My boyfriend, who had never paid attention to my appearance, suddenly said something strange while blow-drying my hair two days ago. "You should dye your hair auburn. It would look so good. It really complements the skin tone." This man, a complete fashion disaster, knows that auburn complements skin tone? Whose skin tone? 1 Water dripped from the ends of my hair onto my neck, cold as ice. I sat up, dodging his hand. Caleb’s breath hitched. He snapped back to reality. Realizing what he had just said, panic flashed in his eyes. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down rapidly. After a moment of silence, he awkwardly changed the subject: "Why did you sit up? Your hair isn't dry yet." I lowered my eyes. Even though my hands behind my back were trembling uncontrollably, my voice remained calm and natural: "It's dry enough." "It's getting late. You should go shower." He paused, then stood up compliantly. Habitually, he reached out to touch the top of my head and the ends of my hair. Confirming that my hair was indeed mostly dry, he finally left with relief. A moment later. The sound of water started in the bathroom. I suppressed the emotions churning in my heart and, with trembling hands, picked up Caleb’s phone. I entered the passcode. Five seconds later. The four words on the screen: [Incorrect Passcode], completely shattered my last shred of hope. I tried my birthday, Caleb’s birthday, our anniversary... none of them opened his phone. [Incorrect Passcode. You have 1 attempt remaining.] The cold, mechanical system prompt made my world collapse. For so many years, I never thought about checking Caleb’s phone. Because, until today, his passcode had always been my birthday. Because he had promised me that I could check his phone anytime I wanted. But the irony was, in the year I trusted him the most, he changed his passcode, and I didn't know. What was even more ironic... Tomorrow was the day Caleb and I had been looking forward to for so long—our wedding day. Not far away hung the wedding dress and tuxedo we had carefully selected. Even a second ago, he was nervously confirming the details of tomorrow's wedding with me over and over again. I didn't want to believe it. But a clear voice in my heart kept telling me: [Caleb is cheating.] I curled up in the corner of the sofa. My hands were shaking so much I could barely hold the phone. The water in the bathroom stopped. Caleb walked out. Seeing me, his gentle and doting words slipped out: "Chloe, why aren't you asleep yet?" "Didn't you say you wanted to be the most beautiful bride tomorrow..." He stood in front of me. But when he saw what I was holding, the unfinished words got stuck in his throat. He was very close to me. Close enough that I could see his pupils constrict and the panic that flashed in his eyes. I stared at his slightly pale face and handed him the phone: "Why did you change your passcode?" 2 He forced a stiff smile. Pretending to be calm, he took the phone. His fingers paused on the screen for a second, then he skillfully entered the passcode and unlocked it. "Didn't I break my old phone?" "The new phone's passcode was set by the salesperson. I've been so busy lately I haven't had time to change it." After unlocking it. He handed the phone back to me: "Look at whatever you want." His confident demeanor dazed me for a moment. Perhaps he was too sure I wouldn't check. When I raised my hand, his hand instinctively flinched back. I lowered my eyes and pretended not to see. I took the phone as if it were natural. While scrolling, I even managed to distract myself and casually explain to him: "My phone died. I suddenly remembered something and need to call Mom." His contacts were clean. His chat history was wiped clean. Everything was flawless. But his shifting eyes and his constantly bobbing Adam's apple still made my heart grow colder by the inch. I suddenly lost interest in investigating to the end. I handed the phone back: "Forget it, it's not a big deal. I'll ask her in person tomorrow." Hearing my words, he breathed a sigh of relief. He chuckled: "I thought my wife was having pre-wedding jitters and wanted to check up on me?" I looked up and stared at him: "If I really wanted to check up on you, would you be scared?" He was stunned, then took two steps forward. He knelt on one knee in front of me, with a sincerity and certainty I had never seen before: "Of course not. After so many years, we finally made it here. How could I dare do anything to hurt you?" "When we got together, I swore that if Caleb ever did anything to hurt Chloe, he would be punished by losing Chloe forever." "Chloe, you know that losing you would be worse than death for me." I stared at this familiar yet somewhat strange face. I kept asking myself. Yeah, how could he dare? He's Caleb. The Caleb who has loved me for eight years. How could he lie to me and betray me? I wanted to deceive myself again. But the text message notification for a three-thousand-dollar charge at a hair salon was still sitting in my phone. 