Matchmaker Mayhem
Chapter 126: Mei’s Surprise – The Tokyo Wedding Plan Is Ready

Chapter 126: Mei’s Surprise – The Tokyo Wedding Plan Is Ready

The chaos of the matchmaking summit had momentarily subsided, leaving the Shiroyama Hotel’s grand ballroom in a soft lull. Ava should have felt relief, maybe even triumph. Instead, she felt like the calm was too suspicious.

Suspicious, in the Mei sense.

And she was right.

It started with a mysterious note left on their hotel suite door.

A folded white envelope, Ava’s name written in gold ink, and sealed with a wax stamp that looked suspiciously like Mei’s favorite tea shop logo.

Ryan picked it up with a suspicious squint. "This is how spy novels start."

Ava took it, sighing. "Or wedding planning disasters."

Inside, a single sentence, handwritten in an elegant flourish.

> "Meet me in the Moon Pavilion. And wear something nice."

—M

Ava groaned. "I swear, if she’s throwing us another matchmaking ambush..."

Ryan held up a hand. "Let’s not jump to conclusions."

A pause.

Ava squinted at him. "You already put on your suit, didn’t you?"

Ryan smiled, kissed her forehead, and disappeared into the bathroom.

---

The Moon Pavilion was nestled in the quiet heart of the gardens behind the hotel. Lanterns flickered along the gravel path, casting golden pools of light between the sakura trees now heavy with late bloom petals. The soft perfume of night blossoms mingled with the distant sound of koto music.

Ava walked hand-in-hand with Ryan, who was, in fact, dressed immaculately in a midnight-blue suit.

"Still think this isn’t a trap?" she muttered.

"I think it’s the prettiest trap we’ve walked into."

They turned the final corner—and stopped.

Dozens of paper lanterns floated in the air. A long table had been set up beneath a cherry blossom canopy, adorned with silk runners and minimalist flower arrangements. A small crowd stood waiting—Harold, some summit staff, a few familiar matchmakers, and...

Mei.

Wearing a lavender kimono embroidered with foxes and sakura blossoms. And standing directly beneath a massive sign that read:

> "Trial Wedding Rehearsal – Ava & Ryan"

Ava’s mouth dropped open. "No."

Ryan leaned in. "Oh no."

Harold waved. "Surprise!"

Mei clapped her hands. "Isn’t it beautiful? I had the idea weeks ago."

Ava blinked. "What... is this?"

Mei gestured at the setup. "Your rehearsal dinner-slash-ceremony preview-slash-press teaser. For the Tokyo wedding."

Ava’s brain stalled. "We didn’t agree to a Tokyo wedding."

Mei smiled serenely. "You didn’t say no."

Ryan, trying very hard not to laugh, whispered, "Technically, that’s not incorrect."

Ava turned and smacked his arm. "Don’t you dare encourage her."

Harold stepped forward with a clipboard. "We’ve already sent mock invitations to the summit sponsors for branding synergy."

"Mock?" Ava asked.

Harold cleared his throat. "Well... maybe less ’mock’ and more... pre-confirmed RSVPs."

Ava dragged a hand down her face. "I can’t believe this."

Mei smiled sweetly. "Darling, you’re in the most romantic city in the world. The cherry blossoms are blooming. You’re in love. Why not lean in?"

Ryan looked at Ava, brows raised. "She’s not wrong."

Ava looked between the two of them.

Then back at the sign.

Then at the soft candlelight.

And the mock wedding setup with a path of sakura petals leading to a raised platform where a local officiant stood waiting patiently.

Mei gave her one last push. "Just stand there. For the vibe. I promise I won’t pressure you to say vows."

"Lies," Ava muttered.

But Ryan was already tugging her hand, his thumb brushing against her knuckles.

"Let’s just try it," he said, voice low and gentle. "No pressure. Just us. Just... play pretend for a minute."

Ava swallowed.

And nodded.

---

They stood under the faux ceremonial archway. Lanterns swung gently in the breeze. Music played from a small string quartet tucked to one side. The officiant gave a soft nod of greeting.

Ava’s heart thudded.

Ryan took both her hands in his. No jokes. No smirks.

Just that look.

The one that said she was his beginning and his end and every chaotic, beautiful moment in between.

"You know," he said quietly, "if you asked me to marry you right now, I’d say yes."

Ava raised a brow. "Even in front of Mei?"

Ryan grinned. "Especially in front of Mei. She deserves the drama."

Ava laughed.

And something shifted.

This wasn’t real. Not yet.

But it could be.

Ryan leaned in, brushing his lips over hers—gentle, unhurried, full of silent promises.

The crowd sighed. Harold wept a little. Mei whispered, "This is better than a proposal at the Eiffel Tower."

Ryan whispered against her lips, "So...Tokyo wedding?"

Ava whispered back, "Maybe."

Mei cheered before either of them could stop her.

And somewhere between the sakura petals and stolen kisses, the idea didn’t feel so impossible anymore.

Not with him.

Not with this.

Not when it already felt like home.

---

As the mock ceremony guests mingled under the lanterns, sipping matcha cocktails and pretending it was all perfectly normal, Ava stepped away for air. Her fingers brushed the edge of the silk runner, her eyes trailing over the petals scattered like a dream across the path.

