Chapter 2

Even though I'd cried last night, my eyes still stung.

My parents loved Ella. I'd always known.

She was sweet-tongued. She'd wave at them from far away.

She showered them with compliments.

She always made them beam.

Not like me. Because I'm face-blind, sometimes my parents would walk right up to me.

I'd walk past them like strangers.

They got angry about that more than once.

They'd say I'd lived with them for years.

And still couldn't remember their faces.

But I never thought—

On something as big as my wedding—

My parents would agree to swap the groom for Ella.

Let a stranger marry me in Enzo's place.

Tears fell on the fake groom's neck.

His back stiffened. He tried to mimic Enzo's voice and whispered.

"Why are you crying? Is my back too bony?"

"Want me to put you down? I can hold your hand and walk."

I shook my head and held his neck tighter.

"It's a happy day. I'm just happy."

I got to see the truth about the man beside me before the wedding.

And I learned my parents didn't love me that much.

That was a happy thing.

He carefully carried me into the car.

Probably afraid I'd notice he wasn't Enzo.

He barely spoke the whole way.

But when he saw me hugging my arms,

He quietly reached over and turned up the AC.

Halfway there, the wedding car was forced to stop.

I'd just put down the mirror to fix my makeup.

The sudden brake threw me forward.

He was fast—he put his hand between my forehead and the dashboard.

"Did you hit your head?"

I shook my head. He explained.

"Another wedding car is coming. The road's too narrow."

Wedding cars don't go backward.

So neither convoy would move. We were stuck.

I opened my eyes. When I saw the familiar license plate, my pupils shrank.

Half a month before the wedding, Enzo bought a new car.

He said it would be our lead car on the wedding day.

The plate was L5201. A lucky number.

I hadn't thought much about it then.

I even praised his luck for getting such a lucky number.

Now it hit me. The first letter of the plate.

Together, it was Enzo·L5201.

The letter was Ella's initial.

The lucky number was Enzo openly declaring his love for her in front of me.

So the car across from us held Ella and Enzo.

But Enzo had told me the plate wasn't ready.

We couldn't use that car as the lead.

My phone buzzed. Ella's message popped up.

"Luna, looks like traffic."

"Can you ask Enzo to back up a bit?"

"We'll miss the auspicious hour."

The "Enzo" beside me was frowning at the road.

"I'll go see if we can squeeze past."

He reached for his seatbelt.

I stopped him and pointed to another road.

"Turn in there."

He frowned and refused.

"That road's bumpy. Bad luck for a wedding car."

"Bad luck?"

I dropped my smile and shot back.

"What's worse luck than swapping grooms on the wedding day?"