His lips trembling, he was like a lost child, asking his friends, “What do I do? Has Elvira left me?”
“When she said she didn’t need me to marry her… was she already planning to leave me?”
His friends, unwilling to see him so broken, tried to comfort him. “Dude, what man doesn’t play around? Elvira is just having a tem- porary meltdown. Once she leaves you, she’ll never find anyone who loves her more than you do.”
“Yeah, trust me, she’ll be back in a few days!”
“I say you should go through with a fake wedding with Lara. Elvira is running away now because she’s sure you love her and will marry her as promised. She’s just trying to teach you a lesson, to tighten the leash after you’re married!”
“If you panic now, your future life will be hell!”
Hope flickered in Finn’s eyes. He nodded eagerly. “Yes, that’s it! Elvira said she’s mine in life and in death. If she sees me marrying Lara, she won’t be able to hide anymore!”
“Let’s get back to the wedding, and we have to livestream it! That way, as soon as Elvira contacts me, I can tell her it’s all an act!”
Chapter 2
7
The plane landed in San Francisco. My best friend, Serena, greeted me with a huge hug.
“Welcome, my darling Elvira, to the start of your new life.”
The tears I had held back for so long finally burst forth, uncontrollable.
Serena looked at me uncertainly. “Elvira, are you sure you don’t regret running away from the wedding?”
08.30
I couldn’t blame her for asking. When I told her I was leaving Finn, she was stunned. We were each other’s first loves, together since college, the model couple everyone admired. Everyone envied how we kept the romance alive after all these years. People often came to me for advice on how to maintain a perfect relationship.
Back then, with a smile so wide it couldn’t be suppressed, I shared my secrets. My advice helped many couples get back on track, find happiness. People even suggested I write a book, become a relationship expert.
Who would have thought that the woman who could guide others to marital bliss couldn’t save her own love?
“Elvira, you always say we need to accept imperfections. No man is perfect. You can’t just abandon Finn because he’s ‘sick.‘ I don’t believe he could really forget how deeply you loved each other.”
She was right. I didn’t believe it either.
Now that it had come to this, I decided not to hide anything from her anymore. When I finished telling her the whole story, Serena was so furious she was ready to buy a plane ticket back to beat him up for me.
I grabbed her arm. “He’s not worth another second of my time. Trust me, the ‘gift‘ I sent him will be more than enough.”
Serena didn’t believe I had the heart to retaliate against Finn. I calmly told her about the pregnancy, the abortion, and being forced to donate blood. Her eyes filled with tears of empathy.
We hugged each other tightly, sobbing uncontrollably in the middle of the crowded airport.
After we calmed down, she was even more determined to go back and beat him up.
“Elvira, if he doesn’t love you, your gift won’t hurt him at all!”
I had kept it from her precisely because I knew she would react this way.
Just then, my phone pushed a notification for a livestream from someone I might know. To distract Serena, I opened it.
It was Finn and Lara’s wedding livestream.
I tried to close it quickly, but Serena had already seen it. She snatched the phone from my hand, exploding with rage. “That bastard! That whore! He’s marrying another woman on the day he was supposed to marry you? He’s been playing you from the very beginn- ing!”
I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. I even began to doubt if the six years of deep love I thought we shared had just been my own wish- ful thinking.
Thank God Lleft.
Finn, you will never have the chance to hurt me again.
Serena was furious. She rallied a group of friends on her phone, and they all flooded the livestream comments, cursing Finn. To avoid getting banned, these sharp–tongued devils used sarcasm and innuendo so cutting it made me feel a satisfying sense of relief.
Just as they were exchanging rings, Jason ran onto the stage and whispered something in Finn’s ear. Finn suddenly turned to the camera, his voice agitated.
[Elvira! I know you’re watching! This wedding with Lara is fake! I couldn’t find you, so I had to use this to get your attention! Elvira,
Chapter 2
08:30
[Elvira! I know you’re watching! This wedding with Lara is fake! I couldn’t find you, so I had to use this to get your attention! Elvira, my primary personality is back!]
[Elvira, the man who loves you more than life itself is back!]
[Do you remember this dress? I’m waiting for you to come back and wear it to marry me!]
He took the wedding dress from Jason, detailing the inspiration behind his design, every word a declaration of his love for me.
But I found it incredibly ironic.
If he truly loved me, why would he cheat?
If he truly loved me, why would he let me go through an abortion alone?
If he truly loved me, why wouldn’t he believe me, forcing me to donate blood?
If he truly loved me, why would he bring Lara back to our home to sleep in our bed?
If he truly loved me, why would he give the wedding rings I designed to Lara?
8
Just then, I received a text notification. The package I sent to Finn was out for delivery. As the delivery tracker showed the courier getting closer and closer to the banquet hall, my anticipation grew.
But Lara, realizing Finn was just using her as bait, wasn’t having it. She started making a scene, crying and screaming, insisting they finish the wedding. She started referring to herself as Mrs. Sullivan.
E
Jason and the others quickly dragged her off the stage.
Finn knelt before the camera, his voice filled with emotion. “Elvira, you’re watching, aren’t you? I know everything the second perso- nality did. I didn’t realize he could be so despicable, hurt you so deeply. But I, the primary personality, am innocent. I never meant to hurt you like this!”
“When I was kidnapped on my way to pick up the dress, when they were about to kill me, all I could think was that I couldn’t die. I had to survive to come back and marry you!”
