Trapped In Lace

The bride laughed through her tears. Without a word, she gazed at the groom, who grabbed the mic and declared, "I do."

With open arms, she ran to him. He held her tight, lifted her off the ground, and playfully spun her around.

Rachel joined in as the guests vigorously cheered for the couple. As she was clapping, she heard a soft voice say, "I would also be honored to spend the rest of my life with you."

Despite the noise, she heard every word clearly.

She pursed her lips in an attempt to suppress this strange feeling in her heart. Ultimately, she pretended not to hear what Jack had just said. Her eyes remained fixed on the couple on the stage, but she couldn't help reaching down and holding his hand.

This only went on for a second, but Jack was exhilarated.

The emcee's deep voice brought their attention back to the festivities. "You may now exchange rings."

The groomsman and bridesmaid promptly produced the rings and stood at their place beside the couple. The bride and groom took out the wedding bands and, unable to hide their smiles, prepared to put them on each other's fingers.

The guests, who had been thrilled mere moments ago, were now paying serious attention to the ceremony.

Again, Jack leaned close to Rachel and whispered in her ear, "I still owe you a wedding."

Just like that, everything came flooding back: the wedding ceremony, the customized wedding dress, and all the preparations that they had made. Rachel lower

he did not feel like eating now. She got herself a small slice of cake and found a place to sit in.

Several women approached her, hand in hand. Rachel thought that they looked familiar, but she couldn't recall who they were.

A girl in a floral dress stood in the middle. She pointed at herself and smiled. "Hi! We used to go to school together, and I used to sit in the front row. I was short then. My name is Sophie Chen. Do you remember me?"

Even if the woman had told Rachel her name, the latter couldn't quite recall who she was. Still, she nodded and smiled. "I remember. It's been a long time since we've last seen each other."

The other two women also told her their names. Then, all three pulled out chairs next to Rachel, sat down, and went on and on about everything that had happened in junior high school.

Even when she had been attending school, Rachel had not paid much attention to the people around her. She had no idea who they were.

Nevertheless, they were old classmates, and they had had the initiative to approach her. It would have been rude to tell them outright that she did not recognize them.

She was afraid that if she said that, she would be subjected to endless eye-rolling. Even though Rachel was not that good at socializing, she was smarter than that.

She picked up her fork and ate her cake while she listened to the women recall stories of the past. When they addressed her, she smiled lightly at them as a response.