When I Walked Away

At our wedding, my wife's assistant "accidentally" uploaded the wrong photo. The big screen was supposed to display our wedding portraits.

Instead, it was a picture of my wife and him in full wedding attire. Their fingers were laced together, their eyes locked in a soft, intimate gaze, looking every bit like a blissfully happy couple.

The entire venue erupted in shocked whispers. The assistant froze in shock, acting like he had no idea why he was in the photo. He started panicking, asking if we should just postpone the ceremony. My wife, however, stayed surprisingly calm.

She whispered her solution, “Everyone’s here. Postponing now would be humiliating and, honestly, a bad omen. Beside, most people here don’t even know what the groom looks like. Why don’t we just let him stand in for you?”

Our friends were dumbfounded. They all thought I’d explode in anger and jealousy after hearing something so outrageous. Instead, I nodded, saying it was actually a great idea.

Seeing how composed I remained, my wife looked pleased with herself. She told me that since we were legally married anyway, she’d make it up to me later with another ceremony. However, she seemed to have forgotten one thing: she had just signed the divorce papers.

“How can you switch grooms in the middle of a wedding? What’s Graham supposed to do? He’ll probably be heartbroken again.”

A friend couldn’t resist glancing at me. I could tell he was only trying to stir the pot, waiting to see me blow up.

Honestly, if this were before, I probably would’ve raged with jealousy and thought Lucy Leavitt’s suggestion was absolutely insane. Yet now, to everyone’s surprise—including my own—I was calm.

After all, situations like this had happened too many times, and I’d long gone numb. Ever since Zack Graff became Lucy’s assistant, she had done countless things for him that left me stunned.

When we went to the movies, she insisted on bringing him along. She claimed he was scared of the dark, then left me alone and went to sit with him. When I fell sick and urgently needed money, she told me to “tough it out” to build resistance, yet she turned around and bought a limited-edition figure for Zack because he liked it.

When we scheduled our wedding photos, she found an excuse to send me away. Then she snuck off to take wedding portraits with Zack instead. When I caught her, she wasn’t even embarrassed. She simply laughed it off.

“Zack doesn’t have a girlfriend. He just wanted wedding photos. What’s wrong with giving him some? It’s not like I’m actually marrying him.”

Now, today, they really were getting married, and I was completely disappointed in her.

“I’m just handling an emergency for the ceremony. It’s not like it’s a real marriage,” Lucy spoke as if nothing mattered. “Right, Graham?”

“You’re right.”

I nodded, took off the groom’s boutonniere, handed it to her, and ignored the awkward looks around us. Then, I turned and walked straight out of the hotel. Even as I stepped outside, Lucy didn’t come after me.

Behind me, thunderous applause erupted as she and Zack took their spots at the end of the aisle. When no one else was looking, Zack turned back toward me with a smug smile, as if announcing his victory.

I wasn’t surprised. I had known this wasn’t an accident; it was Zack deliberately provoking me, and Lucy wasn’t oblivious to it. She just let it happen. She had always indulged him without limits.

At the company, everyone had to call her President Leavitt, but only Zack was allowed to call her Lucy. Others would get chewed out for the smallest mistakes, but even if Zack caused major problems, she pretended not to see a thing.

Just a month ago, Zack’s mistake cost the company a contract worth millions. Everyone was furious. Yet to calm people down, she didn’t discuss anything with me. She simply pinned the blame on me and docked an entire year of my salary.

When I confronted her, she acted indifferent.

“We’ve been together for so many years. Why are you still so petty over something so small? It’s not a big deal for you, but it is to Zack. If we deduct his salary, how is he supposed to survive? If it bothers you so much, fine, I’ll make it up to you. Happy?”

This wedding was supposed to be her making it up to me, but of course, it ended up benefiting Zack instead. Maybe that was why, this time, I wasn’t even sad. I was unexpectedly calm enough to just go home and sleep.

Lucy hated dealing with details, so I had handled every part of the wedding myself. I chose the photographer, oversaw every shoot, and even designed our outfits a year in advance.

To avoid affecting the work she assigned me, I used all my after-work hours to sort everything out. I stayed up night after night choosing decorations, invitations, and gifts. Just yesterday, to make everything perfect, I rehearsed until midnight. My chest still hurt from exhaustion.

Looking back, it really wasn’t worth it. If I’d known, I would’ve slacked off too.

Just as I drifted off to sleep, I was jolted awake by the sound of the front door opening. It was already past midnight.

When I walked out of the bedroom, I saw Lucy acting like she always did, kicking off her shoes and collapsing lazily onto the couch.

“Graham, I’m starving. Make me some food.”

She spoke as naturally as if she hadn’t just gotten married to someone else.

I let out a quiet laugh. “Did you come home to the wrong house? After a wedding, aren’t you supposed to be enjoying the bridal suite?”

She frowned immediately.

“Graham, are you still mad about what happened today?” As usual, she asked even though she already assumed the answer.

This time, though, she was wrong. I wasn’t angry; I was just bored.

“No,” I said truthfully.

She clearly didn’t believe me. She sat up, speaking with a sigh, “I know you’re upset, but I was thinking of the company. We had so many business partners attending today. If they saw us mess up something as simple as the slideshow, they’d question our competence. I didn’t want you to become a laughingstock.

“Zack was under so much pressure today. You don’t even know how much people were forcing drinks on him. He drank so much on your behalf that he threw up three times. You should thank him.”

I almost laughed, and after thinking for a moment, I nodded.

“I really should thank him.”

I should thank him for helping me decide to leave Lucy for good.

Seeing how calm I was, she assumed she had successfully coaxed me again. Her tone lightened up a little.

“As long as you understand our good intentions. As for thanking him, forget about words. You left the wedding early, and he was actually a little worried about you. You should give him a gift. His rental place is under renovation, so let’s gift him a house.”

She had mentioned gifting him a house before. For her to bring it up again so casually, she wasn’t asking for my opinion. She was notifying me of something she had probably done.

I let out a soft, mocking laugh. “A house isn’t enough. I’m planning to give him something he’ll like even more.”

“What is it?”

In her confused but slightly hopeful gaze, I said calmly, “I’m giving him you. Lucy, we’re getting a divorce.”