Chapter 1

On the seventh anniversary of dating my girlfriend, she finally accepted my marriage proposal.

But a week before the wedding, I unexpectedly received a short video from her first love.

In the video, my girlfriend was wearing the wedding dress I had personally designed.

She was intimately entangled with her first love on our marital bed.

Her eyes were hazy with desire, and the wedding dress I had meticulously designed was torn to shreds.

This time, I didn't make a scene. I turned off my phone.

I decided to be a runaway groom on our wedding day.

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Late at night, I was still discussing next week's wedding arrangements with the staff.

Despite being exhausted, I relished every moment of it.

After all, my girlfriend Lyanna is the love of my life.

Just then, my phone rang, and I received two messages simultaneously.

I first opened the chat window with Lyanna, who sent a message about working overtime today.

After replying that I received it, I reminded her:

"Don't stay up too late, remember to drink plenty of water."

She quickly replied:

"Missing you, kisses, hubby."

Staring at the phone screen, I couldn't help but break into a goofy smile.

It was then that I noticed the other message was actually from Lyanna's first love, Joseph.

I clicked on it with a puzzled mind, but the moment I saw it clearly...

It felt like someone had suddenly slapped me hard across the face.

The whole world seemed to collapse around me.

In the photo, Lyanna was lying in his arms, with visible hickeys on her neck.

And she was bent over, typing - the very overtime message she had just sent me a minute ago.

Thinking about her "kisses, hubby" message now, I felt nothing but bitter irony.

Below the message was a short video clip attached.The image shows him and Lyanna passionately entangled on our marriage bed.

And Lyanna is wearing the wedding dress I personally designed for her.

For that wedding dress, I spent countless sleepless nights.

Every clumsy line on the sketch paper bore witness to my love for her.

But at the end of the video, that wedding dress I designed with my own hands fell to the floor in tatters.

Just like our relationship.

No wonder Lyanna was acting so strangely and sending me such sweet messages - it was her guilty conscience at work.

I don't remember how long I stared at it, I only recall the pain stabbing through my heart with each breath.

Immediately after, Joseph deleted that photo and video, and explained:

"Sorry, my finger slipped."

I saw right through his fake sincerity.

This wasn't the first time Joseph had antagonized me like this.

In the seven years Lyanna and I were together, it happened countless times.

Like how he would always "accidentally" leave something in Lyanna's passenger seat for me to discover myself.

Or how he would claim he couldn't take care of himself and was sick, so Lyanna had to go keep him company during our dates.

I'm not one to just sit back and take it.When Lyanna responded to my complaints, she said:

"Damien, you're being too cold-hearted. Joseph only bothered me a few times. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"Don't ever say something like that again, or I'll really start to question why I ever got together with you in the first place."

Her answer, I could recite backward by heart.

The sense of security I needed, Lyanna had never given me.

Finally, I deleted and re-typed in the chat box several times.

I coldly replied with just one word: "Fuck off."

Then I closed my eyes, forcing back the stinging sensation.

At that moment, a staff member came over to ask if I wanted lilies or roses for the wedding bouquet.

I was stunned for a second, then gave a bitter smile and shook my head:

"No need."

The wedding dress I had designed with my own hands had already been torn to shreds by another man.

Was there any point in starting this marriage?

I think it's time to end this absurd, unequal relationship.