After we got back together, Adrian Moretti stopped liking my Instagram posts. Because six months ago, I caught him cheating with my best friend Lily at a hotel. And I slit my wrists on the top floor of the Moretti Group building, making enough of a scene that the entire family found out. After that, even our mutual friends stopped paying attention to my posts. But my wedding to Adrian was getting close. I told myself it was just a small, meaningless change. Until a notification popped up on my phone screen. It was Lily’s X account. She was getting married. Her page was filled with wedding preparations. But under every single post, a very familiar profile picture had left a like. Adrian. The comments were full of faces I recognized too. “Ten years of love finally coming to fruition. Adrian, wishing you and your bride happiness forever!” “Adrian liked this diamond-studded wedding dress? He actually picked this one, haha, he really does know women.” “The venue’s already booked? We’ll definitely be there!” So that was it. People had stopped caring about my posts not because they were busy. They were all busy caring about Lily’s destination wedding. In that moment, I finally understood. Adrian hadn’t betrayed their world. I was the outsider who’d barged in. The one who should have left was never Lily. It was me. I kept scrolling through Lily’s page. Her wedding to Adrian was in Bali. My finger froze on the screen. I stared at their engagement photo, the two of them locked in a kiss, and all that was left on my lips was silence. That was the place I’d begged Adrian about for three years. I’d told him that if we ever got married, Bali was where I wanted it most. But Adrian turned me down every time. He said Moretti family weddings had to follow the rules. The ceremony could only be held locally. Moretti wasn’t an ordinary name. Every step had to be approved by the Don. That was the answer he gave me three years ago. But Lily’s engagement post was dated four years ago. So it wasn’t that he couldn’t say yes. He just hadn’t said yes to me. Even before Adrian and I were together, he and Lily were already engaged in Bali. It was so absurd I almost laughed. Because Lily wasn’t the other woman. I was. I sat in silence for a while, then kept scrolling through her posts. The earliest one went back over a decade. It was a childhood photo of the two of them together. A young Adrian had his arm around Lily, who was beaming with joy. Beneath the photo was a single line. “From childhood to forever, it’s always been you.” My friendship with Lily, over a decade of it, shattered in that moment. My chest felt tight, and nothing made sense anymore. Adrian was someone Lily had introduced to me. When Adrian and I got together, it was Lily who’d quietly pushed us toward each other behind the scenes. But now I knew they’d been engaged the whole time. So why? Why would she do this? I couldn’t find the answer anywhere in her posts. I stared at her grayed-out contact photo in my phone, full of questions, but all I could do was sit in silence. After I found out about them six months ago, Lily and I had a massive falling out and deleted each other’s contact information. The front door lock clicked. I turned off my phone and quietly walked out. Adrian was home from work. He came through the door in the black overcoat he always wore. On the shoe cabinet sat a small cake he’d brought me. He smiled when he saw me. “You actually came out to greet me today?” I didn’t give him the cold shoulder like I usually did. I walked up to him gently and took his coat. “I just worked through a few things in my head.” “Is that right? Ready to let me back in?” He stepped quickly behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. His breath was warm against my ear, making it tingle. He murmured with a smile, “Not going to answer? What are you thinking about? Emma, we’re getting married soon. Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? You should be happy. I brought your favorite cake. Want to try it?” The news that he was simultaneously planning an overseas wedding with Lily flashed through my mind. I gently pushed him away. As confusion slowly crept into his eyes, I turned to face him. “Did they say they’d come?” “Who?” “Our friends. And your parents.” “Emma, don’t put me in this position.” His tone turned uncomfortable. “I asked. But last time you… lost control, you lashed out at them. They’re not ready to be around you just yet.” “As for my parents, you know how they feel. They never approved of me marrying you. They want me to find a woman with the right background, someone who can hold the family alliance together. So we can only keep the wedding low-key, let alone…” “Adrian.” I said his name and cut him off. He frowned at me. I didn’t break down and make a scene the way I always did when this topic came up. I just wrapped my arms around him, gently. Around this man I’d loved for four years. His body went rigid, as if caught off guard. He seemed almost uncomfortable with my tenderness. “Emma?” Before he could react further, I let go and steadied myself. Then I said softly: “Let’s cancel the wedding.”
