Today I Watch Them Celebrate My Betrayal

On the day I finally paid off the mortgage on our marital home, my boyfriend, Jesse Culver, keeps ignored my calls even though we were supposed to go register our marriage today. Instead, I received a message from my ex-husband, Dave Grossman. "What does it feel like to be betrayed for the second time?" I was stunned when a video pops up. Inside a private room, Jesse was taking wedding photos with another woman, happily leaning against her. My dad, Chris Lillard, who had wished me a smooth marriage registration that very morning, was smiling adoringly at them. My friends and classmates were cheering them on, too. "Kiss! Kiss!" The bride-to-be in the video was my former best friend, Nicki Jones. When I was eight months pregnant, she slept with Dave. After I miscarried, I divorced him immediately and cut all contact with her. Dave kept messaging me. "Looks like your best friend really is irresistible." "Jesse called me a bastard back then and wanted to beat me to death. But now, he's deceived you for her too." Being betrayed for the second time hurts so badly that I can barely breathe. Five years ago, it pushed me into depression. Jesse was the one who pulled me out of it. However, five years later, he joined forces with my family and friends to betrayed me for the same woman. The next second, Dave sent me an address. He texts, "Want to go take a look? It's up to you." Chapter 1 Raven's POV When I arrived at the wedding venue using the location pin, Jesse Culver was slipping a wedding ring onto Nicki Jones' finger. It was the diamond ring I'd taken to a shrine, where I'd knelt and prayed fervently for a blessing. The priest had told me it would protect our love and ensure we'd stay together for the rest of our lives. Jesse had playfully tapped my nose and called me silly. "Of course, it will. I'll love you for the rest of my life." It turned out his idea of the rest of his life had been painfully short. The moment Jesse saw me, the ring slipped from his hand and fell to the floor with a sharp crack. He asked, "Raven, what are you doing here?" With everyone watching, I slowly made my way onto the stage. Before Jesse could react, I slapped him hard across the face. "Why can't I be here? Were you afraid I'd ruin your big day?" Jesse's head snapped to the side from the blow. He reached for my hand. He pleaded, "Wait until I get home and explain. It's not what you think..." "I want an explanation right now!" I screamed, my voice raw. The next moment, Nicki let out a cold laugh beside him. "Raven, you're seriously pathetic. I've taken both of your men away from you, and all you ever do is cry like an idiot and demand an explanation. But you really do have great taste. I happen to like both of the men you chose." Her mocking laughter dragged me back to five years ago. I'd caught her in bed with my then-husband, Dave Grossman. The shock had triggered complications with my pregnancy, and my amniotic fluid had streamed down my legs onto the floor. She had laughed at me then, too. "It was only one night. I'll give him back when I'm done with him." A tidal wave of emotions crashed over me. Suddenly, my dad, Chris Lillard, stormed up from the audience with a livid expression. "You're just like your mother! They're in love. Why are you standing here crying and making a scene?" He had cheated on my mom, Rebecca Muller, years ago. Then, he'd abandoned both of us. He'd said those exact same words that angered Mom so much that she fell seriously ill. My friends chimed in one after another. "They held the wedding in secret because they were trying to spare your feelings. The least you can do is appreciate that." "You can't use your depression to hold Jesse back for the rest of his life. That's not fair to either of them." My vision kept going dark intermittently. Jesse grabbed me and forced me to stay upright. He said, "Rae, it's just a wedding. Every time I thought about the fact that Dave had once married you, it tore me apart. Just think of this as us calling it even. Go home and take some time to calm down. I'll come back later." Dazed and numb, I turned around. The wedding march began playing again. It was as if I were the unreasonable villain who had barged in and ruined a family's happiest moment. Once I stepped outside, I looked back at the wedding venue one last time. Then, I sent my supervisor a confirmation message. "I'd like to join the overseas research project." Chapter 2 I didn't go straight home. Instead, I went to the house I'd just finished paying off. The moment I opened the door, I froze. The place that should have been clean and tidy was filled with traces of the life Jesse and Nicki had built together. Their wedding photos hung in the living room. Two pairs of slippers sat by the door, and the throw pillows on the couch were blue and pink. Jesse had once promised to leave one room for Mom. Now, it had been turned into Nicki's walk-in closet. Even the master bedroom I'd painstakingly decorated for our marriage was crammed with their everyday belongings. Every corner was evidence of how happy they had been together. The five years Jesse and I had spent standing by each other through thick and thin had turned out to be nothing but an illusion. The lock clicked, and Jesse walked in. Compared to how he'd looked at the wedding, his expression was much gentler now. However, there wasn't the slightest hint of guilt. Jesse said, "Just let Nicki keep this place. She's gotten used to living