After I Left, He Regretted Choosing His First Love

The night before I was supposed to register my marriage with Kevin Sanchez, I received a notification that our wedding photo shoot had been canceled.

I stared at my phone, confused. Then a message from Kevin came through.

【Maura, let's skip the wedding photos after we register tomorrow. Something came up at work.】

【We can just AI-generate our wedding photos later. They'll collect dust on a shelf anyway. No point wasting the money.】

My stomach sank. I was about to type a reply when my phone buzzed again.

【Hello, your wedding photo session has been rescheduled to 5:00 PM tomorrow.】

【Groom：Kevin Sanchez】

【Bride：Bertha Barnes】

My breath caught. Before we started dating, Kevin had told me about a girlfriend he'd been with for ten years, but swore it was long over.

Yet here they were, still tangled together, close enough to be taking wedding photos.

I finally understood. In Kevin Sanchez's heart, I was never the one who mattered most.

If he wanted his first love, then I would pick up the career I'd once set aside for him. I opened my laptop and submitted my Doctors Without Borders application without a second of hesitation.

……

After the application materials were submitted and entered the review stage, I opened my chat with Kevin and began typing.

【Forget the wedding photos. And forget registering tomorrow. We're done.】

He called back in less than thirty seconds.

“Maura, I really don't have time tomorrow. Can you not do this right now?”

“You've always been so reasonable.”

His voice was low, threaded with exhaustion.

Something twisted sharply in my chest, close enough to real, physical pain.

That was the thing Kevin said to me most often. That I was reasonable. That I was easy.

But I wasn't without a temper.

In three years together, he didn't want me prying into his life, and I played the dutiful partner.

He didn't want me in his social circle, so I stayed out of it.

But I could not stay in a marriage with a third person in it.

“I'm not doing anything.” A bitter smile tugged at my lips, and my voice trembled despite myself. “Kevin, I mean it.”

Kevin's patience snapped. His tone turned sharp.

“Maura Henson, there's a limit to how much I'll put up with.”

“Can't you be a little more understanding? Work is already running me into the ground. Do you really need to pile on?”

“It's just a photo shoot. And because of that, you're telling me you won't register? Seriously?”

Every word from Kevin Sanchez landed like a blow against something already cracked.

The man in my memory, for all his pride and reserve, had never spoken to me this way.

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out. My throat felt sealed shut.

When I didn't respond, Kevin let out a sigh, and his voice softened.

“Look, I really can't make time tomorrow afternoon.”

“I put fifty thousand in your account. Go to the store tomorrow. Buy yourself something nice.”

“If that's not enough, call my assistant. I won't be able to pick up tomorrow, but keep it under a hundred thousand. The company needs the capital right now……”

He stopped mid-sentence.

A woman's voice drifted through the phone, soft and coy.

“Kevin, does this wedding gown look good on me?”

“I think it really flatters my waistline. It'll look perfect in the photos tomorrow. It's just a little pricey, though. Ten million dollars.”

He chuckled, low and indulgent：

“Ten million is nothing. If you like it, it's yours.”

A laugh escaped me. The kind that came from a place beyond hurt, where everything just turned absurd.

No time tomorrow. Because he'd be with his first love, taking wedding photos.

He tried to buy me off with a hundred thousand, while spending ten million on Bertha Barnes without blinking. And he thought it was cheap.

What he offered me wasn't even a rounding error on what he spent on her.

The pain was dull and slow, like a blunt knife dragging across my heart.

Bertha squealed with delight, throwing her arms around Kevin's neck.

“I love you so much! Here, you get a kiss as your reward.”

The next second, I heard it“a loud smack”lips pressing against lips.

In that moment, something seized my heart and crushed it, grinding every organ in my chest to dust.

The call went dead.

Tears pooled in my eyes. I held them there, refusing to let a single one fall.

Starting today, I would never love Kevin Sanchez again.

Once my application went through, I would leave this place for good.