He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 04
Standing by the bed, I felt the warmth drain from my hands.
This was a group chat without me.
I opened the message history.
The first one was from three months ago.
Alessia had sent a screenshot of the “Twenty-Four-Hour Partner Swap” game.
> Virginia’s always saying she’s one of us now, right?
> Then let’s see how many rounds she can last.
Leo had replied almost immediately.
> Make all her cards blank.
Marco followed.
> Make Nico’s and Alessia’s cards match.
> Start with hand-holding, hugging, kissing. Then add the wedding.
At first, Nico hadn’t said anything.
A long time passed before he finally sent one line.
> Don’t take it too far.
I stared at that sentence, a flicker of hope rising in my chest. For a second, I thought he had at least tried to stop them.
But the very next message was also from him.
> Virginia takes this stuff seriously.
> We still need her for the wedding prep. Don’t actually scare her off.
Marco replied with a laughing emoji.
> Don’t worry. She won’t leave.
Nico’s answer was a single, damning word.
> Yeah.
The moment I saw that, I understood.
He knew everything, from beginning to end.
He knew my box was full of blank cards.
He knew everyone was waiting to watch me make a fool of myself.
And he knew, with absolute certainty, that I would swallow my pride, again and again.
He had never been worried about my feelings.
He was only worried about whether the wedding plans would be disrupted.
I kept scrolling.
Next came the planning for this trip.
I had sent them the itinerary I’d made.
In our group chat, no one had replied.
But in The Five Forever, the discussion had been lively.
> Virginia’s scuba plan is boring.
> Alessia’s scared of water. Let’s do a yacht party instead.
Nico had written:
> No need to tell her in advance.
> We’ll just change it when we get there. She won’t say no.
They had discussed the room arrangements, too.
> Put Nico and Alessia in the family suite.
> What about Virginia?
> Sofa.
> What if she says no?
> I’ll handle her. She’ll agree.
I stood in Alessia’s room, my breath catching in my throat.
All this time, I had thought I was just bad with people.
That was why I kept trying so hard.
I remembered their preferences, cleaned up their messes, and did everything I could to keep the peace.
Only now did I finally see it clearly.
The problem had never been me.
They had never intended to let me in.
Another new message popped into the group.
Leo asked:
> Where’s Virginia?
Marco answered:
> Probably crying in her room.
> Want to keep going?
Alessia sent a voice message.
“Forget it,” she said, her voice slurring slightly. “Virginia seems genuinely upset this time.”
Nico replied to her.
“If she’s upset, let her be upset. Why does someone always have to cater to her feelings?”
After listening to that, I felt nothing. Just a cold, quiet emptiness.
I was about to close the iPad when another video appeared in the chat.
Marco had secretly filmed it on the terrace just moments before.
In the frame, only Nico and Alessia were left.
Alessia was drunk, her head on his shoulder. “Nico,” she murmured, “if I hadn’t turned you down back then, would you still have gotten together with Virginia?”
My finger froze on the screen.
The sound of the ocean wind was loud in the video.
Nico was silent for a long time.
Then he said, “No.”
Alessia smiled, though a tear traced a path down her cheek.
“Do you regret it now?”
Nico didn’t answer.
He just reached out and gently wiped the tear from her face.
That was answer enough.
After the video ended, the chat went quiet for a few seconds.
Then Marco sent:
> I told you. You two are the real couple.
Leo added:
> Virginia was always the outsider anyway.
> She took Alessia’s place for all these years. It’s time she gave it back.
The world around me seemed to go silent.
So that’s how they saw me. The intruder.
I turned off the iPad, picked up my phone charger, and set it back down exactly where I had found it.
I didn’t go looking for them on the terrace. I didn’t need to ask any questions.
The answers were already crystal clear.
Back in my room, I changed my flight to the last one out that night.
Two hours. That was enough time to disappear.
This time, I wasn’t staying.