here. I'll buy you another place later." My whole body trembled as tears streamed uncontrollably down my face. "This is my home! I worked my butt off paying off that mortgage! What do you two take me for? I must have been blind to let you fool me for five whole years!" Jesse let out a long, helpless sigh. "Calm down. After Dave abandoned Nicki, she almost took her own life. I couldn't just stand by and watch her die. Besides, you've already been through this once. So, you're strong enough to handle it. Can't you just pretend none of this happened?" He said it so casually, as if nothing more than a minor inconvenience had occurred. Meanwhile, I stood there shaking from head to toe, looking like some ridiculous joke. "Jesse, we're over." He froze for a moment. Then, he gently stroked the top of my head as if he were comforting a child. He coaxed, "Stop acting out. You have depression, and your mother is paralyzed. How are the two of you supposed to survive without me? I'll give you the exact same wedding. Whatever she has, you'll have it too." After saying those seemingly charitable words, he answered a call from Nicki and walked out without looking back. I stumbled out of the apartment. A reminder for our marriage registration appointment popped up on my phone. Only then did I remember that today was supposed to be the day we officially registered our marriage. At that moment, the marriage certificate that had once filled me with longing and joy had become nothing more than an absurd joke. I went straight to the city hall and showed them my identification. "Hello. I'd like to cancel my marriage registration appointment." The clerk checked the records several times before looking up at me with a sympathetic look. She said, "Ms. Lillard, the appointment confirmation you received was fake. It didn't come from our official website. And Mr. Culver is already married. His spouse is Ms. Nicki Jones." A buzzing filled my mind. Then, an anonymous video popped up on my phone. Nicki was wrapped in a bathrobe, and she looked visibly agitated. She exclaimed, "At first, I only wanted to have a little fun with you. But now, I can't do it anymore! When Raven was struggling with depression, you couldn't stand watching her threaten to take her own life, so you came to me for comfort. "When her mother became seriously ill, you lied to her and told her something had gone wrong at your company. Then, you came over and slept with me. The truth is, I'm the one you wanted to marry, right?" My ears were ringing. I held my breath and waited silently for what came next. After a long silence, Jesse's voice finally came through. It was hoarse but unmistakably clear. He said, "Yes." Chapter 3 My ears felt stuffed, and I couldn't hear clearly. Jesse's certain answer kept echoing in my head. The two people in the photograph attached to the marriage certificate looked so happy. They looked like a match made in heaven. The date they had gotten married was the exact day Mom had fallen critically ill. It was the day I'd cried until there were no tears and felt as though my heart was breaking apart. It hurt even more when I saw that Dad had been their witness. While I had cried myself dry, I'd sent Jesse message after message, begging him to come and be with me. It turned out that my so-called love and family I'd believed in had both betrayed me five years ago. The next day was the day we'd agreed to finally lay the baby I'd lost five years ago to rest. I'd miscarried after catching Dave and Nicki together. The trauma had left me emotionally shattered, so I'd asked the hospital to preserve my baby's remains. Jesse often came with me to visit the baby. He would hold me tightly, feeling sorry for me. He had said, "We've already prayed for the child. If there is a next life, I'm sure he'll return and be your child again. When that time comes, we'll protect him together." I called Jesse more than 20 times, but he hadn't answered a single call. When I arrived at the hospital alone, the numbered freezer compartment was completely empty. The sudden discovery made me tremble from head to toe. I quickly stumbled over to find the doctor. After checking the records, the doctor told me, "Your husband requested that the remains be disposed of. Someone has already been assigned to take care of it." I staggered and turned around. Just then, Jesse and Nicki walked toward me. He was holding a pregnancy test report. The moment he saw me, the smile disappeared from his face. It was replaced by a flicker of panic. "Raven, let me explain..." I cut him off with a hoarse voice, saying, "Are you the one who had my baby disposed of?" He stared at me as if he couldn't believe that I wasn't angry about the fact that he and Nicki were expecting a child together. Three seconds later, he finally looked away and said, "It was already a dead fetus. Medically speaking, it was medical waste. What was the point of keeping it? Nicki is pregnant now. She can't have something scary like that around her, so I had to get rid of it." My eyes fell on Nicki's slightly round stomach, and I let out a bitter laugh. "But that was the only thing I had left to remember my baby by." To me, my baby wasn't some medical waste, like he said. Jesse opened his mouth to say something, but I shoved him aside and frantically started digging through the trash cans. A shard of broken glass sliced into my palm. Blood dripped from my fingertips. Seeing that, Jesse frowned and instinctively came over to me. Then, Nicki