I have been able to smell people's emotions since I was a child. Sweetness meant love. Bitterness meant grief. And a sharp, spicy sting meant anger and disgust. During my ten years with Julian, his scent had never changed. It was always a sweet, comforting vanilla—so sweet it could rot your teeth. The only time it changed was the night my sister, Jasmine, moved abroad. When Julian came home late that night, the scent radiating from him was so bitter it made my stomach turn. But back then, I didn't connect the two events. It wasn't until three years later, when Jasmine came back to get married. That day, Julian's scent was a suffocating mix of bitterness and a sharp, stinging spice. It was a smell I had never encountered on him before. Frowning, I followed him out of the reception hall. In the quiet stairwell, I heard his voice—low, choked, and dripping with agony. "Enough, Jasmine! Just to make me give up, you'd rather marry a total stranger?!" Jasmine sobbed, her voice cracking. "What else was I supposed to do?! You're Chloe's fiancé, and Chloe is my sister! We can't keep making this mistake!" I froze at the entrance. My entire body trembled with shock. It felt as if my heart was being slowly crushed in a fist, squeezing the air out of my lungs until I couldn't breathe. Right then, my phone buzzed. A calendar notification popped up: Wedding with Julian next week. I stared at the screen for two seconds. Then, I called the venue and canceled the wedding.
Through the crack in the door, I saw the two of them wrapped in a painful, desperate embrace. The scent of grief radiating from them was so thick it was almost physical. Jasmine covered her face, her shoulders shaking violently. "Julian, let it go. We have to stop." She looked up at him, her eyes filled with unspeakable sorrow. "I'm getting married today. Next week, you're marrying Chloe. Chloe and I only have each other. Since our parents passed away, she's my only family. Don't hurt her, I beg you." I leaned heavily against the cold wall. My chest throbbed with a million tiny needle pricks. The sheer absurdity of the situation made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. I stood there like a lunatic, not knowing what expression to put on my face. Jasmine. Julian. I had never once connected them in my mind. For the past few years, they had kept such a polite, distant boundary. They behaved like strangers, and I was the only bridge between them. During holidays, Julian would bring gifts to our house and greet her with polite formality. Jasmine would nod distantly and say nothing more than, "Please, make yourself at home." Every time Julian left, Jasmine would stroke my hair, her emotions tightly suppressed. "Chloe must be happy," she would whisper. Back then, I didn't understand the deep sadness in her eyes. But now, I did. Inside the stairwell, Julian shook his head. His hands shook as he desperately tried to grab hers. "Don't do this to me, Jasmine. Please." Jasmine closed her eyes and slapped his hand away. "I said it's over! Julian, we were just never meant to be." Julian punched the concrete wall. His hand—the hand of a brilliant surgeon—was instantly covered in blood, but his eyes were redder than the blood dripping from his knuckles. "I don't care about fate! Jasmine, let's run away. Let's leave this place together!" She tore herself from his grip, her gaze hardening. "I won't hurt Chloe. If you dare do anything, I will never speak to you again." He froze. His spine went rigid, like a bowstring stretched to its absolute limit. Then, with a bitter, defeated laugh, all the strength drained from his body, and his shoulders slumped. "Fine..." "You win, Jasmine. You win." "I will stay with Chloe. For the rest of my life." I closed my eyes, a mocking smile on my lips. It was all a joke. I stumbled away from the stairwell. My steps were hollow, and every drop of color had drained from my face. A short while later, Julian returned to the banquet hall and sat down next to me. "What's wrong, babe?" He gently touched the corner of my reddened eyes, his voice dripping with concern. "Have you been crying?" I looked up, digging my fingernails into my palms. He was back to his usual self—warm, gentle, and perfect. It was as if the scene I had just witnessed was nothing but a hallucination. I instinctively shrank back from his touch. "I'm fine..." He didn't press. The lights in the ballroom dimmed, and his attention was immediately drawn to the grand doors at the end of the aisle. "And now, please welcome the beautiful bride!" As the host spoke, Jasmine walked down the aisle in her white wedding gown. She looked at me first. When her gaze briefly brushed past Julian, it was filled with a lingering, quiet sorrow. As for Julian... His fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. I watched it all play out. Taking a soft breath, a wave of cold desolation washed over me. Because out of the three of us in this room, not a single one smelled sweet. Up on the stage, Jasmine was reciting her vows to her new husband. Soon, it was time for the family speeches. The host walked over with the microphone. "Now, we invite the bride's only sister, Chloe, to say a few words of blessing!" I reached out to take the mic. But Julian, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly stood up and snatched it first.
