He Had a Secret Wedding, I Had a Final Goodbye Chapter 02
The next morning, the vibration of my phone woke me up.
Messages kept flooding in—screenshots from Instagram, forwarded posts in group chats, as if everyone was determined to make sure I saw them.
When I opened the first image, my breath caught.
Adrian and Vanessa were standing outside the courthouse, holding up their marriage certificate, smiling like they couldn’t be happier.
The comments underneath were nothing but congratulations.
I kept scrolling and found an Instagram post from Colin.
[Been there with this guy through all of it. Glad you finally got what you wanted.]
The photos showed Adrian and Vanessa, along with pictures from their private wedding ceremony last year.
I opened the group shot, and my hand started shaking.
So many familiar faces were in it.
Colin was there.
Ryan Abbott was there.
Even my adoptive parents were there.
My mom was smiling, while my dad stood beside her, handing someone a drink.
Everyone looked perfectly at ease. It was like I was the joke everyone else had been in on from the beginning.
I turned my phone facedown on the bed, my chest tight.
But it kept buzzing.
Someone had dropped a clip from last night into the company group chat.
They had posted only the most chaotic part.
I was standing there visibly furious while Vanessa cried helplessly. Adrian stood in front of her like he was protecting his wronged wife.
The caption was even worse.
[Homewrecker exposed—throws a drink and loses it on the spot.]
People recognized me almost immediately.
[Isn’t that Leah Warren?]
[I never would’ve guessed.]
[No wonder her boyfriend never posted her. So she’s the side chick? Somebody tag his wife and let her deal with this.]
I sat there as a chill crept through me.
Adrian knew perfectly well that I wasn’t the other woman.
But he hadn’t corrected a single word.
By saying nothing, he was letting everyone believe it.
It took me a long time to pull myself together enough to get up and wash my face.
I still had to go see my sister, Mia Warren, at the hospital that day. Her condition had already been unstable lately, and the last thing I wanted was for her to see any of this.
Before I could leave, though, a payment reminder from the hospital popped up.
There was still an outstanding balance on Mia’s ongoing treatment.
I stared at the amount for a long time before finally going back to the place Adrian and I had shared for four years.
I had put so much care into making it a home. I had even imagined earning enough one day to own it outright.
Every plan I had made there had been about our future.
Now there was no future.
I had barely reached the living room when I heard the front door open.
Adrian and Vanessa walked in together.
They were still dressed up from their courthouse wedding photos.
I stared at Adrian and felt whatever was left inside me go cold.
I let out a disbelieving laugh.
“Do you two realize that because of those photos, everyone thinks I’m the other woman now?”
Adrian frowned.
“People know we got married at the courthouse. We made one Instagram post. That’s all.”
Vanessa spoke next, already sounding impatient.
“Leah, can you stop blaming us for everything?”
“People are happy for us. What’s wrong with that?”
The sheer absurdity of it left me speechless.
I took a deep breath.
“Get out.”
Adrian looked at me like I had said something ridiculous.
“You’re telling me to get out? I’ve put plenty of money into the renovations, HOA dues, and parking over the years.”
“You really think you could afford to live here on your own?”
“Vanessa and I are living here from now on.”
“If you can’t deal with that, you can leave.”
I stood there for a long time without moving.
The down payment on this place had come from money I had saved little by little after I started working.
The day I signed the papers, my hands had shaken from excitement.
Adrian had held me and told me that this would be our home.
I had even sent Vanessa a photo of the keys.
Vanessa replied: [That’s great.]
So she had been waiting for this even then.
I didn’t argue with them anymore.
I packed my things without another word.
As I walked out, I heard Adrian behind me.
“If you walk out that door, I’m not giving you another cent.”
Standing in the elevator, I gripped the handle of my suitcase as tightly as I could.
I had bitten the inside of my mouth hard enough to taste blood, but I barely felt it.
All I felt was the humiliation.
I still left.
I wanted nothing more to do with their world.