“Cancel?” Adrian’s eyes filled with disbelief, though his voice dropped instantly. He looked at me, barely containing his anger. “Why? I need a reasonable explanation. You were the one who wanted to marry me no matter what, and now you’re the one saying cancel out of nowhere?” I lowered my eyes. Silent. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to explain. I just didn’t know how. Was I supposed to tell him I already knew about him and Lily? That they were the real engaged couple. That our friends weren’t skipping my wedding because they had a problem with me, but because they were attending his wedding with Lily. Before I knew the truth, I had made scenes over the way everyone froze me out. To be precise, before and after the reconciliation, I’d been making scenes the whole time. Because it wasn’t fair. Everyone was hiding his relationship with Lily from me. And even now, I was still the only one kept in the dark. But those unanswerable questions were never going to be resolved. Being deceived was humiliating. Being hysterical was humiliating. So I gave up. “Back then, my mother had just died. I needed someone. When I saw you fly all that way to help me handle her funeral, I begged you to stay. I wanted to use marriage to hold on to you.” “Even when you betrayed me, I could forgive you and take you back. But now I’ve calmed down. So there’s no need anymore.” For a split second, Adrian’s expression was pure disbelief. He hadn’t expected me to say all that so calmly. Back then, I was reeling from a breakup and had just lost the only family I had left in this world. Two devastations, piled on top of each other. Even now, I rarely left the bedroom. The anger in his eyes slowly faded. Before long, something like tenderness surfaced in them. “Emma, we can’t stop death from coming. But you still have me. I’ll always be here from now on. You don’t need to talk like this.” I really wanted to believe him. I even wished I’d never learned the truth. Then I could have kept fooling myself. Tears spilled out before I could stop them, landing on his arm. He startled and quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe my face. “Did I say something wrong? Emma, don’t cry. You have me. I’m right here.” One last shred of hope surfaced inside me. “Since no one’s coming to our wedding, forget the ceremony. Just come to the city clerk’s office with me tomorrow and sign the papers. Please?” Lily’s wedding was half a month before mine. If Adrian registered with me first, he couldn’t legally marry Lily. No matter what he was planning, as long as he was willing to register with me first, it would mean he was staying. Even if he lied to me for the rest of my life, I’d accept it. But all he did was move his lips, his voice stumbling. “I… Emma, you know how it is. I have meetings with clients. The company’s been swamped. Lily went abroad, you’ve been resting at home. The three of us used to hold the company together, and now it’s just me. I can’t step away right now.” He had all the reasons—work, duty, family. Just none that made me want to stay. I didn’t understand why he’d agreed to marry me while secretly continuing things with Lily. The light in my eyes went out. I stopped asking. I just nodded. “Yeah. I understand.” Adrian caught the defeat in my tone. His body went stiff, and he looked almost lost. Then his phone rang from his pocket. He seized on it like a lifeline, walking quickly to the balcony to take the call, glancing back at me. But I could see his screen before it went dark. The caller was Lily. This wasn’t the first time they’d been back in contact. When he begged me to take him back, he’d sworn up and down that he and Lily would never speak again. But not only had they never stopped—they were planning a wedding. I walked quietly back to the bedroom, crawled under the cold covers, and canceled tomorrow’s wedding photo shoot with Adrian. Then I booked a random flight.
