While helping my boyfriend transfer some files... I accidentally stumbled upon a hidden photo album. I casually clicked it open. The screen was instantly flooded with photos of a couple, catching me completely off guard. It turned out, my boyfriend had a new girlfriend. Right at that exact moment, I received a text from my best friend. [Mia, I have a huge secret to tell you!] [Liam is planning to propose to you! On your birthday!] 1 When Liam asked me to help him transfer some files... I accidentally clicked on his D drive instead of his external hard drive. Just as I was about to exit, a very unique folder caught my eye in the bottom corner. It was titled [With You]. Curiosity got the better of me, and I clicked it open. A screen completely full of couple photos instantly filled my vision. In that moment, I felt like the punchline to a massive, humiliating joke. 2 In the photos, Liam had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder as they took mirror selfies. There was also a shot of him playfully tugging on the bunny ear headband she was wearing, while she looked down shyly. It was an intimate, flirtatious dynamic that clearly belonged to them. It was actually hilarious. When he was with me, he was always gentle, polite, and restrained. But in these photos, he was clearly dominant and aggressively affectionate. My eyes were drawn, entirely against my will, to the bracelet on her wrist. What a coincidence. I have the exact same one. It was the gift Liam gave me for my birthday last year. He told me he had our names custom-engraved on it, and that it was the only one of its kind in the entire world. Looking at it now, it was an absolute joke. It turns out, they've been together for much longer than a year. A sharp, agonizing pain seized my heart. An indescribable agony spread from my chest through my entire body. I slowly closed my eyes, feeling like every ounce of strength had been instantly drained from me. When I opened them again, my vision was completely blurred with tears. Fighting back the violent wave of nausea rolling in my stomach... I pulled out my phone, took photos of the screen, and saved them. 3 Right at that exact moment, a message notification popped up. It was from my best friend, Chloe. [Mia, I have a huge secret to tell you!] [Liam is planning to propose to you! On your birthday!] [He's already booked the venue and everything, and he made us swear to keep it a secret from you! It's so romantic!] Seeing I hadn't replied, she sent another: [Hello? You there?] [Babe, are you super surprised?! Isn't this amazing?!] I replied: [No. It's actually disgusting.] She asked, completely confused: [Wait, what?! What happened?!] [Liam is cheating on me.] ... The very next second, Chloe was calling me. The moment I answered, she hissed through gritted teeth, "Liam is absolute trash!!!" 4 After forcing my emotions back into a locked box, I grabbed the USB drive and walked out the door. My car was in the shop for maintenance, so I took a cab to Liam's office. When I handed him the drive, I had to put on a flawless performance and act like absolutely nothing was wrong. It was incredibly uncomfortable. Just as I turned to leave, Liam suddenly grabbed my hand, looked at me with absolute tenderness, and said, "Wifey, I'm so lucky to have you." Right on cue, one of his coworkers walked by. He laughed and teased, "Whoa, getting a little too sweet in here for the office, aren't we?" I subtly pulled my hand out of his grasp and forced a tight, artificial smile. "I'm meeting Chloe to go shopping. I have to run." He nodded slightly, reached out to ruffle my hair, and smiled. "Have fun." 5 At the coffee shop. After Chloe finished listening to my entire story... She looked like she wanted to literally tear him to shreds. "Liam is a sociopathic piece of trash." She aggressively stabbed her cake with her fork, using it as an outlet for her rage. She looked at me and asked, "Mia, what are you going to do?" I stared blankly at the bustling street outside the window for a long time before finally speaking: "I want to prepare a 'surprise' for him on my birthday." Hearing that, Chloe slammed her hand on the table excitedly. "Beautiful! I am 100% on board. Whatever you need me to do, just say the word." I laid out my entire plan to her. She nodded vigorously the whole time. At the very end, she added one condition. "Mia, leave everything to me. Once we nuke this situation, we are going on a massive vacation." She looked at me with eager, hopeful eyes. I knew she was just terrified I was going to fall apart. When our eyes met, a genuine smile finally reached mine. "Okay!" 6 When Liam came home that night... I was just placing the last bowl of soup on the dining table. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms securely around my waist. He rested his chin on my shoulder and nuzzled me affectionately a few times. "Having a wife is the best. I get to come home to a hot, home-cooked meal every day." When he leaned in close, a faint, unfamiliar perfume drifted into my nose. My body instantly went rigid. Feigning absolute calm, I reached down and pried his hands off my waist. I said softly, "Go wash your hands and let's eat." The second he turned his back... The sweet, loving smile I had plastered on my face vanished, replaced by an expression of pure, freezing ice. As soon as he sat down at the table, his phone was practically glued to his hand. He was constantly typing and replying, a smug smile playing on his lips, completely ignoring the food in front of him. I looked up, my tone heavy with implication: "Who are you chatting with? You look really happy." His head snapped up. In that split second of eye contact, I caught the unmistakable flash of pure panic in his eyes before he forced it down. He quickly smiled and explained, "No one special. Just the guys from work goofing off in the group chat." I played along, asking with feigned curiosity, "Let me see! I love a good joke." The next second, he locked the screen, placed the phone face down on the table, and put on a mask of casual indifference. "It's just guy talk, nothing you'd find interesting." He avoided looking at me and quickly urged, "Eat up, the food is going to get cold." The last remaining glimmer of light in my eyes quietly extinguished. The shy, genuine boy from years ago could now lie directly to my face without even blinking. In that moment, I felt absolutely nothing but overwhelming, suffocating disappointment. 