On the day of my engagement with Helena Archer, the Reverend from Calmista City returned from his practice in St. Andrew Church.
He handed Helana a cross necklace with a face full of compassion. "Helena, come with me. He's not good enough for you!"
Dressed in a mermaid dress, Helena wept with joy and ran over to him. "Chris, I've waited for you for so long."
Then, she turned to me and said coldly, "Albert Weils, let's break up. You were just a stand-in. "
All the guests looked at me with sympathy.
However, I just nodded gently, without causing a fuss.
They did not know that it was the last day Amanda, Helena's mother, hired me to play the role of Helena's boyfriend.
Finally, after five years, I was free!
Who knew that later, she would regret it.
......
At two in the morning, my phone rang.
When I heard the distinctive ringtone, I instantly woke up and swiped to answer.
After five years with Helena, I had gotten into the habit of picking up her calls immediately.
As soon as the call connected, there was loud music playing on the other end.
I furrowed my brows. "Helena, what's going on?"
As soon as I spoke, a burst of uproarious laughter echoed through the receiver.
"Helena, he really picked up immediately! It's two in the morning!"
"Helena, you are amazing indeed. You know how to manage your husband well!"
"He's available around the clock for you. He's absolutely smitten with you!"
"Hey, he's a top-tier student from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He's a master at time management!"
Within the next moment, Helena's voice came through. It was filled with smugness and arrogance.
"Albert, I'm at the usual place. Come get me within half an hour."
Then, she hung up right away.
I dared not waste any time. I grabbed my trench coat and car keys and dashed out of the apartment.
Twenty minutes later, I arrived at the bar where Helena and her friends were.
Upon seeing me arrive so promptly, Helena's friends exclaimed in surprise,
"That speed is insane! He arrived in twenty minutes!"
"Helena, let me know when you get tired of him! I've yet to date a cool, aloof scholar yet!"
Being quite tipsy, Helena waved at them. "No problem. If I ever get bored of him, I’ll pass him on to you."
Despite her treating me as a commodity that she could give away so lightly, my face still showed no hint of embarrassment.
I had always known that we were not from the same world.
Yet, there was a pang of hurt in my heart.
After five years, I still could not warm her heart.
I draped the trench coat over Helena, helped her into the car, and buckled her seat belt.
When we got home, I carried her back to the bedroom.
Just as I was about to put her down, Helena suddenly grabbed my neck tightly.
"Chris, don't leave me!" Helena started sobbing.
"What part of me isn't good enough? Why would you rather devote yourself to Christ Jesus than to me?
"If you don't come back, I'm going to marry someone else!"
I forced myself to take her hands off my neck, fighting the pain inside me.
"Helena, you're drunk! I'm Albert Weils, not Christopher Lopez."
Then, I tucked her into bed, turned, and left the bedroom. I went to prepare a cup of honey water for her to sober up.
......
I had always known that Helena had always seen me as a substitute for Christopher.
Christopher was a well-known Reverend in Calmina City and came from a distinguished family. He was rumored to have ethereally handsome features.
In the year he was born, the Lopez family specifically sought a priest to predict God's plan for him.
The priest stated that Christopher was a true Christ follower.
Therefore, Christopher started to get into reading bible scriptures at a very young age. Indeed, his understanding was extraordinarily profound. He was later accepted as a disciple by a priest from St. Andrew Church.
Helena was his childhood sweetheart.
She got together with Christopher when she was sixteen.
Initially, their family backgrounds were quite similar, and they were neighbors as well. It was a natural progression and something their parents were happy about.
However, Christopher's constellation indicated that an ill fate was awaiting him.
Helena, on the other hand, was born with a different constellation.
There was an old folk belief that the pairing of both their constellation types would end tragically. Not only that, but it was believed that one person in this pairing would be fatally harmed.
After less than three years together, Helena suddenly fell gravely ill and was nearly beyond saving.
A later consultation with the priest revealed that Helena had been harmed due to Christopher's fate.
If they continued to stay together, Helena would inevitably meet with misfortune and death within ten years.
Helena was Amanda's only daughter.
Knowing that Helena could potentially die if they were to stay together, her mother demanded a breakup immediately.
Helena refused, but feeling guilty for endangering her, Christopher took the initiative to propose the breakup.
After that, he left for St. Andrew Church to devote himself to the religion.
Helena has been despondent ever since.
In my second year of college, Helena returned to the University of Massachusetts Amherst after a year of recuperation at home.
The moment she laid her eyes on me, her eyes were rimmed red, and her face was full of sorrow.
It was as if we once knew each other and I had let her down.
At that time, I was busy with studying and working part-time jobs. I had absolutely no interest in romance, so I just swiftly walked past her.
The next day, she found my dormitory and started a fervent pursuit of me.
Many classmates knew Helena's background.
They were joking that I could cut fifty years of hard work now.
However, I had no interest in relationships. I viewed them as a waste of time and money.
My family's financial condition also did not allow me to spend energy on such things.
Helena had enough confidence to play the game of love, but I did not have that luxury.
Moreover, right around that time, my mother had been diagnosed with kidney disease. My financial state occupied my mind. Where would I have the mind to pay attention to Helena?
