After My Fiance Cheated On Me

Noah and I were about to get married.

I was full of joy, but he kept mysteriously disappearing. Sometimes, I couldn't reach him for an entire day. My friends said it was just pre-wedding jitters, and since it was my first time getting married, I believed them.

When he came back drunk after a dinner party, hugging me at the entrance and saying he missed me, I believed he really did miss me.

Until I found a used lipstick in his pocket.

He had changed into that jacket just before going out in the evening. The dinner was with familiar people, and because I wasn't feeling well due to my period, I stayed home to rest. The only other woman at the dinner was my friend, Ava. Ten minutes ago, I had just seen her post on Instagram. She and Noah were standing in the middle of the group, and it looked like their wedding banquet.

I zoomed in on the photo, and the lipstick she was holding was the same one I found in Noah's pocket—the one she bought when I went shopping with her half a month ago.

I had even liked her post.

If it weren't for that lipstick, I would never have suspected anything.

Noah was lying on the couch, sound asleep. My heart sank. Next to a plate of oxidized, yellowed apples was a fruit knife. For a moment, I felt dizzy, thinking that if I ruined myself, I wouldn't let them get away with it either.

The vibration of his phone brought me back to reality. Someone had sent him a message.

The password was my birthday. I opened his WhatsApp and immediately saw Ava's profile picture.

Noah had set me as his top contact. The message I had sent asking him what time he would be home was right next to Ava's message. [Can we not get married?] It was both ironic and laughable.

He rolled over heavily and muttered, "Honey."

I didn't know if he was calling me or Ava.

Back in our freshman year, when he first started pursuing me, the only thing I didn't dislike about him was his face. Even though he called me by my nickname after calling me Honey, it only made him more detestable.

Love and hate can happen in an instant, but hate lingers, deeply ingrained.

Fortunately, this wasn't our wedding night.

"Honey, I'm so thirsty."

I put the lipstick back in his pocket and poured him a glass of water.

"Love you," he said after drinking it, then staggered into the bedroom, collapsing onto the bed without even taking off his clothes.

I had been away for half a year, and just the thought of him and Ava possibly being in that bed together made me too sick to step into the bedroom. I'd rather sleep in the guest room.

There was an unfinished post on my phone. [What to do when your boyfriend cheats with your best friend?]

The top comment was. [The law can't punish him, and moral condemnation is useless. If he's sleeping with your friend, then sleep with his brother—fight fire with fire.]

So I scrolled through my contacts and found his best friend, Huston.

Huston was also in that photo, looking just as he always did, with that bad-boy look. But his eyes looked sincere, even when staring at the selfie stick.

I'd known him longer than I'd known Noah, but it was through Noah that he met me. We'd only exchanged a few words since adding each other, and I wasn't sure if he'd deleted me. So, I sent him a sticker.

A few minutes later, he replied with a question mark.

I couldn't blame him for being cold—the sticker I sent was quite cheeky, with two lines of text. [Got time? Let's sleep together.]

I pretended to be confused. [Sorry, sent that by mistake.]

Huston replied. [Noah didn't come home?]

Me replied. [No, it's late, and I have no idea where he is.]

I waited ten minutes before he replied. [If a man doesn't come home at night, what else could he be doing?]

Left Gu really knows.

Noah and Ava had openly attended the gathering, and everyone there probably knew about them, except me. I'd even planned to buy an apartment in the same complex as Ava, so we could live upstairs and downstairs from each other and be friends for life.

But if this was what friendship looks like, then I might as well end my life right here.

I chose the wrong man and the wrong friend.

I didn't sleep all night. Noah woke up early for work and noticed I didn't look well, asking if my period cramps were bothering me. He offered to take a day off for me and even made porridge before his shower.

Noah dried his hair while bending down to kiss me. "Huston moved upstairs. Let's have dinner together this weekend."

I was taken aback. "Upstairs?"

Noah nodded. "His place is being renovated, so he'll be staying for a few months. It'll be convenient for us to meet up."

I thought to myself. It sure would be, as convenient as going downstairs.