The night before our wedding, my boyfriend sent a heartfelt farewell message to his ex-girlfriend. When I found out, he actually thought it was no big deal. I immediately called off the wedding.

While I was dreaming about our wedding day, he was texting his ex-girlfriend the night before the ceremony. That message shattered all my hopes and love for him, leaving nothing but cold emptiness in its place.

"I don’t know if you’ll ever see this message, but I’m getting married tomorrow, and after thinking it through, I feel like I need to tell you. It’s the woman I met through that arranged meeting, the one I mentioned before. I don’t have any real feelings for her, but my parents like her, and I think she’d be a good wife. It’s hard to explain, but part of me wants to see you at the wedding tomorrow, while the other part hopes you won’t come. This life has no fate for us, but in the next life, I will definitely marry you."

The message was sent just ten minutes ago, and now Ethan was in the shower.

He had thrown his phone onto the bed, and the ping of the incoming message caught my attention. Without thinking, I picked it up—and there it was.

The long message laid bare his lingering love for his ex, while my presence in his life was reduced to a mere mention: a woman he met through an arranged meeting, no feelings, parents approved, and good wife material.

I froze in place, my mind reeling as though someone had just struck me hard. I couldn’t process it.

My heart felt like it was gripped by an invisible hand, squeezing and pulling at it relentlessly, the pain making my whole body tremble.

We had met through an arranged setup, dated for two years, both of us happy, so we had decided to get married. Everything was set—just waiting for tomorrow’s wedding.

In these two years, Ethan Sterling had been nothing short of perfect. He was that kind of thoughtful, attentive boyfriend. If I craved grilled pig’s trotters at three in the morning, he would drive across town just to buy me my favorite spicy ones.

There were countless moments like this. It was these little things that gave me the courage to take the plunge into marriage.

I had always thought he loved me, which is why I gave my heart to this relationship so willingly.

If it wasn’t for that message, I’d probably still be living in a dream.

It hit me—every moment we spent together, he had been thinking about someone else.

Even the night before our wedding, he couldn’t resist sending her a message, pouring out his love, even planning to meet again in the next life.

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. In this twisted story, I had become the villain, the one breaking up a romance.

I numbly set the phone back down, crawled back under the covers, and the tears came pouring out.

Now, there were only two options in front of me: the first was to pretend I hadn’t seen that message and go on with the wedding tomorrow.

The second was to return everything—every ring, every promise—and walk away from Ethan, parting ways for good.

He had been good to me these past two years, so even if we couldn’t be together in the end, I wanted it to be a peaceful breakup.

At that moment, I thought of everything—our families were a perfect match, both of us in the prime of our careers. Together, we could have a comfortable life, fewer pressures.

We were only two years apart, with similar personalities. I’m slow to warm up, and he patiently supported my hobbies. From a boyfriend’s standpoint, he was perfect.

But I asked myself one last question.

This would haunt me for the rest of my life. Every time I saw Ethan or thought of him, I would remember that the night before our wedding, he had sent such a heartfelt message to his ex, unwilling to let go of her.

This disgusting incident would stay with me forever, meaning I would have to live with it forever.

It felt like standing at a crossroads—whichever path I took now would define the rest of my life.

The sound of running water in the bathroom stopped, and Ethan stepped out, towel in hand, drying his hair.

When he saw me still lying in bed in my pajamas, he reminded me, "It's already so late. Why aren't you asleep yet? The makeup artist will be here at 4 a.m. tomorrow."

I quietly stared at Ethan, not answering him. I must love him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the courage to marry him.

But does he love me?

I asked the question outright.

Ethan paused for a moment, then smiled. "Why would you suddenly think that? If I didn't love you, why would I marry you?"

"Or do you love Rose?"

I immediately followed up with another question.

"Between the two of us, who matters more to you? She's the one you couldn't have, and I’m just someone you met through an arranged marriage, a woman with no feelings who’s suitable for you to marry, right?"

As I asked myself the last question, the answer was already clear. I couldn't swallow this frustration. I wouldn't tolerate such humiliation.

Even though, in just a few hours, we would be married, and everyone would congratulate us as we walked into what I had always dreamed of as the perfect marriage…

But deep down, what woman could accept that her husband had been thinking about another woman every moment during their two years together?

I had been with him for two years, and yet he couldn’t fully erase Rose from his heart. What if that image stays with him forever?

I’m not afraid of hardship, but I only hope that my efforts will be met with the respect and return they deserve.

Ethan’s face changed instantly. He stared at me in disbelief. "You looked at my phone?"

His smile vanished, replaced with a look of accusation and blame.

My expression was bitter as I nodded. "If I hadn’t seen that message, I wouldn’t have known that all this time we’ve been together, you’ve been carrying another woman in your heart. You even confessed your love for her just now. If you love her so much, why don’t you marry her? I’ll give you the chance—go now, before dawn breaks! You can explain everything to our parents, and tomorrow’s ceremony can be called off."

With that, I got out of bed and began packing my suitcase.

We were living in the house that Ethan’s parents had bought for our wedding. I had only moved in a couple of weeks ago, and hadn’t brought over most of my things. All that was left here were a few clothes, so it was easy to pack.

If there was still a small part of me holding on to hope, then seeing Ethan’s face flip like a page in a book shattered it completely. A man like that wasn’t worth spending my life for.

We hadn’t even registered our marriage yet. Life is full of dramatic moments, and maybe heaven had made me see that message to help me stop before it was too late.

Ethan stormed over, grabbing my arm roughly.

"Can you stop causing a scene? Even if you want to throw a tantrum, there's a time and place for it. Both of our families have been notified, the hotel’s booked, everything’s set. In just a few hours, we’ll be getting married. And now you suddenly tell me you don’t want to marry me anymore? Are you messing with me?"

Ethan glared at me with fury in his eyes, his gaze so intense it felt like he might tear me apart in the next moment.

I jerked my arm out of his grip and shot him a look of pure defiance.

"Don’t pretend like this is just my fault. You’re the one who contacted your ex and sent her those love-soaked texts. I’ve said it before—if you can’t let go of her, then why don’t you just marry her? You’ve wasted two years of my life. What’s the point?"

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

In that moment, it felt like I wasn’t even the one at the center of this mess—just a mere observer, watching this absurd drama unfold.

But even as a spectator, I couldn’t help but find it ridiculous.

"After all this, you still can’t see your own mistake? You really think I’m the one being unreasonable? Go ask any woman if she could accept what you’ve done. I know your ex is hard for you to forget, so go marry her. Please, just let me go."

I knew about the complicated history between Ethan and Rose. They had been together for three years, but they broke up because they had different life goals, and their families disapproved of the relationship. Eventually, after a year of being pushed into arranged dates by their families, he met me.

When we first met, he told me everything about Rose and promised he would let go of the past and be with me.

I believed him.

A year into our relationship, I asked him again, "Am I the only one in your heart now?" He smiled and said yes.

I believed him again.

Those two lies, spoken without a second thought, made me fall completely for him, willing to give him two years of my life.

"I don’t want to be the villain in this relationship, so let’s part on good terms. We haven’t even gotten our marriage certificate yet, so you’re still technically single. You can go chase your happiness now. As for your family’s dowry and everything, I’ll handle it and send it over to you. You just give me what’s mine, and we’ll clear everything up between us. Our relationship over the past two years has been appropriate, so let’s at least keep some dignity in this."

Maybe it was because I was older now. If this had happened a few years ago, I would’ve blown up and made a scene until there was no way out.

But now, I just wanted it to end quietly.

Maybe it was because the memories of those two years were too sweet, and I still wanted to hold on to that last bit of sweetness.