Erased After My Husband Stood Me Up

“Jake, who are you talking to? The ceremony’s about to start.”

Just as I was about to hang up, a woman’s voice came through the phone.

My boyfriend, Jake, replied, “A client. I’ll be done in a minute.”

Then, he lowered his voice to comfort me.

“Baby, stop being upset, okay? I’m getting married today. I’ll call you back once I’m done.”

Beep, beep, beep…

The line went dead.

The staff glanced at me and asked, “Do you still want to process the paperwork?”

I shook my head and walked out.

A passerby handed me a can of soda when she saw how miserable I looked.

“Hey, it’s okay. There are plenty of good men out there. Don’t waste your life on just him.”

I looked at the cigarette dangling from her lips and boldly asked, “Can I have one too?”

I used to be heavily addicted to smoking, but Jake once said, “A girl should be graceful and ladylike. Smoking isn’t a good look.”

I quit smoking for him. I stopped for ten whole years.

I did not want to spend the last few days of my life trying to please him anymore.

The woman stared at me in surprise for a moment before handing me a slim cigarette.

“Thanks.”

Click!

The lighter flickered to life, and at that exact moment, the giant screen on the building across the street suddenly lit up with a live wedding broadcast.

The groom was unmistakably Jake.

How ridiculous.

On the very day the system had sentenced me to death, Jake was giving the woman he truly loved the wedding of the century.

Passersby stopped to admire the scene.

“Mr. Field really is loyal. He’s already rich, yet he still kept his promise and married his first love despite her being poor.”

The woman beside me nudged my arm.

“You seriously have terrible taste in men. If you’re getting married, find someone like him. He’s rich, faithful, and actually shows up for you.

“Take my advice and dump that boyfriend of yours who couldn’t even bother coming to register the marriage.”

Though I heard the laughter around me, I could not join in with them.

That man was my boyfriend, but he was marrying someone else.

As people nearby tuned in to the livestream, the reporter’s voice rang out.

“Mr. Field, you once said you’d never make your marriage public. Why did you end up deciding to livestream your wedding?”

Jake smiled happily and answered, “That was before. When you meet the woman you truly love, you just want to give her the whole world. What’s one wedding compared to that?”

I exhaled a cloud of smoke, and my eyes started to sting.

This whole time, the reason he kept our relationship secret for ten years was not work.

It was because he never loved me.

When a man truly loved someone, he would give her what Jake had given Whitney: a place by his side and the blessing of the entire world.

I pushed myself up suddenly.

The woman looked at me in surprise.

“Where are you going? Stay and watch the livestream with us. It’s entertaining!”

I watched the couple on the giant screen exchange rings, then shook my head and crushed the cigarette beneath my heel.

“I’m going to offer the newlyweds my congratulations.”

…

I carried the gift box into the wedding venue.

I had not wandered around for long before Jake caught wind of my arrival and hurried over, grabbing my wrist to drag me into a secluded corner.