Mora.W
I had been dating my boyfriend, Julian Hayes, for four years, yet my best friend Fiona Blake still looked more like his girlfriend than I did.
Whenever the three of us went furniture shopping, the sales associate would hand Julian and Fiona a catalog for couples.
Whenever we went out for fondue, the server would ask if Julian and Fiona wanted a photo together.
At the beach, a stranger once handed me her phone and asked,
"Would you mind taking a picture of your friend and his girlfriend?"
I smiled, took her phone, and raised it to take the picture.
On the screen, Julian and Fiona looked every bit like a couple.
Fiona always brushed it off.
"We just have similar face shapes. It's a coincidence."
Julian always reassured me.
"It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. You're my only girlfriend."
And year after year, I believed him.
By our fourth year together, I started pushing him to finally set a wedding date.
He said he was too busy and promised we'd set the date the following month.
But when the next month came, he had another excuse.
Fiona's visa was about to expire. She wanted to stay in the United States, and the easiest way to get a green card was through marriage.
I stared at him.
"And so?"
He was silent for a long moment before finally answering.
"I'll marry her first and sponsor her application. It's only a formality. Once she gets her green card, we'll get divorced."
For a moment, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"And what about me?"
He answered without hesitation.
"Just give me a few years. It'll be over before you know it."
A week later, Fiona posted a photo on Instagram.
She held up their marriage certificate and leaned against Julian's shoulder, smiling so widely that her eyes crinkled.
The caption read,
"As of today, it isn't a coincidence. It's fate."
I went back through years of messages.
That was when I finally realized the truth.
Julian had never once told anyone I was his girlfriend.
Whenever strangers mistook Fiona for his girlfrien