Our wedding day was everything I’d dreamed of. But when the priest asked if anyone had objections, the church doors swung open and a woman in her late 40s I’d never seen before burst in, yelling, “Stop it!” I froze as she revealed something I wasn’t ready to hear about the man I was about to marry. My name is Olea, and I was thrilled to be days away from marrying my fiancé, Daniel.
Everything seemed perfect until the first crack appeared on a Tuesday morning in May, three weeks before the big day. Daniel stood at our kitchen counter, coffee mug frozen halfway to his lips, staring at his phone like it held the secrets of the universe. The morning light caught the worry lines around his eyes…
lines I’d never noticed before. “Everything okay, babe?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist from behind. He jumped like I’d struck him with lightning.
“Oh! Yeah, just… work stuff.”
His phone buzzed again.
Another message. This time, I caught a glimpse of the screen before he turned it away. The contact name read “J.”
“Who’s J?”
“Just a coworker.
You know, Jennifer from accounting?”
I knew every person in Daniel’s office. And there was no Jennifer in accounting. Maybe she was his new coworker?
“Want me to make breakfast?” I offered, hoping to shake off the strange feeling creeping up my spine. “Actually, I need to head in early today.” He kissed my forehead with a quick, distracted peck. As he grabbed his keys, that unfamiliar scent hit me.
It was sweet, floral, and definitely not my vanilla perfume. The front door closed with a finality that made my stomach clench. “What’s happening to us?” I whispered to the empty kitchen.
The weeks that followed felt like watching our relationship through frosted glass. Everything looked familiar but somehow distorted. Daniel’s phone became his constant companion, buzzing at all hours.
He’d step outside to take calls, claiming it was work. He’d come home late, smelling like that same mysterious perfume, offering explanations that felt as thin as tissue paper. “Maya spilled her coffee on me,” he said, or “Had to help Jennifer move some files.”
The lies came so easily and I believed them.
The night before our wedding, I found Daniel sitting on our bed, staring at a crumpled piece of paper. When he saw me, he shoved it into his nightstand drawer. He looked at me and for a moment, I saw something raw and desperate in his eyes.
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
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