ManyWriters

I proposed to Aria eighteen times.
She agreed every time, but after I gave her eighteen dowries, she still used all sorts of reasons to delay the wedding date.
"Caelan is taking his driver's test soon, I don't want to distract him."
"Caelan's cat at home is sick, wouldn't getting married now just add to his troubles?"
"Caelan's been in a good mood lately, let's wait a bit. It's rare for him to be happy!"
Caelan was her childhood sweetheart, and the man who had secretly loved her for eighteen years.
Later, Primrose tearfully begged me, "Honey, what about your nineteenth proposal? As long as you propose to me, we'll have the wedding right away."
I held my new bride's hand and boasted to her, "Who's your husband? I'm already married."
"Oh, and if you don't pay back the dowry from the first eighteen proposals soon, you might be facing a lawsuit."

Eighteen Marriage Proposals Later, I Give Up on Marriage

I have insurance, and with the mindset of accumulating some good karma for my old man, I had no intention of making a fuss. I just planned to get the other party's phone number and handle it later.


Unexpectedly, a young woman stepped out of the other car. She was dressed in business attire and seemed to be in a rush for some project.


The girl looked guilty, and after noticing my car's emblem, she bit her lip without saying anything.


After taking a deep breath, she walked up to my car window and handed me a business card, speaking quickly.


"I'm sorry, sir. It was my fault for starting off too hastily and hitting you. I'll take full responsibility, but I have something very important to do right now. Can I call you tomorrow afternoon?"


I waved my hand dismissively. "Forget it. I was distracted and reacted slowly. Let's just go through our insurance companies."


The girl's gaze lingered on Caelan's chat interface for a moment, then she discreetly looked away and stubbornly slipped me another card with her personal number.


Horns began blaring behind us, and we quickly resolved this traffic incident.


I drove my beat-up car back to the hospital and sat restlessly by my father's bedside.


My mind kept flashing between images of Caelan's pretentious demeanor, Aria's smug look of having everything under control, and that personal number I had thrown away.


I shook my head, trying to force myself to snap out of it.Dad rarely woke up, but when he did, he held my hand and asked, "Where's Aria? Why didn't she come with you?"


A lump formed in my throat, and I couldn't answer. My gaze fell on Aria's social media post.


A minute ago, Aria had updated her status.


"Today is a special day!" The accompanying picture was of the flower wall I had arranged for when I proposed, along with a photo of Aria and Caelan, their faces pressed together in front of it.


"Twenty years since meeting the most important person's parents for the first time!"


I had no interest in watching their flirtatious banter, so I muted Aria's posts. However, Caelan, like a persistent ghost, continued to screenshot and harass me with private messages.


"Brother Langdon, today marks twenty-one years since Aria and I met each other's parents. I'm borrowing Aria for the day. You won't be mad, right?"


"Oh, my bad! I completely forgot today was your anniversary! But it seems Aria doesn't remember at all. I guess you probably don't care much about these kinds of anniversaries either!"


I rubbed my temples and replied to Caelan for the first time."Aria is yours now, do as you please. You don't need to deliberately come and upset me anymore."


The other side immediately sent back a selfie.


Aria was drunk, her cheeks flushed red as she lay in Caelan's arms.


"I was actually afraid to send this because I thought Brother Langdon would be angry. But since Brother Langdon is throwing a tantrum and doesn't want to take care of Aria, I'll be the good guy and help you look after her for a few days!"


I clenched my fists, determined to have a frank conversation with Aria.


"Aria, let's break up. We've been together for ten years, but for five of those years, I've been the only one holding on. I'm tired."


The single line I sent after deleting and rewriting for so long was met with a red exclamation mark.


Messages from Caelan's side came quickly again, it was a voice message sent by Aria using Caelan's account.


Chapter 3