He had a failed first love. His first love cheated on him with another man and he caught her red-handed. 

Devastated, he broke up with her and told me, "Shannon, because I've experienced betrayal, I will never let you go through what I went through. I will cherish our relationship."

And I believed him.

Now, as Garland finished cleaning and sat beside me with a smile, leaning in to kiss me, a scene from the digital video replayed in my mind. 

It was where Rosie was crying and begging him, “Garland, even if we break up, your heart can only have me, not Shannon. Promise me you’ll never fall in love with Shannon, okay?”

Garland’s breath brushed my nose and just as his lips were about to touch mine, my stomach suddenly flipped. I couldn’t hold it in.

I ran to the bathroom and threw up uncontrollably, until only bile was coming up and tears streamed down my face.

I heard Garland's worried voice beside me asking me, "Honey, are you feeling unwell?"

"Honey, let’s go to the doctor." Garland draped his coat over me and was about to pick me up when the phone rang. 

The familiar ringtone sent a shiver down my spine. It was Rosie.

If it were before, I would have told Garland to ignore me and answer Rosie's call.

I would have told Garland not to keep Rosie waiting. I would have said that Rosie didn't like him anyway, so she must have something urgent to say.

I would have made Garland prioritize Rosie, making her more important than me.

But now, I just silently watched Garland's changing expressions. The subtle changes in his expression that I had never noticed before were now so obvious. 

I had been blinded by my own ignorance all these years, only realizing now that Garland was worried about Rosie.

He put me on the bed, then picked up his phone, looked at me with a troubled expression.

"Please don't answer. She's trying to sow discord between us again, trying to get you to divorce me."

"Honey, wait a minute." Garland ignored my reply, walked out of the room and even closed the door. 

So blatant, so open and I hadn't noticed a thing. 

I was stupid, so foolish for trusting them too much, giving them this opportunity to hurt me.

I heard Rosie's soft sobs through the door and said to Garland, “Please come to me.”

Then Garland comforted her, "Don't be afraid, wait for me for ten minutes."

As they ended the call, I sat back on the bed, looking at Garland’s worried yet complaining expression. “Your best friend is such a handful. Sometimes I really want to block her.”

“You don’t know—she said she had a car accident, got rear-ended and now the traffic police and the other driver are after her. She keeps crying.”

“Why did you have to choose a friend like that? A ‘family member’ like her even made me set a special ringtone.”

Garland complained, but there was a smile on his lips—one he wasn’t even aware of, brightening his eyes.

“Honey, I’ll go help her first. You rest. If you still feel sick later, I’ll take you to the hospital. Be good.”

I watched Garland grab his coat and leave. 

I knew I should remind him, like always, to drive safely and not argue with Rosie. She was family, after all. 

At the very least, he shouldn’t hold it against her—for my sake.

I watched Garland’s back as he left and suddenly he felt like a stranger to me.

When I heard a noise at the entryway, I jumped out of bed, ran out without even putting on shoes and called out, “Garland.”

He stood there in the entryway, looking confused.

My heart died inch by inch. 

He didn't even notice I wasn't wearing shoes; he was just in a hurry to leave, but I still refused to give up. 

"Can you not go?"

With my last glimmer of hope, I still hoped Garland would understand what was most important. I looked at him, almost humbly.

"Can you not go, honey?"

My eyes turned red, a dull pain tightening in my chest until I could barely breathe. 

But instead of comforting me like before, Garland only frowned, clearly unhappy. "If I don't care about her, who will? Do you want to see her taken away by the police, Shannon?"

"Let's be sensible, okay? It's not like I'm not coming back." 

Garland still left.

In the empty living room, only my heavy breathing remained, along with a WhatsApp message from Rosie.

[Shannon, I'm really sorry, I couldn't find anyone else, so I had to borrow your husband for a bit.] 

A roaring filled my ears. It felt like my world was collapsing. The love and friendship I once took pride in had completely died today.

My mind went blank. I grabbed my car keys and rushed to the parking lot, driving toward the accident scene—to the end of this failed love—to make one last stand.

When I arrived, I saw Rosie crying in Garland’s arms and he comforted her, “I’m here, don’t be afraid.”

I watched him argue loudly with the other party, calling her “my lover” and “my wife” again and again, until Garland finally said, "You must apologize to my lover. She's been traumatized. If you don't address this, we'll take legal action."

In the end, he said, "I can suffer injustice, but my wife can't!"

I looked at Rosie, hiding behind Garland, her eyes filled with longing. My love and friendship had finally crumbled into ruins, leaving no trace of life. 

As this matter seemed to be nearing its end, Rosie begged him, "Can you not leave? Can you stay with me tonight?"

My nails dug into my flesh. Blood seeped out, the pain driving me to the brink of madness.

At first, Garland hesitated until the very end. But under her tears, he finally nodded helplessly and said, "Okay. But Rosie, this is the last time I'll choose you."

Just like three days before the wedding, when Garland said, "This is the last time." 

How many more last times were there between them?

I didn't know and couldn't understand. I only knew that my emotions spiraled out of control. 

The instant they turned to leave, I rushed in front of Garland and called out to him.

Then, I slapped him across the face, looking at the stunned and panicked Rosie, I threw down those words, "Garland, let's get a divorce."