Livia - Heartbroken
My phone buzzes with an incoming message, my hands already reaching for it. I shouldn’t be glued to my phone, not on the night of my bachelorette party, which my best friends and cousins, Allie and Silvia, have spent so much time planning. What I should be doing is having fun, but tonight, I’m even more anxious than usual.
The one person who always seems to calm me down is Andrew, the man of my dreams. But because of work, he’s been out of town for a week, and being apart for so long has only made my anxiety spike even more. Of course, he calls me every day, but it’s not the same as spending the night with him, cuddling on the couch while watching a movie, or just talking about our day. Those little things always keep me grounded.
I quickly open the message, knowing it’s from Andrew. He is probably missing me just as much as I’m missing him, and he’s probably checking on me. I’m so lucky to have found him and to be loved by him.
The message isn’t from Andrew but from an anonymous number.
I almost delete it until I realize it’s a video of my fiancé. I retreat to a quiet place to watch it, thinking he’s going to say something sweet about me.
Instead, the video breaks my heart, and a pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt quickly spreads through me.
Andrew isn’t alone in the video. He’s talking with his best friend, Cade, while someone secretly records them.
“Each time I think about marrying Livia, I get a knot in my stomach,” a drunken Andrew says to Cade. “She ain’t the one, man.”
Now, I’m the one with a knot in my stomach.
Cade furrows his brow. “So why haven’t you broken things off with her?”
“God, have you seen how clingy she is? It makes her so unattractive.”
My stomach drops to the floor, while my shaking hands struggle to hold on to the phone.
My anxiety makes me seem clingy, but Andrew has always promised me that it didn’t bother him. We’ve talked about it numerous times. I should be in therapy instead of depending on a man, but I was sure he loved me as much as I love him.
Guess it’s not the case.
“I don’t know, man. Livia is cute,” Cade shrugs.
“Average at best. Every time we have sex, I have to close my eyes and pretend she’s someone else so I can stay hard. Ever since she got together with me, she’s let herself go. She even put on weight.”
I feel like throwing up.
Andrew not only broke my heart, but he also stomped all over it before setting it on fire. Every intimate moment between us is forever tainted, and I feel dirty.
Fat—even if I haven’t put on any weight.
Ugly.
Unloved.
Undesired.
I am so shocked by what the man who claimed to love me has said that I can’t muster a word or make a sound. I can only keep watching.
“So what you mean is that you’re settling?” Cade asks.
Andrew gulps down a glass of whiskey. “We’ve been together for four years, and she’ll be a good mother. She even has a decent job.”
Decent job.
That’s what he thinks of all the years I spent working hard to become a dentist.
“If you weren’t with Livia, then who would you want to date?” Cade casually asks.
Andrew doesn’t hesitate.
“Jess.”
Jess.
The one friend he told me not to worry about.
Jess.
The only woman in his friend group who doesn’t like me and constantly flirts with him.
Jess.
The one he hooked up with before he got together with me.
Jess.
Who is everything I am not.
Jess.
Who’s beautiful in a way I’ll never be.
Good thing I found out what he thinks before I married him.
“Tell you what. You should break up with Livia and start dating Jess,” Cade suggests.
Another man who stabs me in the back.
I thought he was my friend, but his loyalty stands with Andrew and Jess.
Nice.
Really nice.
“Jess is fun, but she’s not the type to settle down and start a family. Besides, Livia cooks and takes care of me. It makes living with her easier.”
And there we have it, ladies and gentlemen. The reason why Andrew wants to marry me—because I cook and take care of him.
Oh, and because I want to start a family.
Well, not anymore.
At least not with him.
“I don’t know, man. You shouldn’t get married if you’re not in love with Livia,” Cade insists, and I have to agree with him.
Andrew refills his glass and takes a long sip from it. “I would call the wedding off, but the idea of seeing Livia cry and beg for me fills me with dread. And don’t get me started on the nagging.”
He thinks I’m going to beg?
Well, he couldn’t be more wrong. I might have been a fool to believe that he loves me, but at least I have some dignity.
Andrew keeps talking. “Why do you think I asked you to let me stay at your place this past week? I can’t deal with all her nagging about the wedding right now.”
Not only does he not love me, but he also lied about where he is and went to hide at his friend’s house, leaving me to deal with all the last-minute preparations.
Andrew finishes his drink.
“Tomorrow, I’ll go back and pretend that I’m deeply in love with her and that I can’t wait to get married to her.”
By the time he returns home, he won’t find me there.
While I’m still in shock, I go look for Silvia and Allie. I don’t allow myself to cry because if I do, I won’t stop for a long time, and I need to save all my energy to disappear from Andrew’s life.
My cousins know right away that something is wrong, and when they ask, I tell them everything.
“Fucking bastard!” Silvia hisses. “I’m going to make sure no one will ever find his body.”
“I don’t want you to kill him. I only need you to help me move all my stuff tonight,” I point out.
Silvia pulls out her phone.
“Let me call Sawyer.”
Sawyer is her boyfriend.
“He and his boys will erase any trace of you from Andrew’s house,” she adds.
