"Who? Dark-haired Ken Doll?" Dannie asked back.

I nodded.

"Yeah." Dannie replied. "And he is sooooo hoootttt!" And for a while, I thought Dannie was going to cry. "I haven't seen him before!"

"Big city. You can't know everybody who lives here!"

Then I remembered how his arms wrapped around me. In that instant, I felt warm, comforted... safe. I felt the comfort that I have been looking for since I found out about Bryan and Geena.

I looked at the ring that I still clasp in my hand and I remembered how Bryan made me believe his ring was real... along with his love.

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. I started crying again.

"It wasn't even a real diamond!" I wailed.

"Oh, God! Here we go!" Dannie rolled his eyes and pulled me with him and Nicole.

"Did you hear what the guy said? It was worth only a couple hundred bucks!" I continued crying. "How could he do this to me? I thought he loved me then! And this ring... this ring was the symbol of how much he valued me, that wretched son of a bitch!" And I threw the ring on the street.

"What are you doing? You could have sent it back to him to tell him that you already know!" Nicole said, running after the ring.

But then a beautiful white sports car came rushing past in front of us and ran over my ring.

"Oh no!" Nicole panicked.

"Nicole! You're going to get yourself killed! Get back in here!" Dannie shouted.

Nicole quickly crossed the street to pick up my ring... or what was left of it. True enough, the huge stone had been smashed leaving only the gold plated band.

"Thank you!" Nicole called after the car angrily.

"I don't need it, Nicole!" I said to her. "This confirms what we already know. Just... throw it away!"

"You'll never know. You just might see Bryan one day and make him... I don't know... eat this!" Nicole said angrily. "How can he do this to you, Ash!? I thought... I thought you two were best friends. I thought you were soulmates."

"Is this how cheap he thought I was?"

My friends hugged me, making me feel better. Or at least they tried.

I still couldn't believe it even until that evening when Dannie, Nicole and I went to meet up with John at Oil Rig.

John was speechless almost the whole time. He was shaking his head as he took large gulps of his beer.

"Say something, will you?" Nicole said.

John shrugged. "I can't really say anything except that... I thought Bryan couldn't sink any lower!"

"A freaking cubic zirconia! He said he spent a fortune on that ring!" I said. I drank my beer. "How could he trick me like this? How couldn't I have known? I was a wedding planner, for Christ's sake!"

"You plan weddings, honey. Not engagement parties. Your job begins long after the ring has been placed on the bride-to-be's finger." Dannie pointed out.

Now I realized that for the years that we have been together, Bryan and Geena must have thought me naive. I was this... pushover, who worshipped the land that they both walked on... like they couldn't do anything wrong in their lives. I did almost everything they asked me to. God! I'm such a fool!

My sorry thoughts were interrupted by a phone call from my mother.

"I... have to take this call, guys." I said. I quickly dashed to the nearest exit of the bar and answered my phone.

"Are you okay, sweetie?"

"I've been better, Mom." I replied.

"Well... I'm sure... if you're still in touch with your cousin, Adam, your invitation has reached you by now. I know it may come as a surprise."

"Yes! It was a shocker!!!" I muttered sarcastically.

"I know what they did to you was horrible, sweetheart." My mother said apologetically.

"There are no words for it, Mother!" Tears instantly rolled down my cheeks but I refused to let her hear me whimper.

"But sweetheart, you and Geena... you've been the best of friends all your lives. I mean... you can't really miss this one time event in her life."

"Mom? What are you saying?" I asked her. "Are you... saying that Geena and Bryan will last forever?"

"Oh, sweetheart. You aren't... over him yet, are you?"

"Wow, Mother! It's only been two months since I found out that my boyfriend for years has been... sleeping with my best friend for life! I'm not really made of stone, Mother!"

I heard her sigh at the other end of the line. Then she said, "This is going to be tougher than I thought."

"What's going to be tougher, Mom?"

She took a deep breath and then she said, "Sweetheart... we were hoping you will come."

"Where?"

"To... the wedding."

Right that instant, I thought I was hearing things. I could not believe what my mother just asked of me. After running what she said over and over in my head, I still thought I was hearing things.

