Her homepage was tagged with "Food Partner: XXX." Curiosity gnawed at me, so I clicked through. There, I saw video after video of James—his back, his hands, all captured in moments that were too familiar. They went to the movies together, trained together, even stayed in the same room. Though none of the footage showed his face directly, I knew it was him.
Ella’s latest post was a picture of a hot spring bath, with the caption:
After a while, you’ll be famous.
The implications of those words hit me like a punch to the gut. I knew exactly what she meant.
The timing couldn’t have been more telling. It overlapped perfectly with the time when James had told me he couldn’t come to see me because of work last week.
He hadn’t been busy with work when he said he couldn’t come to see me. No, he had been at the hot springs with the new couple.
The truth hit me with such force that I ended up in the hospital that night. I never imagined that the boyfriend who had always treated me like a queen had betrayed me long ago. Our seven-year relationship became a cruel joke at that moment.