suddenly clutched her stomach and cried, "Are you doing this on purpose to disgust me?" Jesse immediately stopped. Then, he strode over and grabbed my wrist. "Apologize to Nicki first," he demanded. His grip was so tight that blood kept seeping from my wound. I yanked my hand free and glared at him through reddened eyes. "You were the ones who decided to dispose of my baby without asking me!" Jesse's expression darkened, and his patience reached its limit. He snapped, "Your baby? That was the child you had with your ex-husband! Did you ever stop to think about how I felt knowing you were keeping that thing? Apologize!" I clenched my injured hand. Suddenly, Nicki grabbed my arm and leaned closer. The pain on her face vanished, and in its place was a smug smile. She said in a low voice, "Don't bother looking. They already took everything to the landfill and burned it. The dead should stay where they belong. How could I have ever been friends with someone as pathetic as you? You couldn't even protect your own child." Then, she released my arm and looked at me like a victor staring down at her defeated opponent. I looked at the thin column of smoke rising from the landfill in the distance. The tears I'd been holding back came pouring out. Chapter 4 Jesse's brow twitched, and he finally lost what little patience he had left. He said coolly, "This ends here. Don't ever bring it up again, and don't cry over that baby anymore. Once Nicki's baby is born, you can raise it. I'm sure your mom will be happy, too." He had once promised Mom over and over that he would have a child with me and fulfill her final wish. Now, he had turned that promise into a weapon that he gripped tightly in his hand against me. Something inside me finally gave way. I no longer had the strength to fight or scream. Jesse reached out to bandage my wound like he always used to, but I quietly pulled my hand away. He froze for a moment. Then, his voice took on an icy edge. He warned, "My patience is limited. Don't make things hard for me." After they left, I bought Mom's favorite jelly dessert and went to see her in the hospital. When I pushed open the door, I saw Nicki sitting beside Mom's bed. Mom glared at Nicki, still unable to let go of what had happened five years ago. Mom mocked, "I suppose what goes around comes around. You ruined Raven's marriage back then. Now, another woman has taken your husband away from you. You got what you deserved." Instead of getting angry, Nicki laughed and turned to look at me. She said to Mom, "It's been years, Rebecca, but you still hate me just as much. Then again, I can't blame you. No one respects a mistress." My nerves instantly tensed, and I grabbed Nicki's arm. "Get out right now." She shook me off and turned back to Mom with a sly glint flashing in her eyes. "What if I told you the woman who stole my husband was your own daughter?" Mom's face went pale. The next second, Nicki pulled out two marriage certificates from her purse. Their wedding photo was right there on the certificates. I hurried forward to snatch them, but Nicki dodged me and held them out to Mom. She sneered, "You said I deserved what happened to me. So tell me, what kind of retribution should befall your daughter for stealing my husband now?" Mom stared at the photos on the marriage certificates, pounding her fists against the bed in helpless fury. I nearly collapsed to my knees in front of her. "Mom, it's all a misunderstanding. It's not what you think..." Before I could finish, Mom passed out. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. Nicki, on the other hand, became even more excited. "Rebecca, Raven's retribution got to you, don't you think? You were kicked out of your own home back then. Just like your daughter, you're both unwanted trash!" I'd had enough. I grabbed Nicki by the throat and shouted, "Shut up!" Just then, Jesse rushed in after hearing the commotion and happened to see us. He immediately pulled us apart and roared, "Raven, she's pregnant! Are you crazy?" I screamed at the top of my lungs, "She said things that made my mom pass out!" Jesse was about to look toward the hospital bed when Nicki purposely leaned backward and slammed her stomach against the corner of the table. "Ah... My baby..." The moment Jesse saw the smear of blood on the floor, panic flashed across his face. He immediately called for a doctor and had Nicki rushed into surgery. The doctor said helplessly, "Whether we can save the baby is up to fate now." The operating room doors closed. I was about to go back and call a doctor for Mom when Jesse grabbed me roughly by the wrist. His eyes were bloodshot. Jesse yelled, "You're going to the chapel right now to pray for Nicki's baby. Go and pray that the baby comes through this safely!" I was sobbing so hard I could barely breathe. "Please, save my mom. I think she's dying..." Jesse cut me off, "Stop making up lies to avoid responsibility. Do you think I'll believe you? I told you I'd treat you the same as I always have. Why were you so desperate to hurt her baby?" He dragged me all the way out of the hospital. I looked back toward Mom's room, my heart breaking into tiny little pieces. "Let me go!" I fought with everything I had and finally tore myself free. Without hesitating for even a moment, I sprinted across the street. Just as I was about to reach the other side, a speeding car came barreling toward me. I froze in shock. Across the street, Jesse's eyes widened in horror as he ran toward me. "Raven! No!"