Yet here it was, offered as a cheap consolation prize for his betrayal.

I pulled my hand back, a cold sneer forming on my lips. "What makes you think I would ever want to be with you now?" "Lucas, we are done.

It’s over." His face paled, but the panic was quickly replaced by a smug, ugly certainty. "Brooke, stop throwing a tantrum. You were abused by your stepfather when you were ten.

You are almost thirty now, with a mother who has terminal cancer. If you leave me, what other man is ever going to want you?" I stared at him.

The words felt like a redhot coal pressed against my bare chest.

Twenty years ago, when my mother and I fled that abusive household, that trauma had been my deepest, most agonizing scar. Back then, Lucas had held me close, kissing away my tears.

He had said, "It wasn't your fault. To me, you are the most precious, pure soul in the world." And now, he was using that very scar to tell me I was damaged goods.

My chest heaved as I fought to keep from crying. Right then, his phone rang, breaking the heavy silence.

Lucas looked at the screen, and his tense expression instantly softened. "She’s here with me.

Okay, I’ll tell her." He hung up, sighed, and reached out to gently wipe the tears from the corner of my eye. "Don't cry.

Sienna just said that if you agree to be her bridesmaid tomorrow, she will step out of our lives forever.

What more do you want?" I looked at him, feeling as though I was listening to some sick, twisted joke.

My boyfriend and my best friend had betrayed me, and now they wanted me, the victim, to stand beside them and witness their happiness?

I clenched my fists so hard my palms bled. "What makes you think I would ever agree to be her bridesmaid?" Lucas stepped back, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Brooke, don't be difficult.

You are her best friend, it’s only right that you stand by her. I'm sure your mother would want you to make the sensible choice too." The veiled threat hung heavily in the air.

I stared at him in utter disbelief. But he simply smiled, patting my head as if he hadn't just threatened my mother's peace of mind. "I need to go back and keep Sienna company.

She’s nervous about tomorrow. I’ll see you at the hotel in the morning. Don't be late." The door clicked shut behind him. It felt like a physical slap to my face.

I stared at the empty room, and suddenly, I started to laugh. A bridesmaid? Fine. I would be there. The next morning, I arrived at the hotel early.

Sienna was draped in a gorgeous, custommade lace wedding gown.

When she saw me walk in, a triumphant smile spread across her face. "Brooke, you lost." There was nothing but smug satisfaction in her eyes.

Looking at her, I couldn't help but remember when we were teenagers. Her mother had been a mistress, and I had no father.

I used to throw stones at the kids who bullied her, and she would sneak food from her kitchen when I was starving.

During those dark, miserable years, we had been each other’s survival. When had she become this monster?

My voice sounded hollow, even to my own ears. "Why?" She paused for a fraction of a second, then her smile returned. "I did this for your own good.

You were with him for ten years and he never married you.

Doesn't that prove he never really loved you?" "He and I are soulmates." She said it with such righteous conviction, as if she wasn't the same girl who had once sworn to protect my happiness forever.

I smiled faintly. "Soulmates?

Then why does he refuse to let me go?" Her face darkened instantly. "After today, you two are finished anyway." She turned and gestured to a group of men in suits standing nearby. "Our bridesmaid is all yours.

Make sure you show her a good time." My brows furrowed. I tried to step back, but the groomsmen quickly closed in, blocking my path. "What are you doing?

Let me go!" They ignored my protests, their hands reaching out to grab my arms and waist. My face went pale. Seeing Lucas walking down the hallway, I screamed out to him. "Lucas!

Help me!" "What's going on here?" Lucas frowned, taking a step toward us.

But Sienna quickly caught his arm, pulling him back. "Oh, they're just playing the traditional wedding games with the bridesmaid.

It looks like Brooke is still being a bit of a party pooper." Hearing her words, Lucas's feet glued to the floor. He looked at me with a mild, dismissive sigh. "Come on, Brooke.

It's just a wedding game.

Stop making a scene and just put up with it for a bit." With that, he wrapped his arm around Sienna’s waist and walked toward the main hall. "Lucas!" I screamed his name until my throat burned, but he didn't even turn his head.

Once they were out of sight, the groomsmen grinned, their eyes flashing with malice. "We heard you've been his free plaything for ten years. Why act like a virgin now?" "Exactly.

If the bride hadn't given us the green light, we wouldn't even bother with you." "Your dress looks a bit tight.

Let us help you loosen it." In the chaotic struggle, the zipper of my dress was violently pulled down, and the fabric began to slide off my shoulders.

I clutched my chest, desperately trying to dial Lucas’s number with my free hand. No one answered. Through the oneway glass of the bridal suite, I could see the main stage.

I saw Lucas kneeling before Sienna, sliding a diamond ring onto her finger. I saw him frown, pull out his phone, and switch it off.

In utter despair, my hand brushed against a silver fruit knife on the vanity table. I grabbed it and pressed the blade against my neck. "Get back!" "Whoa, chill out.

We were just playing around. Don't do anything stupid." Seeing the thin line of blood bead on my neck, the groomsmen panicked, pushing each other out of the room as they fled.

My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the cold tile floor, completely drained.

I don't know how much time passed before the announcer's voice echoed through the speakers. "And now, let us welcome our beautiful bridesmaid to offer her heartfelt blessings to the newlyweds." Using the vanity table for support, I forced myself to stand.

I adjusted my torn dress as best as I could and walked slowly onto the stage. Seeing my disheveled, pale appearance, Lucas’s eyes flashed with concern.

He stepped forward to support me. "Brooke, what happened to you?" I flinched away from his touch, taking the microphone from the host's hand.

I looked at the crowd, my voice steady and clear. "I have prepared a special video tribute for the bride and groom. Please look at the big screen."