While I worried about obtaining a kidney donor and my financial issues, Helena's mother came to see me.
"Albert, I'll take care of the cost of your mother's illness and medication.
"I want you to be my daughter's boyfriend for five years, always at her beck and call and keeping her safe! After five years, this contract will be void, and I'll give you another five million dollars!
"If she needs it, you can cross the line, but the premise is that you can't impregnate her.
"If you can make her fall in love with you in five years, I'll agree to make you my son-in-law."
I agreed to her request.
It was only later when I gradually fell for Helena, I heard from her sisters that the reason why she pursued me obsessively was because I looked very much similar to Christopher, the Reverend from Calmista City.
Helena pursued me, simply because I was Christopher's doppelganger.
......
After Helena woke up from her hangover, I served her a bowl of millet porridge.
"Helena, we need to try on our engagement banquet outfits after breakfast."
Helena's hand that held the spoon froze for a moment.
Then, she nodded somewhat listlessly. "I know."
After breakfast, we went to the bridal shop.
Helena tried a halter mermaid dress.
The well-tailored mermaid dress accentuated her slim figure, making her look graceful and charming.
In five years, Helena has transformed from the crybaby girl she used to be into a mature, gorgeous woman.
Donned in a white suit, I walked up to her and rested my hands lightly on her shoulders.
"Helena, you look beautiful in the mermaid dress!" I exclaimed sincerely, my eyes lighting up as I looked at her.
In the mirror, we resembled a perfect couple, with our unmatchable height difference that people found the cutest. We were like a match made in heaven.
Yet, Helena was staring blankly at the mirror.
She looked at me, her eyes tinged with sadness.
I knew that she was looking at another man through me.
I forced a smile and then suggested to her, "This one is really pretty. Shall we try another one?"
Only then did Helena snap out of it.
She pulled a long face and shook her head. "No thanks, I'm a bit tired. Let's try it another time".
"Alright, as you wish." I did not insist.
After Helena changed her clothes, she said in a somewhat irritated tone, "Albert, I want to go home. Give me the car keys and hail a cab for yourself."
I nodded and gently reminded her, "Alright, be careful on the road."
"I get it! Stop nagging!"
She snatched the keys from me and left the bridal shop without looking back.
......
Not long after Helena left, I received a call from Amanda.
"Albert, it's been five years. It seems that you won't be able to become my son-in-law," Amanda uttered indifferently.
I responded softly, "Rest assured, Madam Amanda. I'm not the type to cling desperately. Once the contract period is up, I'll leave on my own."
"It seems I've overestimated your abilities."
With that, she hung up the phone.
I clenched my phone, feeling somewhat dejected.
After signing the contract with Amanda, I accepted Helena's confession.
At first, it was due to my pledge to Amanda, so I would attend to Helena's beck and call.
Gradually, I could not help but fall in love with her.
Fairly speaking, in a relationship, Helena was a girl who liked to make a fuss.
In the middle of the night, she would want me to buy her fried chicken that was 50 kilometers away. In the heat of summer, she would want me to take her to see snow. When it rained, she would want me to stand under the trees to get soaked and then to run and cling to her, completely drenched.
One rainy day when she got drunk, I found out that the day Christopher broke up with her and left was also a day that rained heavily.
Christopher had walked away without looking back.
Her wanting me to stand in the rain and then come back to hold her was as though Christopher had never left her and had returned.
She tormented me again and again with things she had done with Christopher.
She was looking for the shadow that Christopher once left on me.
Despite that, I did not care. I had enough patience to chisel away the traces Christopher left in her heart.
I thought I could overcome any obstacle as long as I was sincere.
Yet, it seemed like I was just overestimating myself.
But, I quickly cheered up again.
I fooled myself by thinking that at the very least, Helena agreed to be engaged with me.
She was such a proud girl. How could she agree to be engaged to me if she did not care about me a little?
I allowed a glimmer of hope to rise in my heart.
......
Half a month later, the day of the engagement banquet arrived.
During the makeup session, Helena kept looking at her phone, seeming distracted.
I thought she was nervous and quickly comforted her in a low voice, "Helena, relax, I'm here."
Helena glanced at me, appearing slightly impatient.
Soon, the engagement banquet officially began.
Helena wore the mermaid dress we tried on that day. She had her hair pulled up, and her beauty was beyond words.
Just as we were stepping onto the stage, the door to the hall was suddenly pushed open.
Helena looked over expectantly.
The next moment, a deep surprise flashed across her face, her eyes reddening.
"Chris, you're finally back..."
At the end of the hall, Christopher, dressed in robes, stood against the light with a cross necklace in hand.
Even his attire could not diminish his refinement and transcendental aura.
He extended the cross necklace toward Helena.
His low eyebrows cast a compassionate look, a display of sorrow for the world's woes.
"Helena, come with me. He's not worthy of you!" Christopher's tone was full of disdain when he mentioned me.
Tears welled up in Helena's eyes as she nodded furiously.
She picked up the hem of her mermaid dress, about to run towards Christopher.
Instinctively, I grabbed her wrist.
There was a touch of plea in my expression. "Helena, don't go with him. This is our engagement banquet."
