On the Wedding Day, I Broke Up Successfully

After a decade-long romance with Alex, supporting him through the start-up phase and building our future together, I discovered just two days before our wedding that he had a 60-page document about other women.

I quietly canceled all the company's contracts and booked a flight abroad for the wedding day.

After running away, he went mad.

——

"Sarah, you were the one who set up this project. It's almost ready to launch with just a few tweaks. Are you sure you don’t want to sign?"

A friend, an executive at a publicly listed company, asked with some uncertainty.

"Yes, I won’t be signing. We’ll need to cancel the previous contracts too. I’m really sorry for the trouble this causes you."

“It’s no trouble at all. We’ve known each other for years and your proposal is actually more thorough than many from big companies. It’s a shame we can’t work together on this.”

I gave a quiet, trembling laugh, doing my best to mask the quiver in my voice.

“Well, let’s plan on collaborating when I return to the country. I’ll definitely reach out to you then.”

After ending the call, I stared blankly at the 60-page memo in Alex's file.

My fingers, resting on the mouse, were shaking uncontrollably.

Perhaps to prevent me from discovering it, he had renamed the file after the project.

If I hadn’t had to make last-minute changes to the final proposal tonight and left my laptop at the office,

I might have never discovered this.

The first 20 pages, densely packed with text, detailed the daily habits of that other woman.

The remaining 40 pages were filled with the sweet moments from the two months they’ve known each other.

There were not just words, but also photos.

Places I had wanted to visit with him but never got the chance, restaurants I had hoped to try and even a custom-designed diamond ring meant for a lifetime with one person.

Every wish I ever expressed, he had already fulfilled with someone else.

The woman in the photos was someone I knew—Emily, the secretary he personally hired.

He said that seeing Emily was like seeing another version of himself, struggling alone in the city.

The past ten years of our love played out before my eyes.

We’ve been together since our freshman year of college, marking a full decade now.

I gave up the opportunity to study abroad for him.

I endured the painful and tumultuous breakup season after graduation.

I chose to use my professional skills to help him build something from nothing.

During the day, I managed the company’s project, planning and business departments all on my own.

But after work, I still wanted to be a girl in love.

I asked him more than once to accompany me to trendy restaurants, to visit popular cities, to document each milestone of our startup, to capture every step of our journey together.

Yet, all I received were his cold refusals.

He said the business was too busy since the company was just starting out, that adults shouldn't be so childish and that documenting those moments was meaningless.

Until this moment, I finally understand that it wasn’t the records that were meaningless.

It's just that since I was the one being recorded, it was deemed meaningless.

The day I gave up studying abroad, my roommate's words echoed in my ears:

“Sarah, you’ll regret giving up your future for a man. Once Alex has money, you'll be the first to be discarded.”

She said that a blind person, once they regain their sight, will immediately throw away their cane.

I understood the logic, but I stubbornly believed that Alex was different from others.

Years later, those words finally struck me like a sharp sword, piercing right between my eyes.

Three days ago, when the engagement news was hurriedly announced, I hadn’t even had the chance to feel happy.

I heard his best friend instinctively say, “Yeah, yeah, hurry up and get married. It’ll be over if you wait any longer!”

At the time, I didn’t understand the deeper meaning behind his words.

Now that I think about it, as Alex’s closest friend, he must have noticed something long ago.

Unfortunately, it’s only now that I understand his subtle hint.

I took a deep breath to calm myself and shut down his computer.

I immediately sent out messages to several business partners to cancel our contracts.

Then I booked a flight for two days later to go abroad.

Only then did I open the chat window with Alex, preparing to break up with him.

I discovered that our chat history, starting from two months ago, had turned into dry work reports.

Indeed, the desire to share didn’t disappear.

It just shifted.

The only message related to our relationship was from three days ago, when I asked him to confirm the wedding hotel.

He still hadn’t replied.

When I checked his profile information, I found that his bio had been changed to:

[“Beneath the cold mask lies a belated and overwhelming affection.”]

The phone slipped from my hand and fell onto the carpet.

I collapsed onto the sofa, overwhelmed by a wave of bitterness.

Before I saw those dozens of memos, I had thought he was just an introverted, naturally indifferent person.

Now, I realizes he simply hadn’t found his catalyst yet.

After a moment, I picked up my phone and changed his contact name to his full name, adding a countdown to my departure.

Just as I was about to start packing, I received a call from Emily.

“Ms. Mitchel, Mr. Carter has had too much to drink. We’re at the hotel and I’ll send you the address. Could you please come and pick him up?”