spilling down my cheeks. It wasn’t my fault. Why
was she blaming me? Why did everything have
to be so twisted?
- 7.
I was forced to go back to Ethan. Back in our
empty wedding suite, he held out his phone.
“Look through it yourself. I haven’t contacted
her since we broke up.” I didn’t take it. I just
laughed, a hollow, bitter sound. “Does that
mean she’s not in your heart?” Ethan didn’t
reply. He gripped his phone so tightly his
knuckles turned white. Finally, he unlocked it
and opened his messages, searching for Juliet’s
name. The most recent message was in a group
chat with old friends. He’d written, “I’m getting
married.” Someone had replied, “Why didn’t
Juliet tell us?” He’d typed back, “It’s not with
<
Julie au layyeu .
Cullyiatulations! I
wouldn’t miss your wedding for the world.” He hadn’t refused. He’d replied, “Okay.” On our wedding day, Juliet had been there, sitting in
the front row in a flowing white dress, looking
like the bride. Ethan, standing next to me
reciting his vows, had choked up several times, barely holding it together. Chloe had whispered
to me, “You’re so lucky, Mia. He’s crying! He’s
so in love with you.” Now, the memory made me
want to scream. Ethan was a good actor. Everyone thought he was envisioning our future
together. But he was thinking about Juliet,
sitting in the crowd, crying her eyes out. “See? I
told you. There’s nothing between us,” Ethan
said, his voice pulling me back to the present. I
closed my eyes, about to tell him to leave, when
Josh called. His voice was urgent. “Ethan,
Juliet’s in the hospital.” Ethan stiffened, his
eyes flickering to mine. “I have to go.” We
weren’t even divorced yet. How could he so
brazenly go to see another woman? I grabbed
his arm. “No, Ethan, you can’t go.” He rubbed
his temples. his voice laced with annoyance.
<
9:49
Pཅཨཔ
used to know? Why are you being so
irrational?” I flung open the door. “Get out,” I
choked out.
63
- 8.
As soon as Ethan left, I got a text from an
unknown number. “Mia Miller, Ethan doesn’t
love you. Give him back to me. Watching him
marry you is worse than death.” Honestly,
before that text, I hadn’t blamed Juliet. I only
hated Ethan, hated him for building his
happiness on my pain. But looking at that
message, I realized they were the same. Equally
disgusting. Equally selfish. If they loved each
other so much, they should lock themselves
away and stop hurting other people. But until
my divorce was finalized, Juliet was nothing but
a homewrecker. And homewreckers didn’t get
to act all high and mighty with the wife.
Fighting back the nausea, I replied, “Juliet,
where were you four years ago? Do you have
some kind of fetish for other women’s
husbands?” Her response was swift. “Ethan and
<
homewrecker, it’s not me. Besides…the one
who isn’t loved is the real third wheel.” So, in
her twisted logic, I was the one who ruined their
seven–year relationship? How could she be so
shameless? I didn’t think it was possible to be
that delusional, until the barrage of texts
continued. “Stop clinging to Ethan. If I wanted
him back, he’d be with me in a heartbeat.” She
taunted me relentlessly. “Just divorce him, Mia.
You know you can’t compete with me.” But I
wasn’t trying to compete. The moment I learned
about Juliet, I only wanted one thing: a divorce
and my fair share of the assets. Ethan was damaged goods. She could have him.
- 9.
After blocking Juliet, I called Chloe. “Can you take me to the hospital?” My voice was flat, emotionless. “Mia, what’s wrong? Are you sick? I’m coming over.” Chloe raced to my mom’s, arriving in less than twenty minutes. When I opened the door, she gasped. “Mia, what happened to you? You look awful.” I told her
<
9:49
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monotone, like I was recounting someone else’s
tragedy. But even I was unprepared for Chloe’s
reaction. She burst into tears. “Mia,” she
sobbed, “it’s not your fault! It’s those two…
they’ll get what’s coming to them. You deserve so
