Love Vanishes, Emotion Dissipates

The day before my engagement with Joseph Field, he had a small gathering with friends.

I was busy with the engagement preparations, and he went alone after reporting to me.

I saw Joseph's post on Instagram, and it was indeed as he said, a gathering without ladies.

When I clicked on the live photo, I heard a faint female voice asking, "Are we going to the private cinema tonight, Joseph?"

After a video call with Joseph and carefully checking, I finally was no longer worried and was at ease.

But that night, I received a video of him having sex with his first love in the private cinema.

On the pure white round bed, Joseph couldn't help but call out the name of the girl beneath him.

"Holly, I have only loved you from the beginning to the end. Marrying her was just a temporary measure."

——

Watching the naked bodies of Joseph and Holly Paul in the video, I felt like my mind went blank.

He said it would be a gathering without girls. How could this be?

My fingertips kept trembling. I watched the video over and over again, confirming that the man in the video was undoubtedly Joseph.

My parents opened the door and walked in, and in a panic, as I tried to turn off my phone, I accidentally pressed the volume button, and Joseph's hoarse voice echoed in the room.

My mom looked at me suspiciously and asked, "Was it Joseph's voice? What's wrong with him? Why was there a girl's voice as well?"

Flustered, I threw my phone into a nearby sink and brushed her off, saying she must have misheard.

After seeing my parents off, I closed the door and hugged myself, quietly sobbing. We had been going out for five years and were about to get engaged, yet Joseph actually cheated on me.

Tomorrow was our engagement ceremony. Yet he couldn't wait to go to a private cinema with Holly the day before the engagement.

Wiping away my tears, I took out my spare phone and dialed Joseph's number.

The phone rang a few times and then was hung up. I persistently dialed again and again.

Finally, someone picked up. In the next second, I heard a girl's moans and gasps from the receiver.

Instantly, my heart broke into pieces, and a wave of pain spread from my chest to my whole body.

Before the call was connected, I had a last glimmer of hope that the video might be AI face-swapping, but now I really believed it.

I clicked on the map on my phone and searched for private cinemas near the hotel where Joseph had his gathering. Since I didn't catch them in bed, I felt there was room for maneuver.

It showed that there was a private cinema upstairs in the hotel, and the environment in the photos was similar to the one in the video. I picked up the car keys and rushed out.

Just as I arrived at the hotel, I received a friend request on WhatsApp, with a message saying, [Now that you've seen the video, be smart. I'm the only one Joseph has ever loved. You're just his fixed friend with benefits.]

After accepting the request, I clicked on the profile picture and watched carefully. The owner of this account should be Holly, Joseph's first love.

In the hotel elevator, I anxiously scrolled through Holly's Instagram and found out that four years ago, they were back together. He almost always accompanied her on every important holiday.

As I looked at the photos of them together and the various gifts he gave her, tears filled my eyes.

I felt sorry for Joseph's hard work. In the five years we had been together, I had never asked him to spend any holidays with me or to give me any gifts.

I remember two years ago, on the pedestrian street, I dragged Joseph shopping. A girl selling flowers stopped us and asked Joseph to buy me a bouquet of flowers. I looked at him with anticipation.

Joseph gently stroked my head and said, "Bianca, I know you don't like these things. We won't buy them then, OK?"

My expectations were dashed in an instant. I nodded obediently, looking dejected.

It turned out that Joseph could be romantic as long as he wanted to. He simply thought I was unworthy of his effort.

I leaned against the corner of the wall in the elevator, slowly sliding down. The closer the elevator got to the 18th floor, the more violent my heartbeat became.

What the hell am I supposed to do if it's really Joseph and Holly in the video?