Chapter 7 finale

"Karen!" Karen heard a woman calling her from behind, turned around hastily, and dropped all the things she was holding in her hands in a panic.She was in a shopping mall, surrounded by crowds, and it took her a while to recognize Linda.Linda met during that magical weekend with Ali. Karen suddenly howled and cried, and both of them panicked. Linda put her arms around Karen's shoulders like a mother, took her to sit on a chair by the fountain, and handed her a clean tissue to wait for Karen to calm down. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me, I seem to be crying all the time. It's really nice to see you. How's everyone? How's Stey?"

"He's fine," Linda said with a smile. "Everyone is fine. When will your baby be born?" Karen struggled to hold back her tears. "Is it so obvious?" "Yes for mothers. Why don't you tell me what's bothering you? Is there something going on between you and Ali? He's going to marry you, isn't he?" Karen blew her nose. "Yes, we are going to get married in two months and have a small perfect wedding. I will invite you to come then." She looked down at the soaked tissue. "It's all right, all right. It's just—"

"Speak, there is nothing bad to say." "I'm not sure if Ali really wants to marry me," she blurted out. "I plotted against him, I... I seduced him. I wanted kids badly, and he—" She didn't go any further because Linda was already laughing. "I'm so sorry," Karen said stiffly, getting up. "I don't want to make you laugh with my questions." Linda took Karen's arm and told her to sit down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh; it's just that I've never seen a man chase a woman as hard as Ali chases you. How do you think he doesn't really want to marry you?"

"You don't know what you're talking about. If you knew the actual situation between us, you'd know it's not so much a marriage as a business. I mean everything, and besides—" "Karen, excuse me, but you're the one who doesn't know what you're talking about. Did you know that there were supposed to be six bridesmaids in that wedding? It was Ally who called Stey in a hurry to say he'd met The love of my life, I had to find an excuse to spend the weekend with her. An extra bridesmaid was his idea. He paid three times the price for a gown made to your size and paid for one of his friends A tuxedo, enough to make up seven best men."

Karen stared at Linda. "The love of my life? But when he met me he told me he couldn't find anyone who could fit in that dress." "Sidi and his wife have enough friends. There is no need to find Ali's girlfriend as a bridesmaid, not to mention that Ali changes girlfriends all the time." Karen shook her head. "I don't know what's going on. I don't think he's even seen me before the Christmas party. Why would he make up such a story? Why is it necessary? I don't understand." Linda smiles. "There is an old saying in the Tan family: 'Marry a woman who can distinguish twins clearly'."

Karen looked bewildered. "Isn't there a picture of a man with a string of fish in Eli's office?" Karen searched her memory and remembered that when she sneaked into Ali's office that night, she picked up a photo from the bookshelf, and then she was startled by Ali's voice and dropped the photo on the ground. "Yeah, I remember that picture. It's his brother, isn't it? I remember saying I'd never seen that guy." Linda smiled knowingly. "That's Eli's twin brother, who looks exactly like him." "He doesn't look like Ali at all! Ali is much prettier than him. He—" She stopped and looked away, Linda was already laughing.It took her a while to calm down again, and she looked back at Linda. "Did he make up the bridesmaid?" she asked softly.

"It's all nonsense. He said that as long as Stikon let you be a bridesmaid, he would pay for all the wedding expenses. And in order to sleep in the same room with you, he lent him his precious speedboat for half a year. Eric The pair of earrings for you are heirlooms of his family. They can only be given to the wife, not the girlfriend, only the wife. I also know that he called home twice that weekend to describe you in detail to his family. Say how smart and beautiful you are, and he'll do anything to make you love him." Linda squeezed Karen's hand. "You must have noticed that Ali is always tongue-tied in front of you. We all made fun of him because he was too afraid to say the wrong thing so he stopped talking. He told Stey that he was pretending not to notice you all the time, Because he heard from his colleagues that as long as someone shows the slightest interest in you, you will immediately avoid it."

"He mentioned to his sister-in-law that I want to open a shop." She said softly. "Honey, whenever he's not with you, he's talking about you with other people." "But I thought he wanted me to marry him because..." She stopped, looking Linda straight in the eye. "Because I asked him to give me something." "I've never seen a man fall in love at first sight so deeply. He said that after you picked up that photo in his office that day, he looked into your eyes and fell in love with you on the spot at that moment." "Why didn't he tell me?" Karen said.

"You mean Ali didn't tell you that he loves you?" Linda was shocked. "No, of course he said it, and he said it many times, but I..." Karen stood up, she didn't want to say that she didn't believe he was sincere, she couldn't believe that a man like Tan Aili would... "I have to go," Karen said abruptly. "I've got to go—oh, Linda, thank you," she said, and when Linda stood up, too, Karen hugged her warmly. "You won't understand how thankful I am. You've made me the happiest woman on earth. I've got to tell Ali... tell him..."

Linda laughed heartily. "Go! What are you waiting for? Don't go!" But Karen was gone. ——End of the full text——