MY EX-HUSBAND WATCHED ME FALL IN LOVE

Bella:

The night of my first wedding anniversary was supposed to be one of the happiest nights of my life.

I imagined candlelight, laughter, and Luke Graham, my husband holding my hand across the dinner table while we talked about the future we wanted to build together.

I had pictured him walking through the front door with that smile that always made me forget every bad day I'd ever had.

Instead, I received a notification that destroyed everything I believed in.

My phone buzzed on the bedside table.

I smiled, thinking it was Luke letting me know he was finally on his way home. He had called earlier to say work was keeping him busy, and although I was disappointed, I had convinced myself it would be worth the wait.

But when I picked up my phone, my smile slowly disappeared.

An unknown number sent me a video, with a confused gaze, I cIicked on the video and pressed play.

The moment the screen lit up, my entire world came crashing down.

My fingers froze around the phone as I watched Luke... my husband... wrapped around another woman.

His lips were on hers amd his hands rested possessively on her waist.

The woman in his arms wasn't a stranger, it was Serena, his female best friend.

My heart stopped beating for a second.

No...No, this can't be happening, I shook my head, finding it very hard to believe.

This had to be edited, someone has to be trying to ruin our marriage.

With trembling fingers, I replayed the video, again and again and again.

Every single time, the ending remained exactly the same.

Luke Graham, my husband, was kissing Serena, his best friend. The same Serena he had spent years assuring me was nothing more than his childhood best friend. The same Serena he defended every single time I questioned the closeness of their friendship.

I felt like someone had reached into my chest and ripped my heart out with their bare hands.

Tonight was supposed to be ours, he was supposed to be here celebrating our first wedding anniversary with me.

Instead, he was somewhere else, kissing another woman as if she was the one who wore his wedding ring.

A painful lump settled in my throat.

I couldn't breathe properly.

I couldn't think.

I couldn't even convince myself that what I had just seen wasn't real.

How could the man who promised me forever betray me like this? How could the same man who stood before me one year ago, looking into my eyes with nothing but love, become the man in that video?

The tears came before I even realized, I was crying but then I wiped them away quickly, only for more to replace them.

Luke and I have been together for three years before we finally got married.

Those three years haven't been perfect and the biggest problem in our relationship has always been Serena.

I never liked how close they were, she always find a reason to call him, a reason to visit and always needed him for something.

Every time I complained, Luke would patiently hold my hands and tell me the same thing. "She's been my best friend since we were kids, Bella. There's nothing between us. I love you. You're the one I'm marrying."

Eventually, I stopped fighting fighting back and I trusted him. I believed that if he chose me, then I had nothing to fear.

Looking back now...Maybe I was the biggest fool of all because even after our wedding, nothing changed. Serena still came over whenever she wanted, she still called him at odd hours, she still demanded his attention like she had every right to it.

More than once, I tried to set boundaries, I believed every marriage deserved privacy, every marriage needed boundaries but Luke never saw it that way.

"We've always been friends," he would remind me. "You're just overthinking it."

And I convinced myself that maybe I really was overthinking. Now I wished I had listened to my instincts instead.

My phone vibrated again, another message from the same unknown number.

My heart pounded violently as I opened it. [Didn't I tell you from the very beginning that he'd always be mine? He's married to you... but his heart belongs to me.]

My vision blurred instantly, I didn't need anyone to tell me who sent it. It has to be Serena, slowly, I lowered my phone onto the bed as though it had suddenly become too heavy to hold.

Then I sat beside it.

Everything inside me felt empty.

Numb.

Cold.

Luke had promised me that cheating was something he would never do.

He had always said that if two people truly loved each other, there would never be room for someone else.

Yet here I was, staring at the proof that every promise he had ever made meant absolutely nothing.

I pressed both hands against my face and broke down completely.

The memories came rushing back without warning.

One year ago...the morning of our wedding.

Luke had woken me before sunrise because he was too excited to sleep.

"Bella," he'd whispered with the biggest grin on his face. "Come on, we'll be late."

I laughed sleepily as he practically dragged me out of bed.

"You've been awake since five, haven't you?"

"I barely slept," he admitted shamelessly. "I can't wait to make you my wife."

By six o'clock, we were already standing outside the courthouse with several other couples waiting for it to open.

Luke never once complained about the wait.

Instead, he stood behind me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and rested his chin on my shoulder.

Every few minutes, he'd lean down to steal another kiss.

"You know," he'd murmured, "I've imagined this day more times than I can count."

I turned to look at him."You have?"

"Every single time I pictured my future... you were always in it."

My cheeks warmed despite the cold morning breeze.

"You really know how to make a girl blush."

He smiled before gently brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"You deserve every beautiful word I'll ever say."

Back then...I believed every single one of them.