“Young man, get out! This is my wedding!”

Luc Thoi Hang’s roar echoed through the banquet hall.

Tri Vong blinked innocently.

Then he looked at me.

“Best friend, did you hear that? He’s bullying me.”

I nearly laughed.

Luc Thoi Hang’s face darkened further.

“Diep Diep, enough. Tell him to leave.”

I tilted my head.

“Why?”

“Because you’re marrying me.”

“But you were just about to leave with Tong Dinh.”

“That’s different.”

“Different how?”

He opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

So I helped him.

“Because when Tong Dinh interrupts our wedding wearing a wedding dress, grabs your arm, demands a kiss, and asks you to leave with her, it’s a harmless joke between childhood friends.”

I pointed toward Tri Vong.

“But when my childhood friend does exactly the same thing, suddenly he’s shameless?”

The guests became unnaturally quiet.

Even Tong Dinh stopped smiling.

Tri Vong sighed dramatically.

“How unfair. I thought friendships transcended gender.”

Several younger guests lowered their heads to hide their laughter.

Luc Thoi Hang turned toward Tong Dinh.

“Go change your dress.”

She stared at him.

“What?”

“Now.”

Her expression collapsed.

“Thoi Hang, you promised—”

“I said it was a joke!”

She immediately looked at me.

“So because she’s angry, you’re taking it out on me?”

I smiled.

“I’m not angry.”

That seemed to irritate both of them more.

I turned to the wedding coordinator.

“Please continue.”

Luc Thoi Hang relaxed slightly.

He apparently thought I meant our ceremony.

Then I stepped beside Tri Vong.

“With the replacement groom.”

The hall exploded.

Luc Thoi Hang grabbed my wrist.

“You’re not funny anymore.”

I pulled free.

“Neither were you.”

For the first time, his confidence disappeared.

“Diep Diep, I’ve tolerated enough.”

I stared at him.

“Tolerated?”

His face stiffened.

I continued:

“For three years, Tong Dinh has sat in the passenger seat because she gets carsick in the back.”

“She calls you at two in the morning because she has nightmares.”

“She wears your shirts.”

“She uses our apartment key.”

“She chose our honeymoon hotel because she said she wanted to ‘inspect it first.’”

Tong Dinh’s face went pale.

“And every single time I objected, you called me narrow-minded.”

I looked directly into Luc Thoi Hang’s eyes.

“So today I decided to become broad-minded too.”

Tri Vong clapped softly.

“Beautiful character development.”

Someone laughed aloud.

Luc Thoi Hang’s ears turned red.

“Tri Vong, shut up.”

Tri Vong’s smile disappeared.

For the first time, his voice became normal.

Deep.

Cold.

“You don’t get to order me around.”

The entire atmosphere changed.

Luc Thoi Hang seemed surprised too.

Tri Vong stepped forward.

“You spent years humiliating her under the excuse of friendship with another woman.”

He pointed toward the wedding stage.

“And today you were actually going to abandon your bride in front of both families because of a childhood bet.”

He paused.

“I came because Diep Diep called me last night crying.”

Luc Thoi Hang looked at me.

“You called him?”

“Yes.”

“What did you tell him?”

“The truth.”

Something flickered in his eyes.

Fear.

Tri Vong took an envelope from inside his jacket.

“I also brought what she asked me to bring.”

He handed it to me.

Luc Thoi Hang stared at it.

“What is that?”

I opened the envelope.

Inside was the cancellation notice for our marriage registration appointment.

And underneath it…

the termination agreement for the apartment we had rented together.

Luc Thoi Hang froze.

“You canceled the apartment?”

“Yes.”

“Where are you supposed to live?”

“I already have somewhere.”

“With him?”

His voice suddenly rose.

Tri Vong laughed.

“You really can’t imagine a woman making a decision that isn’t about a man, can you?”

I looked at Luc Thoi Hang.

“I accepted a transfer to Shanghai.”

Silence.

His expression emptied.

“What transfer?”

“The one I rejected twice because you said married couples shouldn’t live apart.”

His lips parted.

“I leave next week.”

“No.”

The word came instantly.

I almost smiled.

“No?”

“You can’t just decide this alone.”

I stared at him.

“Interesting.”

He understood immediately.

Today, he had decided alone to stop our wedding and leave with Tong Dinh.

But somehow my career still required his permission.

Tong Dinh suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

“Thoi Hang, forget her. She’s doing this to scare you.”

He shook her off.

Harder than necessary.

She froze.

He didn’t even notice.

His eyes remained on me.

“Diep Diep, tell everyone this is a joke.”

“It isn’t.”

“Then what about our wedding?”

“There isn’t one.”

His face turned white.

I removed the engagement ring.

Placed it on the flower-covered table.

For years, he had believed I would tolerate anything because I loved him.

That morning, he discovered love could end before patience did.

His mother rushed forward.

“Diep Diep, don’t be impulsive. Tieu Dinh is just playful.”

I looked at Tong Dinh’s wedding dress.

“She arrived at another woman’s wedding dressed as the bride.”

His mother fell silent.

Tri Vong leaned toward me.

“Ready?”

“Yes.”

We walked toward the exit together.

Behind us, Luc Thoi Hang shouted:

“Diep Diep!”

I stopped.

He came down from the stage.

His eyes were red now.

“I won’t let you leave over something this stupid.”

I turned.

“You’re right.”

Hope appeared on his face.

Then I finished:

“I’m not leaving because of today.”

His expression froze.

“I’m leaving because today finally showed me what the rest of my life would look like.”

Three months later, I was living in Shanghai.

New apartment.

New position.

New routine.

Tri Vong visited occasionally because his company had a branch nearby.

He never flirted seriously.

Never demanded anything.

The ridiculous wedding performance had been exactly that—a performance designed to force Luc Thoi Hang to experience his own double standard.

Meanwhile, Tong Dinh and Luc Thoi Hang lasted less than two weeks as “best friends.”

Without me acting as the jealous villain between them, their relationship changed.

Tong Dinh expected the attention she had always received.

Luc Thoi Hang began resenting every demand.

Apparently, behavior that seemed adorable when another woman complained about it became exhausting when no one else was available to blame.

Six months later, Luc Thoi Hang appeared outside my company.

He looked thinner.

He held my old engagement ring.

“Diep Diep.”

I stopped several feet away.

“I ended everything with Tong Dinh.”

“That’s your business.”

“She wasn’t worth losing you.”

I smiled sadly.

“You still don’t understand.”

He stared at me.

“This was never about whether she was worth more than me.”

I stepped closer.

“It was about whether I was worth enough for you to protect my dignity without needing to lose me first.”

His eyes reddened.

“I can change.”

“Maybe.”

“Then give me another chance.”

I shook my head.

“No.”

Behind me, Tri Vong walked out of the building carrying two coffees.

Luc Thoi Hang looked at him.

Then at me.

His expression collapsed.

“Are you with him now?”

Tri Vong handed me one cup.

I smiled.

“That’s none of your business.”

And for once, I didn’t explain.

I simply walked away.

Because the greatest revenge was never marrying Tri Vong in front of him.

It was something much simpler.

Luc Thoi Hang had spent years teaching me that my feelings were insignificant.

Then one day, I finally believed him—and stopped giving him access to them.