Chapter 1

The night before our wedding, I stumbled upon pictures of a girl on Julian Grant's phone.

She had a sweet smile, bright and full of life. Most of the photos felt unposed, caught in passing moments.

I couldn't just bottle it up and torment myself in silence. I handed Julian his phone and demanded an explanation.

Julian spent the whole night smoking in the living room. Early the next morning, he walked into the bedroom.

"I admit, I do like her a little," he said, his voice rough from a night of cigarettes, "but that's all there is to it."

No way I was giving up on Julian after ten years together, not just because of some photos. It just didn't feel right.

I slipped into my wedding dress and went ahead with the ceremony, just like we'd planned.

But halfway through the ceremony, Leo Parker suddenly rushed toward Julian, calling out to him in panic. Leo was his assistant at work.

"Dr. Grant, Ms. Collins found out you were getting married, and she tried to kill herself," Leo said urgently.

The diamond ring was still hanging in the air when it suddenly slipped from his fingers and hit the floor with a sharp clatter.

Julian bolted for the door like lightning.

With tears in my eyes, I shouted after him, "If you walk out that door today, we're done for good!"

He paused for a split second, then walked out of the wedding without even looking back.

*****

Staring at the phone filled with photo after photo, something inside me went cold.

There were no intimate pictures of the two of them together. Instead, the screen was filled with moments that felt far more personal.

There were photos of her at work, her eyes bright and focused.

There were photos of her pouting during meals, pretending to be annoyed.

There were photos of her laughing freely after receiving a bonus, her joy unrestrained.

*****

Most of the photos looked casual, taken without much thought.

A few, however, caught her looking straight at the camera, smiling sweetly, as if she knew exactly how much he noticed her.

If this had happened at any other time, I would have confronted Julian immediately. I would have shoved the phone into his face, ended everything cleanly, and walked away without hesitation.

But tomorrow, after ten long years together, we were supposed to get married.

We had informed both of our families. We had booked the venue and finalized the wedding banquet, and even the invitations had already been sent.

Happiness felt so close it was almost within reach.

And yet, at this critical moment, I discovered something like this.

I couldn't bring myself to face the truth. I forced the tears back into my eyes, took a deep breath, and steadied myself.

In the end, I chose to confront him. I needed an explanation.

Julian was an outstanding man.

At a young age, he rose to the position of Chief Research Engineer at the National Defense Research Institute, working at the heart of the country's missile research program.

After ten years together, I believed I understood his character.

When I placed the photos before him, he did not look surprised.

It was as if he had never planned to hide the truth from me.

That night dragged on, each hour heavier than the last.

He spent the night in the living room, chain-smoking through two packs of cigarettes. I lay awake in the bedroom, staring at the stars outside, feeling every hour stretch into eternity.

Early the next morning, before the makeup artist came knocking on the door, Julian walked into the bedroom.

"This girl is my assistant," he said calmly. "Her name is Lynn Collins."

He hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "I admit it. I developed feelings for her."

My heart plummeted, the hope I'd been clinging to vanishing in an instant.

However, Julian did not stop there.

His tone remained earnest as he went on. "Wenna, it hasn't been easy for us to reach this point. I will transfer her out of our team. I promise you that nothing like this will ever happen again."

He looked at me seriously as he made that promise.

In the ten years we had been together, he had never once broken his word.

I could not bear to throw away a decade of love. I also could not bring myself to sever a bond that felt deeply ingrained in my life.

So, in the end, I chose to forgive him.

Until the wedding day arrived, the emcee's voice rang through the hall, solemn and deliberate: "Julian Grant, do you take Wenna Moore to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"

My heart pounded in my chest, each beat echoing through every nerve.

I held my breath, waiting for him to give me and our ten years together the perfect ending we deserved.

Then, Leo spoke a single sentence, and Julian's fingers lost their grip. The diamond ring clattered onto the cold floor, ringing through the hall like a death knell.

Everyone froze, their eyes moving between him and me as he dashed out of the wedding hall.

He left me standing there alone in the middle of the aisle.

All the promises he had made before the wedding ceremony, the ten years of love he had sworn to protect, were shattered in an instant.

The wedding hall quickly descended into chaos.

Both families were completely confused, with no idea what was happening.

Leo stood off to the side, his eyes darting as he hurried to explain.

"Something happened to one of Dr. Grant's assistants," he said, his voice unsteady. "She's carrying some crucial research data, so Dr. Grant had to go check on the situation. He'll be back soon."

Leo had worked with Julian for eight years.

Over those years, he had always treated me with respect, greeting me with a smile and calling me family.

But now, he did not even dare to look me in the eye.

I did not know how much he had helped Julian hide things from me. I did not know what kind of relationship Julian had been maintaining with Lynn.

A dense, suffocating pain spread through my chest.

In that moment, I finally understood what Julian's betrayal truly meant.

My parents gripped my hands tightly, their faces etched with anger and anxiety.

"This is outrageous," my mother said, her voice shaking. "What could be more important than a wedding? How could he just walk out and abandon Wenna like this?"

Julian's parents were overwhelmed with guilt. They kept calling his phone while trying to comfort me.

"Wenna, don't worry," his mother said anxiously. "I'll make that boy come back right now and apologize to you."

I clenched the diamond ring in my palm until it bit into my skin, leaving behind deep, bloody marks.

Three full hours passed, and Julian did not answer a single call.

He had rushed off to save that girl without a second thought, leaving me alone at the wedding venue to endure the strange looks and whispered remarks from guests on both sides.