"Mom... wha... what did you just say?"

"Sweetheart... We know that it was wrong what they did to you. But... this is our family. Geena is like a daughter to us too. You grew up together. You were best friends all your lives. It's tradition to have a reunion during big events in a family member's life and Geena's wedding is a big event. You may be mad and hurt about the whole thing, but you and Geena... you go a long way, sweetheart. You two will kiss and make up and you will learn to forgive Bryan. You were also best friends. You would... feel sorry someday if you missed this wedding. I heard it would be grand!"

"Oh Mother! I am sure it would be!" I said very sarcastically. "After all, I planned the whole thing! This was supposed to be my wedding Mother! Mine and Bryan's! The fact that you think I can get over their sleeping together behind my back, and lying to me for months so easily is unbelievable, Mom! Geena may have been my best friend all my life, but now... she's just some bitch who broke my heart, stole my fiance, and ruined my dream wedding!"

"Sweetheart... please. You can just show up for an hour at the reception. Say hi to your relatives. Say hi to Uncle Jack. It would mean a lot to him for you to be there."

I sighed. Uncle Jack. He's like a father to me. And whatever he gave Geena when we were growing up, he also gave me. Like when he went on trips and gave Geena a doll when he got back, I had the same one too. Even when we were in college, I was a daughter to him. And I love him. But... if he loves me, wouldn't he understand why I couldn't make it to Geena's wedding?

"Sweetheart... please. If you can't do it for Geena, please do it for Uncle Jack."

"Mother... I'm sure, Uncle Jack would understand and forgive my absence." I said.

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Mother?"

"Think about it, dear. You have another three weeks."

"Mom, it doesn't matter if I had three years to think it over, I'm not going." I went to hang up the phone but one small, vindictive part of me made me raise my phone back to my lips.

"By the way Mom, Geena's pregnant. That's how I found out about their affair." I only listened long enough to hear my mother's brief gasp and apology before I hung up the phone.

I still couldn't believe it when I came back to our table.

"What? Geena has more bad news for you?" Dannie asked, quite alarmed.

I sighed. "No. But my mother does."

"Is everything okay?"

I smiled sarcastically. "According to her, everything will be... if I attend the wedding."

They all groaned.

Nicole was almost furious. "Excuse me to your Mother, but what is she thinking? Does she not care about you at all?"

"I don't think she understands how it feels like to be cheated on or to be forced to call off your wedding. Or to... see your dream wedding happening to someone else." Tears rolled down my cheeks.

Dannie and Nicole put their arms around me.

"Look up, sweetheart." John said. "Better things are coming your way. But for now, you need to hold your chin up high."

I smiled at them. "Thanks, you guys." I whispered.

"Just make sure that when you do choose to attend that wedding, you will not be attending it alone."

I raised my brow at John.

"Well, make sure that you do come with a guy. A date. Some guy who's ten times hotter than Bryan and can't keep his hands off you. We guys really hate that!"

"Really?"

He nodded. "You've dated Bryan longer than he's ever dated Geena. He's had the hots for you ever since. But he never had you... right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course! I've been holding it off until my wedding night."

"So, somewhere at the back of his mind, he still wonders what it would have been like to have you... to touch you more intimately. And maybe he just might still have some feelings for you."

"If he had feelings for me, he wouldn't be marrying Geena!" I muttered.

"He's a cheapskate, Astrid! He wanted his money back! Or make the most of it, if the refund option was not available!" Nicole said crossly.

"It's only been two months. He was madly in love with you for years. Chances are... he still has some feelings for you. It may not be what it used to be but... there's still a shred of that emotion there. And the lust thing is definitely still there because it was never satiated." John continued.

"So, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying, show up with some guy who's so handsome and so hot, even Bryan would want to sleep with him if he were gay. And make sure you two get too close for comfort. Send out signals that you've already slept with this guy."

Dannie beamed. "That's like a slap in the face for him, isn't it?"

"And nobody in that wedding will ever feel sorry for you for what happened. They will think, if this is the prize you got for losing Bryan, then you were much better off." Nicole agreed.