3 Caleb went to the hair salon today. Spent three thousand dollars. And used my card. He probably forgot that the salon membership was linked to my phone number. When the text came in this afternoon, I was still making excuses for him. Maybe he took his mom to get her hair done since tomorrow is the big day. Maybe a relative came to town and wanted to get their hair done. Maybe... But, during the ten minutes he was showering. I had already called to confirm. None of our relatives had seen hide nor hair of him all afternoon. In other words. On the busiest day before the wedding. Caleb hid from everyone, took half a day off, and took a woman I didn't know to get her hair done. And she dyed her hair auburn. That color must be beautiful. Beautiful enough that he, who was usually so cautious, blurted out today that I should change my hair color. I closed my eyes, suppressing the emotions surging in them. I said to him hoarsely: "You go to sleep first. I have some details to think over." Caleb thought I was thinking about wedding details. His brows relaxed. He reached out and ruffled my hair, patiently comforting me: "Silly, don't be nervous." "Our wedding will definitely go perfectly tomorrow." His phone chimed with a message notification. He glanced at it, turned off the screen as usual, and added: "Don't stay up too late. I need to reply to a work message." He went to the study. The door closed, shutting everything out. But, a few minutes later. He had changed his clothes, grabbed his car keys, and walked up to me with an apologetic face: "Chloe, there's a huge problem with the project I'm working on. I have to go fix it tonight." "Go to sleep first, don't wait for me." "Don't worry, I'll definitely make it to the wedding on time tomorrow." The anxiety and annoyance on his face were undisguised. He didn't even wait for my reply before rushing off. The sound of the car engine faded into the distance. I looked at the closed door. My heart was filled with sorrow. This kind of sudden overtime. Had actually happened several times in the past year. I had been suspicious before. But the occasional photos of him working overtime always managed to dispel my doubts in time. But today. I seemed to finally glimpse the truth. I stood up numbly and tore down every red decoration in our new home, piece by piece. When I was tired, I sat directly on the floor, hugged myself tightly, and let the tears blur my vision. Caleb, we have no tomorrow. 4 Morning light shone through the gap in the curtains. I stood up from the ruins. Cleaned myself up simply. And went to that hair salon I knew so well. When Caleb was frantically calling me, I was sitting in the salon listening to the stylist recommend the trendiest hair colors. I glanced at the caller ID. And silenced it. Half an hour later, I sent my location to Caleb. When he found me, he looked terrible. He stood at the door, trembling. He didn't even have the courage to step inside. I stood up. Picked up the samples of auburn hair colors the stylist had found for me, and walked over to Caleb. I showed them to him one by one: "Pick one. Which of these auburn shades looks the best?" His face went instantly pale. His lips trembled uncontrollably, but he couldn't say a word. I raised an eyebrow: "So it's none of these? Let me look again." He tried to grab me but didn't even have the strength to reach out. I turned around. He finally recovered enough to grab the hem of my shirt. His lips quivered, his words broken. "Chloe, I'm sorry." "But today is our big day. Our parents and relatives are waiting for us at the hotel." "Let's get the important stuff done first." "When we get back, I'll kneel and apologize, I'll do whatever you want. You can hit me, scold me, anything." I tilted my head and looked at him, asking seriously: "Did you really go to work last night?" His face turned even paler, and his hand clutching my shirt instantly lost strength and slipped off. I smiled slightly. I picked up the sample book in my hand and smashed it into his face. The hard edge of the book cut his cheek, leaving a stinging red trail of blood. He didn't dare dodge from start to finish. Tired of hitting him. I sat back down on the stool. He followed me in, half-kneeling in front of me, his tone timid: "Are you feeling a little better?" "It's almost time for the wedding..." I closed my eyes heavily, hiding the desolation in them. I didn't know where Caleb got his confidence. After everything that happened, how could he naively believe the wedding could still go on as planned? I ignored him. I called the stylist over and cut off the long hair I had painstakingly grown for a year for this wedding. Caleb waited on the side, watching the hair fall to the ground strand by strand, not daring to utter a word of objection. Cutting back to my original short hairstyle, I was dazed for a moment. It turned out. After going in circles, short hair suited me best after all. What doesn't fit, whether you insist for a year or eight years, still doesn't fit. I exhaled the gloom in my heart. Turned and left the hair salon. Got into Caleb’s car. After all, I had to explain to everyone why the wedding was canceled because of what Caleb did.
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