I froze. The host froze. Everyone in the room looked on in confusion. On stage, Jasmine's body went completely rigid. She gave Julian a subtle, pleading shake of her head. Julian kept his eyes lowered, looking down at me with practiced tenderness. "Let me do it. I'm afraid if you start speaking, you'll cry too hard, and my heart can't take that." Without waiting for my response, he raised the microphone. His voice echoed through the speakers, flat and devoid of real emotion, like he was delivering a business report. "Chloe wants to tell you that you look beautiful today. She hopes you will be happy forever, and always stay true to yourself." "If you ever feel tired or unhappy out there, you can always come home. I... we will always be there for you." Jasmine forced a small smile. "I know. Thank you." They looked at each other from across the room, then quickly averted their eyes. Only I could smell the suffocating bitterness hanging in the air between them. The speeches ended, and the wedding proceeded smoothly. I turned my head to look at the man sitting beside me, whose mind was clearly miles away. "I didn't want to say any of those things," I said quietly. "Didn't you hear me practicing my speech at home?" "And besides, I could have said it myself." Julian snapped out of his daze. Hiding the complex emotions in his eyes, he reached out and playfully pinched my cheek. His smile was doting. "The wedding hasn't even started and your eyes are already puffy from crying. I was just worried you wouldn't make it through a single sentence." He chuckled softly. "Chloe has always been so sensitive." He pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly. It was no different from how he used to hold me. If... If I hadn't smelled that the sweetness in his emotions had completely evaporated, I would have truly believed he loved me. "Is that so..." The corner of my mouth twitched into a strained smile. "Then thank you." He didn't notice the edge in my voice. Jasmine had walked over to our table, raising her champagne glass to toast us. "Chloe, you're getting married next week." She gently patted my head. "My little sister is all grown up." I kept my eyes down, feeling a sickening wave of nausea rise in my chest, accompanied by a dull, throbbing pain. She turned to Julian. "Take... take good care of my sister. I hope you keep your promise." Julian, who rarely drank, downed his entire glass of champagne in one gulp. "I will." They quickly broke eye contact. Jasmine moved to the next table, and laughter rippled through the hall. But Julian kept drinking, one glass after another. I watched him the whole time. I didn't stop him. There was no point anymore. That night, Julian got dead drunk. The moment we got home, he collapsed onto the living room sofa. "Jasmine..." "Why... why couldn't it be us? Tell me why..." I sat on the armchair nearby, listening quietly. I sat there and listened to my fiancé call out my sister's name in his drunken slumber. Suddenly, my phone rang. It was the coordinator from the wedding venue. "Hi, Chloe. We noticed you canceled the wedding on our portal. Is everything okay?" "We just wanted to remind you that according to the contract, the deposit is non-refundable." I gave a soft hum. "Yes, it's canceled." "Keep the deposit. It's fine." After I hung up, Julian muttered, "Chloe... my throat hurts. Get me a glass of honey water..." I ignored him. I went straight to the bedroom and locked the door. I canceled the catering orders, returned the wedding decorations online, and then booked a one-way ticket to Iceland. I had always wanted to go there. Julian had always claimed he was too busy with hospital shifts. Well, now I could go alone. Lying in bed, sleep eluded me. I began to mentally retrace the steps of our ten-year relationship. The more I looked back... The more I saw the glaring red flags I had previously ignored. Like the time Jasmine moved abroad, and his mood had plummeted for weeks for no apparent reason. Or the year Jasmine graduated, and he insisted on flying across the country with me just to congratulate her. Or the way that, in every single photo of the three of us, his head was always slightly tilted toward Jasmine. I didn't know when it had started. But I knew. It was time for it to end. The next morning, when I woke up, Julian was already in the kitchen making breakfast. He had cooked for me for years, never letting me lift a finger. "Morning." He set the plates on the table and asked casually, "I drank too much last night. Did I say anything stupid?" I stared at the strawberry jam on the table. I hated strawberry jam. Jasmine loved it. "No," I replied flatly. He quietly let out a breath, but then frowned slightly. "You didn't even put a blanket on me last night, and there was no honey water. I woke up freezing, and my head is splitting." I looked him dead in the eye. "I am not obligated to take care of you." He froze. Julian pressed his lips together, swallowing his sudden irritation. A flicker of anxiety crossed his eyes. "What's wrong? Did someone upset you? Or are you stressed about the wedding preparations?" I didn't answer. I grabbed the toast smeared with strawberry jam and threw it directly into the trash can. "I hate strawberries." Looking at his bewildered face, I let out a cold laugh. "The one who loves strawberries is Jasmine."
