The night before her wedding, Bu dreamed of marrying Lai. She stood at the altar, facing him. He was dressed all in white and he glowed like an angel.
Bu awoke smiling only to remember her parents had arranged for her to marry Fuji Lakshmi instead. Her smile vanished.
“Ah! You are still in bed? Get up! Get up! We must get you married!” Her mother beat her with pillows until she got out of bed.
“Is there no news?”
“News? News of what?”
“I don’t know. I just want to make sure nothing’s changed.”
“Ah, look at the young bride! Before you did not even want to marry Fuji and already you can’t bear the thought of anything happening to him.”
“It’s not Fuji I’m worried about. I want to make sure Na hasn’t ripped my wedding gown. You know she was trying it on yesterday?”
“Haan, haan. That is normal. I think all of my sisters tried on my wedding dress before I got married. It is what sisters do. It is only because they are jealous and they are sad to see you go.”
Bu narrowed her eyes skeptically, but she didn’t argue. She was solemn as she rose to get dressed, praying her plan would pay off before it was too late.
Bu cast her eyes around the wedding venue when they arrived. Her eyes met Lai’s. He smiled at her, but it was a sad smile and she was sure their plan had failed. She looked down at the floor, trying to hide her disappointment from the world.
She looked back up when she heard a loud THUNK! She saw her fiancé on the ground, twitching and foaming at the mouth.
She suppressed a smile.
Lai rushed to his friend’s side, held him down so he wouldn’t hurt himself, and called out for someone to get him to a hospital.
After his parents had rushed Fuji out, Bu squared her jaw and narrowed her eyes. She was trembling from relief, but she pretended it was from rage. “You were going to let me marry him without telling me he had epilepsy?”
The Lakshmis shrank under Bu’s glare.
“I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding,” said her father. “We’ll talk it over as soon as the poor boy recovers.”
“A misunderstanding? No, papa! Not this. This they must have deliberately concealed from us. I cannot marry into such a family.”
She looked about, but she did not see Lai. Her chest constricted with fear, until her eyes found him a moment later.
“You there!” She pointed at him as if she didn’t know his name. “I’m all dressed up for a wedding. I might as well marry someone. You’ll do.”
“Me?” Lai put a hand to his chest and looked about.
“That’s right. You. Come on, I don’t have all day.”
“Bu you cannot be serious,” said her father.
“I am, papa.”
“Bu! You will not marry this man,” said her mother. “Your father and I have arranged for you to marry Fuji.”
“And yet you failed to find out about his medical condition. You nearly doomed me and my children to that fate.”
Bu turned back to Lai and this time she did not bother to hide her smile as they exchanged vows.
The End.