Chapter 1 The Text Message on the Phone
My wedding with Micah Turner was only three days away. Tonight, we went to our new home to finish setting up our bedroom.
We stayed up late, working well past midnight. I told him to take a shower first while I completed one final check to make sure everything was perfect.
After carefully inspecting the room, I found everything in order. Just as I was about to sit down and relax, his phone on the bedside table suddenly buzzed.
I picked it up and saw a message from an unknown number. It was just one word. “Okay.”
Curious, I unlocked the phone and saw a text he had sent.
“Please don’t come to my wedding. If you do, I might not be able to go through with it.”
I tightened my grip on the phone. I read the message over and over, struggling to believe it was real.
At that moment, I didn’t feel anger or betrayal—only a deep, overwhelming confusion.
Micah and I met in college. After graduation, he launched his own startup, and since my expertise fit perfectly, I applied and joined his company.
As we spent more time together, our bond naturally deepened, and we eventually became a couple.
From the moment we got together, he treated me with unwavering care and attention. There was never even the slightest hint that he had feelings for anyone else.
Our relationship was built from the ground up on trust and honesty.
Even my best friend said I must have hit the jackpot finding someone like Micah. He was a man with no bad habits, a steady income, a good family background, and unwavering loyalty.
I believed it too. I truly thought I was lucky and that I had found someone who loved me as much as I loved him.
But all of that… was just an illusion.
For five years, he had hidden the truth flawlessly.
If it hadn’t been for that one text message, I could have spent years—or even a lifetime—living a lie, unaware that there was someone else he had silently carried in his heart all along.
But now that I knew the truth, there was no way I could pretend nothing had happened and still go through with the wedding.
I copied the unknown number from the message and opened his WhatsApp. My hands trembled as I pasted it into the search bar. Tears were streaming down my face.
Within seconds, a profile appeared. The name saved under that number was Piper Hamilton.
I recognized her. She was one of Micah’s classmates from high school.
He had even taken me to a high school reunion once, and I remembered meeting her there.
I combed through my memories, trying to recall if there had ever been anything unusual between them.
But no matter how hard I tried, nothing came to mind.
They had acted like nothing more than ordinary classmates, barely even acknowledging each other.
In fact, Micah had seemed almost indifferent to her.
I remember teasing him once for being so distant with his female classmates. I urged him to be a little more approachable.
He just laughed and said, “If I were that friendly with other women, you’d be jealous for the next twelve months.”
I lunged at him playfully, but he simply pulled me close and kissed me. And just like that, the conversation ended.
I couldn’t stop wondering if Piper had been on his mind during that time.
I forced myself to stay calm and opened their chat history. There wasn’t a single message.
But as I scrolled through Piper’s social media, something felt off.
The dates and locations of her travel posts matched perfectly with the times and places of Micah’s so-called business trips.
For the first time, I resented how well I knew him because it made the truth hurt even more.
I couldn’t understand. If they really loved each other, why did he pursue me?
Why did he propose?
Why did he go to such lengths to create the illusion of love, only to let it fall apart so easily?
Eventually, I came across Piper’s post from the very day Micah proposed to me. That was the moment everything fell apart.
On that exact day, Piper had accepted another man’s proposal.
So that was the truth. Micah only came to me because his future with her was over. I was just the fallback.
But I had loved him with everything I had. Surely, I deserved more than his half-hearted, insincere affection.
I closed WhatsApp and marked Piper’s message as unread. With my bag in hand, I stumbled out of our new home.
On the drive back, my hands shook uncontrollably. I drove slowly. There was no point in crashing over a scumbag like him.
Micah must have known I was gone. His calls came nonstop, but I didn’t answer once.
What should have been a quick 30-minute drive dragged on for two hours that night.
When I finally got home, I locked the door behind me and turned off my phone.
I needed time to think, to figure out what to do next.
I didn’t sleep a wink.
The next morning, a knock came at the door. It was Micah.
The moment I opened it, I saw the anxiety written all over his face.
“I called you more than a dozen times last night,” he said. “Why didn’t you answer? Your phone was off…”
But now that I knew someone else was in his heart, his worry felt empty, like a rehearsed performance.
If he really cared, why hadn’t he come looking for me?
Just as I opened my mouth to respond, a faint scent caught my attention. Perfume clung to his clothes.
That’s when I realized why he hadn’t come for me. He’d seen Piper’s message and gone to her instead.
I lowered my gaze as anger and revulsion rose inside me.
I had been ready to let him go, but after he so carelessly shattered my love and stole five years of my life, there was no way I would let this pass without a response.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I was just exhausted last night and didn’t notice. My phone probably died.”
Seeing my calm expression, he seemed to relax and let out a relieved sigh.
“All’s well, then. Let’s go try on the wedding dress.”
The gown I’d been dreaming of had just arrived a few days ago. I’d already scheduled an appointment at the bridal shop for today.
The moment I stepped into Micah’s car, that faint scent of perfume hit me again. This time, it was much stronger.
Without hesitation, I opened the passenger door and told him I’d drive myself.
As I closed the door, I caught the surprise in his eyes.
All of a sudden, my gaze landed on a single popcorn kernel under the passenger seat.
Micah was a clean freak; he never allowed me to eat in his car.
At that moment, it felt like a sharp ache tore through me.
How could he be so heartless?
He’d just been with another woman, yet he acted like everything was fine. He was ready to take me to try on my wedding dress.
I took a deep breath and turned away, heading straight to my own car.
Micah hurried after me, but I ignored him. Once inside, I started the engine and drove to the bridal shop.
I arrived a little before him. Taking advantage of the moment, I decided to check his location history from last night on my phone.
We had once installed an app that let couples share their locations in real time.
I had begged him to set it up, believing it would keep us connected no matter where we were.
I never imagined it would become the very tool that revealed his betrayal.
Shortly after I left last night, he went to a residential area in the northern part of the city. He stayed there for over an hour before heading to the cinema.
He didn’t leave the theater until after 6:00 am. Not long after returning to that neighborhood, he came looking for me.
Did Micah honestly think I was that oblivious?
How could he be so certain I wouldn’t discover the truth?
Or maybe he just didn’t care anymore. Maybe he even wanted me to find out.