The next morning, I was woken up by a call from customer service. The woman on the line asked me: “Ms. Bellini, may I ask why you’re canceling the shoot?” “We’ve already reserved the venue and wardrobe. Don Moretti personally confirmed every design detail.” “If you cancel now, we won’t be able to refund the deposit.” My head was pounding. I felt groggy and dazed. I answered, my voice hoarse: “Then don’t.” “Ms. Bellini? That’s fifty thousand dollars. Our team is top-tier. Don Moretti waited a long time to book…” “I said don’t bother.” A pause on the other end. Then, finally: “Understood.” “We’ll notify Don Moretti that the wedding shoot has been canceled.” I hung up. I found that Adrian had made me breakfast. But it had gone completely cold. I wasn’t feeling well, so I heated it up and ate it. Easier than making something else. Then Adrian texted me. “Emma, I got the notification that you canceled the shoot.” Before I could respond, he sent another message, sounding almost relieved. “Looks like you saw the note I left on the wall by the dining table. Thanks for understanding. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I turned and looked at the note stuck to the wall beside the table. “Overseas business hit a snag. Today’s engagement shoot needs to be canceled.” I didn’t bother explaining. Once my phone connected to the overseas network, I saw that Lily had posted something new. Their wedding had been moved up. That was the real reason Adrian had rushed abroad. The post showed a beautiful seaside restaurant. I could see Adrian’s parents. I could see all the friends we used to share. Moretti family bodyguards stood not far away, like a wall of black, shutting out the rest of the world. Adrian and Lily sat at the table, fingers laced together. It looked like a wonderful time. It hit me suddenly that none of these people had really changed. I was the only one who’d been left behind. In the empty apartment, I chewed on the cold breakfast. My phone chimed with a booking confirmation. Destination: New Zealand. Far away. Quiet. I’d never been. But it seemed like the right place for me. I started packing. Looking around the apartment we’d shared for three years, my vision blurred for a moment. I remembered when the three of us first started the security company and sat around that dining table with friends, drinking and making vows. Back then, we said we’d make it a legitimate business, break free from the family shadows, and finally stand on our own. They’d laughed and joked that when we made it big, they’d definitely come drink at my wedding to Adrian. Now the place was empty. No one left. Every item I packed dredged up an old memory. Red wine, champagne, mixtapes, videos of us dancing. They documented so many anniversaries Adrian and I had celebrated in this home. Looking back, yes, it had been sweet. But sweet was all it ever was. I threw it all in the trash and turned to pack my clothes. It took a long time. Most of it I threw away. What actually made it into the suitcase was barely anything. Adrian called me at some point. I didn’t pick up. It rang a few more times, then he stopped calling and just sent me a message. A photo and an update. In the photo, he was meeting with some foreign clients. The message read: “Just landed. Having dinner.” Thinking this might be the last message I’d ever send him, I kept things civil. I took a photo of my packed bags and sent it to him. His reply came fast. “What are you packing for?” “I’m leaving.” “…” He went quiet for a moment, then explained: “Emma, canceling the photo shoot doesn’t mean canceling our wedding.” “Don’t be upset. I really did run into some trouble, but I’ll be back soon. I’ve got a surprise for you. The wedding’s still on. Don’t do this.” I didn’t reply. This wasn’t some act I was putting on over a canceled photo shoot to get his attention. I was just tired. I knew Adrian’s habits. His surprises were never put together the same day. He’d always hide a gift somewhere in the house weeks, sometimes a full month, in advance, and wait for me to stumble across it without saying a word. He said it kept the anticipation alive for weeks. I went to the spot where he usually hid things. In an old trunk on the second level of the attic, I found a gold bracelet I’d once wanted badly. The style and weight were both perfect. This must have been the surprise he mentioned. But beside it, I found a diary he’d never once told me about. It was filled with my mother’s handwriting. I opened it. The first page had a single line. “Emma, this is the truth your mother is leaving for you.”
Watch👉 https://cps-front.novelix.live/app-api/ext/new/20260808173EUD9PW7 🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “Novelix” app 🔍 search for “ni167749”, and watch the full series ✨! #Novelix
Leave a Reply