7 After dinner, he proactively volunteered to do the dishes. I sat on the living room sofa, watching him in the kitchen out of the corner of my eye. He was doing the dishes with one hand while staring at his phone in the other, a massive smile plastered permanently across his face. It's honestly hilarious. Six years of deep, genuine connection, absolutely obliterated by the thrill of something 'new.' After cleaning up, he presented a cake box to me like he was offering up a grand prize. "Wifey, I got you your favorite! Tiramisu." He looked at me with eager anticipation, his tone exactly like a child desperate for praise. I've always loved desserts. I genuinely believed that sweet things could fix a bad mood. But right now, no amount of sugar could mask the bitter taste in my mouth. I stared blankly at the cake box, completely zoning out. Seeing my reaction, Liam gently nudged me. "Wifey, what are you thinking about?" I finally snapped back to reality and was just reaching out to take the cake. Right at that moment, Liam's phone, which he had left sitting on the table, suddenly rang. Before I could even read the caller ID, he snatched it up with terrifying speed, as if terrified I would see it. Because he moved so frantically, he dropped the hand holding the cake. My outstretched hand grasped at empty air, and the cake plummeted directly onto the floor. But the phone just kept ringing incessantly. Liam was so desperate to decline the call that his finger slipped, and he accidentally answered it. "Liam." A soft, gentle female voice drifted from the speaker. She sounded like she was crying. I looked up at him, perfectly capturing the raw panic flashing in his eyes. He frantically mashed the volume down button until the phone was completely silent. His expression instantly morphed into his usual, calm mask. He pointed at the phone screen and mouthed the words to me: "It's a coworker." Then he took the phone and practically sprinted to the balcony. 8 I watched his retreating back and actually let out a dry laugh. I didn't follow him. I just stared blankly at the completely ruined cake splattered across the hardwood floor. It felt like a perfect metaphor for our future. About fifteen minutes later, Liam finished his call and walked back inside, just as I was scraping the ruined cake into the trash can. He looked at me apologetically. "Wifey, there was an emergency at work. I'm so sorry you didn't get to eat your cake." I smiled, my tone incredibly light and airy. "It's fine. It got dirty, so I threw it away. It's just a cake." He stood there awkwardly, his eyes shifting nervously. I asked, playing the perfect, understanding girlfriend: "What's wrong? Is it a serious emergency?" He said apologetically, "There's a massive issue with one of our core projects. That coworker was literally crying on the phone about it. I have to go to the office and sort it out right now." He quickly added, "I'll buy you a new cake on my way back." He used his standard, sweet, coaxing tone, his face completely composed. I smiled and teased, "Does everyone at work call you 'Liam' so casually?" His body went rigid, the smile freezing instantly on his face. I waved my hand dismissively. "I'm just joking! Hurry up and go, don't let work wait." He let out a very obvious, massive sigh of relief, threw on his jacket, and hurried out the door. After Liam left... I hailed a cab and had the driver tail his car. The driver was a chatty, friendly older guy. When I told him to follow the car in front of us, he happily agreed. He asked, curious: "Miss, is that your husband up there?" I paused for a second before answering: "My boyfriend!" He immediately sensed the dark mood and understood the situation entirely. He promised me: "Don't worry, I won't lose him." 9 The car eventually pulled up in front of a bakery. The name on the sign was incredibly familiar. It was the bakery Liam had been buying cakes from for the past two years. He had barely reached the front door when a figure burst out from inside. She threw herself into his arms like a butterfly landing on a flower. The girl looked exactly like her photos—young, vibrant, and radiant. He reached out and gently ruffled her hair, his movements incredibly tender. The girl wrapped her slender arms around his neck, clearly whining and acting cute. Liam reached up and playfully pinched her nose, his face full of absolute adoration. I watched as the girl went up on her tiptoes and proactively kissed him. After six years together, saying I wasn't heartbroken would be a lie. My nose stung, my eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and tears began to fall uncontrollably. The driver quickly offered me a box of tissues, trying awkwardly to comfort me. "Miss, please don't be too sad. "My wife thought I was too poor and ran off with another man. "I lived off plain rice and hot water for a whole month. "But look at me now, I survived and I'm doing fine." His words of comfort obviously didn't fix the massive hole in my chest. But I was incredibly grateful for his kindness. I thanked him, paid the fare, and got out of the cab. 10 Liam and I started dating the summer after we graduated high school. I still vividly remember him confessing to me. He was so nervous he couldn't even lift his head, the tips of his ears burning bright red, completely giving him away. "Mia... I like you. "Will you be my girlfriend?" When our eyes finally met, we both instinctively looked away. We were so incredibly young and inexperienced. Even though our hearts were bursting with love, we had absolutely no idea what we were doing. 11 That teenage boy's love had been so passionate, so fierce, and so undeniably genuine. He would run across campus in a torrential downpour just to bring me an umbrella. When my stomach hurt, he would sit there and massage it for hours without a single complaint. When I woke up starving at 2 AM, he would get out of bed without a second thought and go buy me food. And back then, I would save my allowance for months just to buy him a high-end graphics card for his gaming PC. I would spend an entire month meticulously planning and preparing his birthday present. During winter and summer breaks, we would travel everywhere together. Meeting him felt like the luckiest thing that had ever happened to me. We were about to make the journey from high school uniforms to wedding attire. It had been six full years. But now, he had personally taken a sledgehammer to every single expectation I had for our future.
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