I walked out of the apartment and wandered aimlessly down the streets. A light drizzle was falling. It wasn't heavy enough to need an umbrella, but it was enough to knock the dead leaves off the trees, letting them rot in the mud. I stopped outside our old high school. Julian and I had been classmates here. Jasmine was a grade above us. Back then, she would always wait for me after school so we could walk home together. At some point, Julian started walking with us. Jasmine used to tease me, saying Julian was doing it because he had a crush on me and wanted to walk me home. But even though we were in the same class, we barely spoke. Yet, from that day on, my eyes couldn't help but follow him. After the SATs, Jasmine encouraged me to confess my feelings to him. So I did. I remembered the shock on his face when I asked him out. But the rejection that had been on the tip of his tongue was swallowed back down. Instead, he had said, "Okay." And just like that, Julian became a permanent fixture in my and Jasmine's lives. I kept walking, my hair soaked by the rain, my feet growing heavier with every step. I couldn't help but wonder... What if he only agreed to be with me so he could be closer to Jasmine? What if the sweet scent of love I had smelled on him all these years was just a lie he forced himself to project? I didn't dare go down that rabbit hole. Thinking like that would drive me insane. I squeezed my eyes shut, took a deep breath, and hailed a cab. Just as I got into the backseat, Julian's black Mercedes sped past us. "Sir, follow that Mercedes," I whispered, my voice hoarse. That direction didn't lead to his hospital, nor did it lead to his parents' house. Where was he going? The answer was screaming in my mind, but my heart clenched, too terrified to believe it. The cab took several turns and finally stopped in front of a small, charming cottage in the quiet suburbs. I never knew he owned a house here. I got out of the cab. As I walked closer, the muffled sound of an argument reached my ears. Jasmine sounded like she was on the verge of a breakdown. "What did Chloe mean by that comment this morning?!" "Julian! You promised me she would never find out! You promised you wouldn't hurt her!" Julian's jaw was clenched tight. "She won't find out. She was probably just in a bad mood. I asked her if I said anything stupid last night, and she said no." Only then did Jasmine seem to calm down. She wept softly. "In any case, this is the last time I'm coming here. We cannot contact each other ever again." Julian's voice was a soft, desperate whisper. "Really? Can you really let go of this place?" "We bought this cottage five years ago. We have so many beautiful memories here. Can you really just wipe them away?" "Jasmine, stop lying to yourself." Then, Jasmine threw herself into his arms, and they held each other tightly. It was so picturesque. It made me look like the cruel villain standing in the way of their true love. I couldn't hear what else they said. A loud buzzing filled my ears. As I leaned against the gate, I noticed the archway of the cottage was covered in climbing jasmines. Every corner of this place was a testament to their love. And I was nothing but a pathetic clown. A flood of memories rushed into my mind. Four years ago, on New Year's Eve, both of them claimed they had to work late shifts. I spent the countdown alone. Three years ago, on Valentine's Day, both of them said they had business trips. The romantic dinner I prepared ended up in the trash. Two years ago, on Jasmine's birthday while she was still abroad, Julian suddenly told me he had to fly out for an emergency surgery. That same night, Jasmine's phone went unanswered. Piece by piece, the puzzle came together. The truth wrapped around my throat like a poisonous vine, cutting off my air. I went home. I didn't confront them. Not yet. I quietly packed my bags. When Julian came home later, his scent was miserable, but the moment he saw me, he forced a bright smile. He pulled me into a tight embrace. There wasn't a single trace of sweetness on him. "Chloe, I'm so sorry about the strawberry jam this morning. My brain was still foggy from last night." "Are you mad at me?" I stared at him, then let my lips curve into a wide, cheerful smile. "Of course not." He let out a sigh of relief and headed into the bathroom. My smile instantly vanished, replaced by cold indifference.