“I loved you so much that my second personality was triggered in that life–or–death moment. The doctor said the second personali-
ty is smarter, braver. That’s how I escaped!”
If I hadn’t overheard the truth, I might have actually believed his nonsense. When the doctor had explained it to me, I was relieved that his second personality was wild and resourceful.
I never imagined that this “resourcefulness” would be used against me.
I grabbed Serena, who was still furiously typing comments. “Stop cursing him. You might be giving him exactly what he wants.”
“If he still has any feelings for me, what’s coming next might actually hurt him.”
Serena didn’t believe it. Honestly, neither did I. But a heart that has been betrayed needs some closure.
The courier finally entered the banquet hall, just a few feet away from Finn.
He shouted over the murmuring crowd, “Is there a Finn Sullivan here? Package for you!”
Finn, in the middle of his heartfelt confession, didn’t want to be bothered. Jason ran over to sign for it, but the courier shook his head, “This is from Ms. Elvira Hayes to Mr. Finn Sullivan. He must sign for it himself.”
Hearing it was from me, Finn scrambled to his feet, remembering to tell the cameraman to adjust the angle. He signed for the package, a huge smile splitting his face.
Hic beaming expression overlapped with the memory of him holding me, crying tears of joy after his successful proposal. But I
08:31
Chapter 2
knew he was no longer the man whose world revolved around me.
Our love had long since vanished amidst my own self–deception.
Finn shouted excitedly at the camera, “Elvira, I knew you wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye! This must be the wedding gift you prepared for us, right?”
“Everyone, flood the comments with blessings! I’m about to show you the surprise!”
Serena and her friends‘ insults were quickly drowned out by a wave of congratulations.
Finn, pleased with the soaring viewer count, held the package high. “Louder! More enthusiastic! I want the whole internet to know that love Elvira Hayes!”
The livestream was buzzing. Strangers, unaware of the truth, poured in to offer their congratulations.
Finn looked deeply into the lens. “Elvira, did you see that? My love for you is witnessed by the world. Tell me where you are. I’ll open this gift and come get you!”
He opened the package and pulled out a glass jar. Inside the clear container, a shapeless mass of embryonic tissue floated, eerie and grotesque.
The guests in the front row stared, confused and disturbed. A gynecologist was the first to speak.
“Isn’t that an undeveloped embryo?”
As her words sank in, Finn pulled out a piece of paper.
He stared at the abortion consent form, his eyes wide, his body trembling uncontrollably.
9
I never knew the man I loved for six years was such a good actor. His eyes were bloodshot, and large tears streamed down his face.
His lips moved, whispering, “Impossible… how is this possible.
“Elvira, you’re punishing me for forgetting you, aren’t you? Elvira, I was wrong, I was so wrong…”
He pulled out a voice recorder from the package. Clutching his last hope, he fumbled with the play button several times before finally pressing it.
His own voice, joking with his friends, echoed clearly through the hall.
“This is the only time I’ll ever lie to her. Once I sleep with ten more girls, I’m done.”
“Now hurry up and find me some girls. I want the freaky ones who are still technically virgins. One every three days…”
Finn couldn’t hold the recorder anymore. It slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor. But the recording kept playing, over and
over.
Memories washed over him, threatening to drown him.
He suddenly remembered that night when the doctor called, asking him to come to the hospital to sign the papers. What had he
said?
He said he didn’t even know if the child was his
That must have been the moment Elvira gave up on him.
He couldn’t bear to think about it. If he had gone to the hospital then, would things be different?
This was the child he had longed for! Even though he pretended not to care if Elvira could conceive, deep down, he had yearned for
Bymbol of their love.
Chapter 2
a symbol of their love.
And he, himself, had killed this child.
08.31
He had forced the woman he loved to undergo an abortion alone, to stay in the hospital alone, and then kicked her out of their ho-
- me. He ignored her, didn’t believe her, and forced her to donate blood when she was at her weakest, most heartbroken moment.
He remembered the dozen missed calls that night. He was sure something else must have happened.
He immediately called the OB–GYN department of the hospital. When he learned that Elvira had fainted right behind him after
donating blood, he couldn’t hold back a choked sob.
Finn clutched the glass jar tightly, and with his right hand, he started slapping himself across the face, hard.
His parents, who had been watching the spectacle, couldn’t bear to see their son humiliate himself any further. One went on stage
to stop the recording, while the other ordered the livestream to be shut down.
But Finn pushed them away, his eyes bloodshot. “Don’t touch it! Nobody turn off the cameras!”
“This is all my fault. I need to confess and repent in front of everyone!”
Ignoring his swelling cheeks, he knelt straight before the camera. “Elvira, I know you’re watching. I deserve to die! I shouldn’t have
used such a despicable excuse to hurt you just so I could cheat!”
“I’m a complete scumbag. But Elvira, I really do love you. I can’t imagine how I’m going to live without you…”
I couldn’t help but sneer. A belated display of devotion is cheaper than dirt. He seemed to be doing just fine without me.
Even after I blocked Lara, she would text me from burner phones to taunt me. Telling me how many times a day she and Finn did it,
bragging about the new positions he unlocked with her, how exhilarating it was. How she couldn’t get out of bed for three days
because he exhausted her, how he was completely drained by her…
She even parroted Finn’s words, mocking me for being a “dead fish” in bed.
If he had just broken up with me openly and then slept with a hundred women, I wouldn’t have thought he was scum. I wouldn’t
have regretted loving him. But he chose this path, to humiliate and disgust me.
Six years of shared life, and I had been so blind.
