Loving Him Cost Me Everything

I walked across the bridge alone.

I couldn't stop my mind from circling back to the rush I'd felt the day I accidentally stumbled onto Robert's proposal plan.

I'd booked the makeup artist a month in advance, hired someone to source the dress from overseas, spent eight hours getting my hair styled.

When the day finally came, I was so keyed up I didn't sleep a wink.

I'd hugged my blanket and let myself imagine the look on Robert's face when he proposed.

He was always so composed, so collected. Would he stumble over his words at the moment? Would his ears go red?

But no matter what, I would take the ring and throw myself into his arms.

And then I'd say it, loud and clear:

"I do!"

If the sunset over the river hit just right.

If the light gilded our silhouettes in gold, the way it does in the movies.

If some passerby happened to capture the moment.

I'd make it the cover of our wedding album, hang it in the most prominent spot in our future home.

The more I pictured it, the more I couldn't help laughing out loud, giddy and sweet.

"Honnnk——"

A car horn jolted me back to reality.

Now, with my hair a tangled mess and dirty footprints all over my clothes.

I was walking alone under a darkened sky.

My phone buzzed.

A message from Robert.

【Annie, I'm sorry.】

I stopped walking.

【But just let it go for now. Claudie already said yes in front of everyone. Don't make her look bad.】

【I'll explain to everyone later that it was the penalty from a game of Truth or Dare.】

I stared at those few lines for a long time.

But I wasn't surprised.

From the second Robert called out the wrong name, I'd known exactly what he would do.

It was just like Valentine's Day, when he had the bouquet of red roses delivered to the office, and they "accidentally" ended up in Claudia's hands.

When I tried to take them back, he gently pressed my hand down.

"Sorry, Annie. I wrote the wrong recipient by mistake."

"Just let Claudie keep these flowers. Taking them back in front of everyone would embarrass her."

A message popped up in the company retreat group chat.

【Director James is treating everyone to an engagement dinner. Meet at the second-floor restaurant of the hotel!】

It wasn't a last-minute decision. It was part of the proposal plan.

And since he'd proposed to the wrong woman, then everything would just be handed off to Claudia, mistakes and all.

That was always how Robert did things.

Someone posted a photo of the dinner table.

The hotel's top-tier banquet spread, the main course king crab.

I'm allergic to seafood, and Robert could never seem to remember that.

But it happened to be Claudia's favorite.

Maybe this was fate steering him back onto the right track.

I closed the message and pulled up the rideshare app instead.

No matter what, I was choosing to walk away.

I went back to the apartment alone.

I pushed open the door, and the first thing I saw was the couple's photo on the cabinet by the entryway.

My steps stalled for a moment.

Robert hated being photographed. It had taken me forever to wear him down for this one.

I remembered the day we moved into this place, how I'd carried the photo around, turning in circles looking for the perfect spot.

Robert had watched me, exasperated.

"It's just one photo. Does it really matter where it goes?"

I'd turned around and shaken my head at him, dead serious.

"No. I want everyone who walks in to see it the very first second!"

The spot on the entryway cabinet, right by the door, was the one I'd picked after careful thought.

Open the door, and the light from the hallway would fall there first.

A declaration of just how happy the people who lived here were.

It was also my only comfort, the thing I came home to after working late into the night just to put down roots in this city.

But was I really happy?

I picked up the frame and traced it, inch by inch.

Even in a couple's photo, Robert still wore that same unsmiling, buttoned-up face.