"You're so lucky, Chris, to have found such a wonderful, generous and caring partner," one of the girls said with a hint of envy reflecting in her tone. "When we were in college, you dreamed of getting married to Sam someday. And today your dreams will finally come true. How are you feeling?" she poked fun at Chris cheekily, as she clenched her fist and took her hand near Chris's mouth.
"Screw you!" Chris retorted as her cheeks flushed pink at the thought of Sam. With a sweet smile, she pointed at Autumn and introduced her formally,"Well girls, I forgot to introduce you to my sister-in-law, Autumn Zhao."
"Hello, it is so nice to meet you," Autumn greeted with a polite smile. "Are you Chris's friends whom she met abroad?"
"Oh, yeah that will be us," the two girls replied in chorus. "So Autumn, we were Chris's dear classmates while she studied abroad," they responded with a sweet smile.
"Well these two dear girls are my best friends, Tina and Hannah. I met them in university. Once we graduated, we parted ways as they remained abroad and I moved back home. I invited them to attend my wedding, but they refused initially saying they didn't have time. But now look they suddenly came here," Chris explained, as her eyes turned red. She had planned to invite and ask them to be her bridesmaids. But when she called them, they both instantly rejected her request and said they didn't have time. Chris was so disappointed that she insisted on having no bridesmaid at her wedding as she could not have anyone else but her two best friends. It turned out that they gave her a big surprise.
Autumn smiled at the two girls and said,"You girls stay here and catch up. I should head downstairs and greet all the guests."
Autumn left the three alone deliberately, hoping that they would enjoy each others' company after such a long time. 'They must have much to talk as they haven't seen each other for a long time. If I stayed there any longer, they would feel awkward, ' she thought as she walked out.
The minute Autumn walked downstairs, Hannah said to Chris with a confused look,"I feel like I have heard about your sister-in-law's name somewhere. I just cannot recall from where."
"Did you?" Chris asked casually, not paying attention to this line of dialogue. "Well I don't see how that is possible as you have never met her before."
"I'm sure I heard her name somewhere." Hannah scowled, looking wistfully. After a long pause, she said bluntly,"That's it. I recalled Sam and you drinking together. Tina and I were with you that time. Sam got drunk and kept mumbling her name. You drank much as well, so perhaps you didn't remember that. But..." She shifted her gaze to look at Tina, and asked,"You must remember it, don't you?"
"What are you talking about?" Tina flustered, snapping at Hannah who was quite simple-minded and honest. Winking at Hannah, she continued,"I don't actually remember that. You must be confused about someone else."
She changed the subject, and turned to Chris. "You look so beautiful today, Chris."
But Hannah was a persistent girl. She grabbed Tina's arm and interrupted her. "No, I'm sure about it. Her name is unique so I remembered it being mentioned very clearly. The name Sam murmured was Autumn Ye. Yeah, that' it, that is how I remember her! Her name is Autumn Ye," she exclaimed excitedly as she recalled the past.
Thinking of Chris's introduction, Hannah knitted her brows and asked in confusion,"What's going on here? Their last names are different. How could that be?"
"See? I said that you made a mistake. Today is Chris and Sam's important day. Do you have any idea what you're taking about? Stop blabbering on about trivial things!" Tina yelled out, casting Hannah a reproachful glance. Hannah realized how improper and unnecessary her words were. With an awkward laugh, she said to Chris apologetically,"Well, don't mind what I said, Chris. You know I have a big mouth and don't know when to shut up."
Since Chris was her best friend, Hannah hoped that Sam would love Chris wholeheartedly.
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