Lahat ng Kabanata ng Missing from His Picture: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

After I sent the message canceling the wedding, I sat alone in the study, my hands and feet ice-cold.On the screen in front of me was the pet account's entire posting history from the past three years. All 1,095 days of it.Eugene Chapman appeared in every single one.Sometimes, I saw his profile. Sometimes just his back. Sometimes, he held the ragdoll cat named Mochi in his arms, smiling at the camera with a softness I knew all too well.I turned off my phone.The living room light was still on. For the past five years, I had always left it on whenever he came home late.Then I heard a key turn in the front door.Eugene was home.He took off his coat and walked over to me, a slight frown on his face."You still haven't finished the wedding intro video?"He didn't explain why he was home so late. He didn't seem to notice anything different about me, either.I looked at him calmly. "Almost."He apparently didn't notice the chill in my voice and went on, "It's due tomorrow.

The family anniversary photo shoot took place at Eugene's studio.His mother, Ursula Chapman, had always been polite to me. That day, though, she was unusually warm.Just not toward me."Charlotte, come here. Stand next to Eugene."Ursula took Charlotte by the hand and led her to the center of the set, right beside Eugene.Charlotte looked awkward and glanced at me. "Mrs. Chapman, are you sure? Louisa's right there.""Oh, don't be silly. You and Eugene have worked together for years. You're practically family." Ursula laughed, then turned to me. "Louisa, you know your way around a studio. Would you mind helping with the lighting and holding the reflector?"And just like that, I went from future daughter-in-law to part of the crew.I stood off to the side with the heavy reflector in my hands and watched them pose under the studio lights.Eugene's parents. Eugene. Charlotte.Together, they looked like a family.And I was the one standing outside the frame.A dull ache set

Eugene got the first call while he was driving to the wedding studio.It was his best friend and best man."Eugene, what the hell is going on with you and Louisa? Why was the wedding canceled? My phone's been blowing up with calls from people asking what happened."Eugene tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Louisa sent that message?""Of course she did. She told everyone the wedding was off. What did you do?"Eugene hung up, his expression darkening. He was still convinced I was throwing a tantrum, pulling some childish stunt to get his attention.When he reached the studio and walked into the empty venue, something finally felt wrong.The display area that should've been filled with our engagement photos and wedding décor had been completely cleared out. Every vehicle we had booked to shuttle guests had been canceled.The wedding planner shifted awkwardly. "Mr. Chapman, Ms. Perry came in seven days ago and finalized all the cancellations. She also paid the cancellatio

Eight months passed before I knew it.By then, I had settled into a comfortable routine at Hillside.Film restoration demanded patience and focus. I threw myself into the work so completely that I barely paid attention to anything outside it.I took the lead on one of the restoration projects, managed a small team, and made a few new friends who shared my interests. On weekends, we went hiking, tried new restaurants, or caught whatever movie had just come out.For the first time in years, my life no longer revolved around Eugene.I thought that was how things would stay. We would move on and live separate lives.Then one day, an exhibition featuring a restored film project I had led opened at the Hillside Museum of Art.After the event ended, I looked toward the gallery entrance and saw someone I knew instantly, even though he somehow felt like a stranger now.Eugene.He had lost a lot of weight, and the arrogance he once carried so easily was gone. In its place was a kind of

After that, Eugene stopped coming to see me.But every now and then, I still came across traces of him online.First, the pet account, which had grown to more than a million followers, posted a lengthy statement.Eugene didn't delete any of the old videos. He left them up and addressed them directly.In the statement, he laid out the timeline of our relationship alongside the three years he had worked with Charlotte.He admitted that he had let people believe they were a couple and, at times, had even played into that impression.He also admitted that he had been willing to share parts of his life with Charlotte publicly while holding me to a completely different standard.He didn't blame Charlotte or accuse their followers of misunderstanding. He took responsibility for it himself.Not long after that, he ended every sponsorship and brand deal that had marketed him and Charlotte as a couple. He returned the money he had already been paid and covered the penalties for ending th