From License to Lies

When I saw that marriage certificate, my first thought was maybe it was someone with the same name.

But then I saw the photos of them. The face on it, the one I'd spent five years with day and night, stared back at me.

I couldn't lie to myself anymore.

My boyfriend, Piero Conrad, was married to someone else, and his wife was his childhood friend, Vivian Brett.

The date on the certificate was May 20, three years ago. The hard reality hit me like a punch to the chest.

Tears fell onto my phone screen, unstoppable.

Piero and I had been together since college, five years in total. But three years ago, he married another woman.

He'd been lying to me for three whole years.

Every morning, he'd wrap his arms around my waist and give me a good-morning kiss.

He'd thoughtfully make breakfast and see me off to work. Therefore, even though he bailed on our six previous marriage registration plans with excuses, I never doubted him.

I trusted our love so much that I thought getting married was just a matter of time. There was no rush.

I never imagined the man who was so gentle with me was already someone else's husband.

I swallowed the bitterness and continued to watch the video.

It stretched as long as seven minutes.

Photo after photo showed Piero and Vivian's childhood bond, his sadness when Vivian went abroad at 18, and their rekindled romance when she returned three years ago.

It was a perfect love story of childhood sweethearts turning into a couple.

The video had a lot of views, and the comments were full of praise.

[Made me believe in love again.]

[Childhood sweethearts are the best.]

[The old girl beats the new one every time.]

[What a beautiful reunion! Wishing them all the happiness!]

The comments stung. I could hardly breathe.

If I weren't Piero's girlfriend and that new girl, I might have been moved by their story too.

As if possessed, I paused every photo and read the captions word for word.

[May 20, 2021, first thing after coming back home: I made the boy who used to follow me around my husband.]

In the photo, Piero and Vivian were cheek-to-cheek, holding up their marriage certificate. Piero's eyes were full of tenderness.

On that day, I waited three hours at the restaurant we'd booked, only to get a text from him saying he had to work late.

When he came home at midnight, I hugged him, feeling bad that he had to work so late.

Now I realized I was the pathetic one.

[December 31, 2021, chasing the Northern Lights with him.]

They kissed passionately, framed by the dreamy glow of the aurora.