A Decade of Nothing

Dad nearly died from anger on my wedding day. Because of that, I didn't hesitate to agree with him and Mom when they asked me to consider marrying a new man I had never met.

My soon-to-be husband added my contact information. After making self-introductions, we decided on the wedding date right away.

My parents were relieved at that point. Mom even cried as she held my hand and said, "You've been dating that Jon Zeller guy for almost ten years.

"Yet, he had the nerve to be so cruel on your wedding day! That proves he was never serious about you. Your dad and I didn't want to pressure you before, but now—"

"I understand, Mom."

"Good. Let's hurry up and get through with the wedding, lest Jon return and start trouble."

Just like that, my marriage partner and I agreed to hold our wedding that Sunday, and we would get our official marriage certified after the wedding.

My parents had me sort through my belongings and Jon's in four days. I then moved out of my old place right away.

…

When I returned from the hospital, I found a massive pile of parcels at my doorstep. These were all Harfell Island's specialty items, including various fruits unique to the island and seafood.

Jon's phone was still unreachable, yet there were regular updates on his social media.

In our last conversation, I asked him why he hadn't come to the venue when our wedding was about to start. He replied with his live location, indicating he was on Harfell Island.

I unpinned Jon's images from my social media. I also changed my old profile picture, which matched Jon's and had been my profile picture for ten years.

It wasn't long before Jon sent me a question mark. Seeing that I didn't reply, he quickly sent a voice message to follow up.

"What tantrum are you throwing now? Did you change your profile picture to prove your anger to me? Fine. I'll change mine, too! I've been sick of our couple profiles anyway!"

Jon changed his profile picture at once.

Soon enough, his childhood friend, Julie Goldwell, also changed her profile picture. Her new one showed her with a man.

I was no longer in the mood to play these tormenting mind games with Jon, so I responded with a simple "okay". Then, I deleted our pre-wedding photoshoot pictures pinned at the top of my profile.

I was about to quit the app when I saw Jon's latest story update. It was a video of him and Julie sitting on a yacht as they admired Harfell Island's views. Julie donned a bikini and was leaning against Jon.

The tension between them was flooding out from my phone screen. Even so, Jon would always claim he and Julie were just best friends.

Jon was "just best friends forever" with Julie. He was nothing more than a friend who left his girlfriend of ten years to face their wedding alone while he accompanied Julie, who had just broken up two days ago. He kept Julie company there so she could take her mind off things.

I would bombard Jon with questions whenever I saw him post such social media updates in the past. Whenever he got annoyed with my interrogations, I would stay up all night to apologize.

Jon knew I would get hurt and feel jealous, but he kept testing my patience. In doing so, he tamed me into a puppet that he could do whatever he wanted to. However, the day he missed our wedding would be the last time I allowed that to happen.

It was a pity that he had forgotten there was a condition for his "taming" to work—I needed to be in love with him.

Jon posted many social media updates, showing him in overly close positions with Julie. He even kissed her cheek in some of them, but I didn't care.

I was busy planning the wedding with my marriage partner. This man was pleasant to talk to. He was fine with anything I decided on and gave suggestions to enhance my ideas. Not to mention, he downloaded a cartoon image that matched my profile picture and used it for his profile.

In truth, I was genuinely happy when that happened. I would have been even happier if I hadn't seen Jon's texts.