After the engagement, the six of us—Nico, Alessia, Marco, Leo, Sofia, and I—planned a pre-wedding trip to the Caribbean.
On our first night, my best friend, Alessia, suggested we play a game: “Twenty-Four-Hour Partner Swap.”
Anyone who drew cards with a matching symbol had to act like a couple for the day. Whoever drew a blank card was stuck taking pictures and carrying the bags.
In the first round, I drew a blank.
Nico Santoro and Alessia drew the moon.
They held hands and walked to the beach to watch the sunrise. I followed behind, all three of our beach bags slung over my shoulder.
In the second round, I drew a blank again.
They drew the rose.
The rule for that card was a one-minute hug.
Everyone stood around laughing while I stood to the side, timing them.
Third round. Fourth round.
Seven times in a row, I drew a blank card.
Every single time, I was the odd one out.
Leaning against Nico’s chest, Alessia smiled at me. “It’s just a game, Virginia. You’re not actually upset, are you?”
Nico lifted a hand and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face.
“Don’t mind her,” he said. “She always takes things too seriously.”
On the last night of the game, they drew the wedding dress card.
The rule was simple: stage a mock beach wedding.
Alessia put on the backup gown I’d brought for our real wedding.
Nico took my engagement ring off my finger and slid it onto hers.
The others stood nearby, chanting, “Kiss her! Kiss her!”
A second later, Nico lowered his head and kissed her.
While everyone was cheering, I walked over to the box of cards and opened it.
Every card in my designated stack was blank.
Every card in Nico’s and Alessia’s boxes was a perfect match: the moon, the rose, the wedding dress.
This wasn’t bad luck.
The whole game had been rigged from the start.
I smiled, then deleted every wedding-related link I had saved on my phone.
There had never been a place for me in this circle. So there was no reason to keep a place for them in my future.
He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 18 After that, I followed the documentary team to many different places. For the first time, I wasn’t just the person behind the camera. My coworkers pulled me into group photos. If there were only five chairs, someone would automatically go find another
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He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 17 Before he left town, Nico came to see me one last time. He placed a hard drive on the table between us. It contained the complete chat history of The Five Forever, along with a handwritten letter of apology. His eyes were
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He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 16 I had waited a very long time to hear those words. If he had said them sooner, maybe things would have ended differently. The first time I was left behind. The first time I watched the five of them take a photo
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He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 15 I smiled, a small, sad smile. “You still think that was just a game?” “Seven blank cards. The sofa bed. Being left alone on the boat. You putting my ring on her hand, letting her wear my dress, letting her kiss my
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He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 14 Three months later, Nico finally found me. I had gone to a small seaside town in Maine, joining a documentary team that was filming women artisans in remote communities. He drove through the night and found me near an old fishing dock.
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He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 13 The year we graduated, I had asked him, “Do your friends not like me?” He had wrapped his arms around me. “It doesn’t matter. As long as I’m here, you’re here.” “I’ll make them accept you.” Seven years had passed. He never
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He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 12 Over the next week, Nico searched every place I might have gone. No one knew where I was. The messages he sent slowly shifted from commands to pleas. > Virginia, come back. > I can apologize for the game. > We can
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He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 11 In the video, I sketched six little portraits, one by one. Nico, Alessia, Marco, Leo, Sofia, and me. At the end, I drew a circle connecting all of us. Smiling, I said, “This time, there’s finally a place for me.” Nico snapped
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He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 10 He clicked it open. The first photo showed the five of them in a restaurant, raising their glasses in a toast. In the window’s reflection, I could be seen sitting alone at the next table. The second photo showed the five of
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He Gave My Ring To Her Now He Wears His Regret Chapter 09 After the plane landed at JFK, Nico didn’t go home. He drove straight to my apartment. The door code no longer worked. He knocked for a long time before my landlord came upstairs. “Looking for Virginia? She moved out yesterday.” Nico’s expression
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