Three days after her wedding, Jasmine brought her new husband, Luke, to visit. She took my hand, her smile warm and sisterly. "Chloe is getting married." "I can't be your maid of honor next week, but being able to hand you over to Julian is enough for me." I looked down at our joined hands. "Is that so? You don't feel any regret?" She stiffened for a fraction of a second, then laughed it off. "Why would I regret seeing you happy?" "Mhm," I murmured, pulling my hand back. She didn't notice my coldness. "I'm going to see what delicious food Julian is whipping up," she said cheerfully, heading into the kitchen. The table was set with an incredibly lavish feast. Julian was supposed to have a surgery scheduled for today. He was the kind of doctor who put his patients above everything else. But this morning, I heard him call his chief to swap shifts. All so he could cook a meal for Jasmine. At the dinner table, the two of them sat diagonally from each other. The maximum distance possible. "Chloe mentioned you like seafood, Jasmine, so I made a seafood feast today. But don't eat too much cold seafood, it's not good for your stomach." Julian said casually. I listened in silence. Every detail he knew about Jasmine's preferences felt like a slap in my face. Because I had never told him those things. Jasmine gave a cold, polite nod, then turned to cut a piece of steak for Luke. Julian's scent turned bitter and dejected. I watched it all, feeling completely numb. Except for Luke, who was happily eating, everyone at the table was drowning in their own thoughts. In the afternoon, Luke had to head back to work. Jasmine and Julian accompanied me to my final wedding dress fitting. I stood in front of the mirror, staring at the glittering gown. I was dazed. This dress was designed by Julian himself. It was intricately embroidered with delicate white petals. I remembered the day he had proudly shown me the sketches like a boy presenting a treasure. "Chloe, I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he had said, eyes shining. "Even when we're old and gray, I want to hold your hand and look at the beautiful things we built together." I never could have imagined that in just six months, the truth would be laid bare. I lost my parents at eight. And now, at twenty-three, I was losing my sister and my fiancé. I wondered if I was cursed. Why was I destined to lose everything? Why could I never keep the people I loved? The boutique assistant smiled warmly as she adjusted the train of the gown. "This gown is called 'Pure Jasmine,' Chloe. I'm guessing your sister's name inspired it?" My body went completely rigid. So that was the name of the dress. Those embroidered petals weren't cherry blossoms. They were jasmines. A wave of pure disgust and absurdity washed over me. I ripped the veil off my head. The assistant gasped, startled. "Chloe? Is there something wrong with the dress?" I stared at the crumpled veil on the floor, my voice hollow. "No. It's perfect. Absolutely perfect." I changed out of the dress and walked out of the fitting room. Jasmine and Julian were standing far apart, looking like polite strangers. Julian blinked in surprise. "Babe? Why didn't you show us? I wanted to see you in it." I forced a smile. "If you see it now, where's the surprise on the wedding day?" Julian smiled tenderly, and Jasmine patted my head affectionately. It made my skin crawl. According to tradition, the bride and groom shouldn't see each other the night before the wedding. So, Julian checked into a hotel. Before he left, he held me tightly, his heart hammering against his chest. "Tomorrow, you'll finally be my wife, Chloe. I'm so happy." I nodded expressionlessly. At midnight, I packed the last of my things and headed to the airport. My flight was scheduled for 2:00 AM. Before boarding, I took a photo of the suburban cottage and sent it to our three-person Snapchat group. I didn't say a single word. I turned off my phone, stepped onto the plane, and left. Twelve hours later, the plane touched down in Iceland. By then, the wedding was already over. The moment I turned my phone back on, a barrage of missed calls and notifications flooded in, making my phone vibrate violently.
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