Mei found her standing just outside the pavilion, near a stone bench framed by wisteria vines.

"Escaping your own wedding rehearsal?" Mei asked lightly.

Ava turned, arms crossed. "Trying to process it before you send out press releases."

Mei chuckled, her kimono rustling as she walked over. "Too late for that, I’m afraid. Harold already uploaded the highlights to our tea shop’s Instagram."

Ava groaned. "You’re unbelievable."

Mei gave a mischievous smile. "And yet, you love me."

Ava huffed a reluctant laugh and sat down on the bench. Mei joined her, settling in slowly, her movements elegant even in stillness.

For a long moment, they sat in silence, listening to the music drifting through the garden. A distant laugh echoed—Ryan’s, probably being roped into tasting ceremonial desserts.

Then Mei spoke, voice softer, steadier.

"I know I meddle," she said.

Ava glanced at her. "You think?"

Mei ignored the jab, her gaze fixed on the floating lanterns in the koi pond. "I meddle because I see you. Not just what you are now—but what you’ve been through. What you’ve built. All by yourself."

Her tone shifted, growing quieter. "I was never supposed to raise a child again. But then there you were. This little storm with eyes too serious for your age and a heart already trying to fix the world."

Ava’s breath caught.

"I didn’t always get it right," Mei went on. "But every choice I made... every nudge, every guilt-trip, every utterly tasteful kimono I forced you into—it was because I wanted you to be loved."

She turned now, facing Ava fully. "Not admired. Not applauded. Not successful. Loved. Deeply. Honestly. The kind of love that lets you be messy and brilliant and tired and still utterly worth it."

Ava swallowed hard, her voice barely above a whisper. "You think Ryan’s that?"

Mei smiled. "I think you shine brighter when he’s near. That’s all the proof I need."

Ava looked away, blinking fast. "You should’ve just said that instead of staging a fake wedding."

"But where’s the drama in that?" Mei teased gently.

Ava shook her head, smiling despite herself. "You’re impossible."

Mei reached over, took her hand, and squeezed it. "I just want you to have what I didn’t. Someone who chooses you—without conditions, without calculations. Just... chooses you."

Ava blinked down at their joined hands. "Even if I don’t have it all figured out yet?"

Mei’s smile turned wry. "Darling, no one ever does. We just pretend better as we get older."

They sat like that for a while, lantern light dancing across their faces, the scent of sakura hanging heavy in the air.

And in that stillness, with her grandmother’s hand wrapped around hers, Ava felt something she hadn’t let herself feel in days.

Ready.

Maybe not for the wedding. Maybe not for the headlines.

But for the idea that she was allowed this.

Love. Joy. A beginning she didn’t have to earn through perfection.

Just... a life of her own.

---

As the music softened and the last of the ceremonial mock guests wandered off to enjoy plum wine and sakura mochi, Ava lingered near the edge of the garden. Her conversation with Mei echoed in her mind like a steady heartbeat—gentle, grounding.

The lanterns above flickered, their golden glow catching on the curve of her cheek as she turned toward the pavilion entrance.

Ryan found her there, just beyond the trellis, as if he’d been waiting for the exact moment she needed him.

"You okay?" he asked softly, voice lower now that the crowd had thinned.

Ava nodded. "Mei ambushed me emotionally instead of strategically for once."

Ryan stepped closer, brushing a thumb gently along her cheekbone. "Everything she said... she meant it."

"I know." Ava leaned into his touch, eyes fluttering closed for a breath. "She sees me more clearly than I’d like to admit."

"She just wants you to be happy," he murmured. "Even if she packages it in chaos and confetti."

Ava huffed a small laugh. "That’s our love language."

Ryan took her hands, lacing their fingers. "And what about you? What do you want, Ava?"

She looked up at him.

The paper lanterns swayed above them. Somewhere nearby, someone laughed softly, the night still alive with music and celebration. But here—in this quiet fold of the garden—it was just them.

"I want a life where I don’t have to prove I deserve joy," Ava said slowly. "Where I’m not always... fixing something. Earning something."

Ryan’s grip on her hands tightened, his eyes never leaving hers. "Then let’s build that life. Together."

Ava blinked, the ache behind her eyes dangerously close to spilling over. "You make it sound so simple."

"It is simple," he whispered, drawing her closer until their foreheads touched. "It’s the rest of the world that complicates it."

She tilted her head, brushing her lips softly against his—once, twice, a third time just to memorize the way he tasted like sake and springtime and something steadier than anything she’d known.

"You keep looking at me like I’m everything," she murmured.

"That’s because you are."

A moment passed between them, unhurried and suspended—lanterns swaying, petals drifting, hearts learning how to exhale.

"I might say yes," Ava whispered.

Ryan smiled. "Then I’ll keep asking."

They stood like that, hands tangled, breathing in sync.

And somewhere behind them, Mei peeked from the shadows with Harold holding up his phone.

"For memories," he whispered.

Mei swatted his arm. "No flash. We’re being respectful."

But Ava didn’t notice.

She was too busy falling a little deeper into the life she hadn’t realized she’d already started saying yes to.