Seven Times I Drew Blank, Seven Times They Drew Each Other Chapter 04

Seven Times I Drew Blank, Seven Times They Drew Each Other Chapter 04

I stood beside the bed as a chill slowly spread through me.

This was a group chat I had never been part of.

I opened the chat history. The earliest messages were from three months earlier.

Vanessa had posted a screenshot of the “Couples for a Day” challenge.

Vanessa: [Nora’s always saying she can fit in with us, right?]

Vanessa: [Let’s see how many rounds she can take.]

Miles replied almost immediately.

Miles: [Make every card in her box blank.]

Derek: [Make Julian’s and Vanessa’s cards match.]

Derek: [Start with holding hands and hugs, then work up to a kiss. That should make things interesting.]

I kept reading.

Julian hadn’t responded at first. A long time later, he finally sent a message.

Julian: [Don’t take it too far.]

I stared at those words, and for one ridiculous moment, hope stirred in me.

At least he had tried to stop them.

Then I read his next messages.

Julian: [Nora takes things too seriously.]

Julian: [We still need her to handle the wedding. Don’t actually drive her away.]

Derek sent a laughing emoji.

Derek: [Relax. She’s not going anywhere.]

Julian: [Yeah.]

That single word hit me like a slap.

Julian hadn’t been clueless about the setup at all.

He had known from the beginning that every card in my box would be blank. He knew everyone was waiting to watch me humiliate myself, and he knew I would keep swallowing it, round after round.

The only thing he cared about was making sure they didn’t push me so far that I stopped planning his wedding.

I kept reading until the conversation reached the plans for this trip.

I had sent the itinerary I’d put together to our regular group chat, and no one had replied.

But [Five for Life] was blowing up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

[The scuba diving Nora planned sounds so boring.]

[Vanessa’s scared of the water. Let’s switch to a yacht party.]

Julian: [Don’t tell her.]

Julian: [We’ll change it when we get there. She won’t say no.]

They had even discussed the room assignments.

[Put Julian and Vanessa in the family suite.]

[What about Nora?]

[The couch.]

[What if she refuses?]

Julian: [I’ll talk to her. She’ll agree.]

Standing there in Vanessa’s room, I suddenly found it hard to breathe.

For years, I had believed I was simply slow to open up and that was why I could never truly fit in with them.

So I bent over backward for them.

I remembered their preferences, put up with their jokes, and volunteered to handle every hassle.

Only now did I understand.

It had never been that I couldn’t fit in.

They had been standing hand in hand on the other side of the door all along, watching me struggle to get in and laughing when I couldn’t.

A new message suddenly appeared on the screen.

Miles: [Where’s Nora?]

Derek: [Probably crying in the room.]

Derek: [Want to do another round?]

Vanessa quickly sent a voice note.

Vanessa: [Maybe we should stop. Nora actually seems upset this time.]

Julian sent one back.

Julian: [If she’s mad, let her cool off on her own.]

Julian: [Does everyone really have to go running after her every single time? It’s exhausting.]

I listened to his voice, and something inside me went completely cold.

I was about to turn off the tablet when a new video suddenly appeared in the chat.

Derek had filmed it without them knowing.

Only Julian and Vanessa were left on the terrace.

Vanessa was drunk, leaning against Julian’s shoulder.

“Julian, if I hadn’t turned you down back then, would you still be with Nora?”

My finger froze against the screen.

The wind roared through the video as Julian stayed silent for a long time.

Finally, he answered quietly.

“No.”

Vanessa smiled, but tears slipped down her face.

“Do you regret it now?”

Julian didn’t answer.

He simply reached up and wiped away her tears.

The gesture was so gentle that it felt like an answer in itself.

The video cut off abruptly.

The group chat stayed silent for a few seconds before Derek sent another message.

Derek: [Told you two belong together.]

Miles joined in.

Miles: [Nora was the one who came along later and got between you two.]

Miles: [She’s been in Vanessa’s place all these years. It’s time she gave it back.]

The words left my ears ringing.

So that was how they saw me.

I had been with Julian for seven years and was about to marry him, yet somehow I was the one who had come between them.

I turned off the tablet and put the charger back where I had found it.

I didn’t confront anyone. I didn’t storm out to the terrace.

I already had my answer.

Back in my room, I changed my ticket to the last flight out that night.

I had two hours.

That was enough time to leave.

If there had never been room for me in a group of six, then there didn’t need to be room for any of them in the rest of my life.