Fake Marriage, Real Revenge

I stared at my phone screen until the words blurred, my thumb hovering over the notification that had just destroyed my world.

*Wire transfer: $9,900 received from Henry Woods.*

Below it, a text message that read: *Ivy, I need space to figure things out. I think we should take a break. This is for the rent and stuff. Sorry.*

Sorry? After five years, I got a 'sorry' and enough money to cover three months' rent?

My fingers trembled as I counted the zeros again. Nine thousand nine hundred dollars. Not ten thousand—as if he'd calculated precisely how much to offer without triggering any legal complications. As if my five years of devotion could be quantified and purchased like a business transaction.

The apartment we'd shared for three years felt suddenly cavernous. Just yesterday, I'd been hanging string lights across the living room ceiling, preparing for our engagement party. The invitations were stacked neatly on the kitchen counter, each envelope addressed in my careful calligraphy. *Ivy Campbell and Henry Woods, celebrating their engagement...*

"Ivy?" My roommate Sarah called from the hallway. "Did you order takeout? There's a delivery guy downstairs."

"No," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

"Okay, weird." Her footsteps retreated. "Must be for 12B again."

I sank deeper into the couch—the one I'd found at a vintage store and refinished myself to save money for our house down payment. My gaze drifted to the framed photos on the mantle: Hank and me at his college graduation, at the beach last summer, at his startup's launch party where I'd stayed up three nights straight debugging his presentation software.

In every picture, I was smiling. In every picture, I was giving everything I had to a man who had just reduced me to a transaction.

My phone buzzed again—a group text from our friends.

*Hey everyone! Can't wait for Ivy and Hank's engagement party tomorrow night! Who's bringing champagne?*

I closed my eyes, feeling nausea rise in my throat.

---

Three hours later, I sat frozen in my car outside the Woods family estate, watching guests arrive for their monthly dinner gathering. I'd planned to attend tonight with Hank, expecting him to announce our engagement to his family officially.

Instead, I watched as Hank's mother greeted guests with a radiant smile, her hand resting on Gabriela Henry's arm.

"Welcome, welcome! So glad you could make it for our special announcement!"

My fingers gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles went white. Through the open car window, I could hear fragments of conversation floating across the manicured lawn.

"...engaged to Gabriela after all these years..."

"...always knew they'd end up together..."

"...poor Ivy, but really, she was never quite right for this family..."

My phone exploded with texts.

*Wait, what? Hank and Gabriela??*

*Ivy, is this some kind of joke?*

*Did you know about this? Call me!*

Each notification was another knife twist. I scrolled through them, seeing confusion turn to pity in real-time as the news spread through our social circle.