Chapter 1
Becky’s excitement turned into nervousness as she sat down at the restaurant across from Felix, her fiance. Felix’s demeanor was different. He seemed distant and preoccupied tonight. They weren’t even supposed to meet until tomorrow Saturday morning when he would come to pick her up for their wedding photoshoot. But he just called her about an hour before the close of work and asked if he could come pick her up for dinner.
“It’s fine. I’ll be waiting for you,” she had told him over the phone. “Thank God you are coming over to my apartment tonight. There’s something I want to show you.”
“Okay, when I get there,” he said curtly. “Su…Becky, I have to get back to work.”
“It’s okay,” Becky said,
not reading too much meaning into his action. She understood he had a busy job and was also a workaholic.
The drive to the restaurant was silent, too. It was unlike Felix not to go over his day in the office with her or give her a gist about a friend.
“You are so quiet,” Becky had said, placing a hand on his lap. “Is everything alright?”
“Everything is fine,” he replied without looking at her face as he negotiated a bend. “I’m just tired. I’m just swapped in a lot of work with Tyler not being around.” Tyler was his partner and he was in the hospital.
“Please, take it easy,” she patted his shoulder. “I don’t want you too to become sick. In fact, we won’t stay long at the restaurant. You need to retire to have an adequate test ahead of the photoshoot tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” he said, and they both fell into silence for the rest of the drive.
Their wedding was in five weeks and they were having their photoshoot the next day.
“Let’s order,” Felix said immediately as they got into the restaurant and sat down. He beckoned to a waiter, and they placed their order.
Becky couldn’t help but feel a pit in her stomach. This wasn’t how she had imagined their evening would be.
“Becky,” Felix apologized to her. “I’m sorry. I know I have been acting strangely. I…I need to tell you something.”
Her heart sank as she braced herself for what was to come.
“What, honey?” she reached out and took his hands. “Are you alright… did something happen to you?”
“I’m sorry, Becky,” he gently took his hands away from her. “We…we have to call off our wedding.”
“What do you mean we…”
The waiter arrived with their food and she had to halt.
“Becky, please,” he pleaded as soon as the waiter left. “I need you to understand that this is difficult for me, too. But I have to face my truth.”
Becky was in shock. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“I can’t understand all you have been saying!” Her voice rose a pitch higher with her anxiety. “What are you calling off?”
“Our wedding,” he breathed raggedly. “I’m sorry, I have to do this.”
They had been planning their dream wedding for months, and now it was all falling apart.
“Why?” She asked in a small voice, when she realized he was serious.
There was a bit of awkward silence before he looked into her eyes and said, “I have fallen in love with Kristen again.”
“Kristen?” Her eyes widened. “You are leaving me to go back to your ex-wife?”
He nodded and looked away.
Felix’s ex-wife, Kristen came back into his life a year ago, after they had been divorced for five years. He never knew that Kristen was pregnant by the time they separated. Now, his son was desperate to know his father and that was why Kristen came back.
“It’s five freaking weeks before our wedding, Felix.” She covered her face with her hands in dismay. “You are leaving me for…for your ex-wife. Who does that? Did I made a mistake by allowing you to have a relationship with your son, Felix?”
She accepted wholeheartedly for him to have a relationship with his son when Kristen resurfaced in his life. She was never bothered that Kristen and him could reignite their love since Kristen had another man in her life already.
“I didn’t plan it this way,” he tried to explain himself. “I just can’t help myself, now that I know that she got pregnant six years ago. I can’t leave my son for another man to nurture.”
“Wait, wait,” Becky raised her hands. “Are you getting back with Kristen because you love her or because of your son?”
“Both.” his eyes looked glazed with unshed tears. He was deeply sorry he was doing that to Becky. “I have been falling in love with her since the day she came to me to tell me about my son.”
“I can remember, she came to town a few weeks after you proposed,” she said and set her hands on the white clothes covered table. “Are you saying you’ve started an affair with her since then?”
He said nothing, confirming what she was thinking.
In a state of shock and disbelief, “How could you do this to me?” Becky stood up. “you are so callous, Felix. You wasted my time and energy.”
She left the restaurant without saying another word. She was devastated, feeling like her whole world was crumbling down. She drove back to her parents’ house. She didn’t want to be alone in her apartment for now.
Her parents and her sister couldn’t believe their ears when she told them what just happened.
“You mean Felix just cut off your four years relationship just like that?” Her father asked incredulously.
“Yes, daddy,” Becky burst into fresh tears. “He’s going to remarry his ex-wife.”
“I am so sorry, darling,” her mother wrapped her arms around her daughter. “How could Felix be so cruel?”
Becky cried her eyes out that night. She couldn’t sleep or eat. She was so devastated.
The next morning, she awoke to a rush of emotions. She was heartbroken, angry, and betrayed. The man she loved for over four years had chosen someone else over her, and she couldn’t understand why. Her father insisted she must leave her apartment and return home.
As the days and weeks passed, Becky slowly came to terms with the situation. She realized that Felix was not the man she thought he was, and she deserved someone who would love and cherish her unconditionally.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
Months went by, and Becky slowly moved on from the heartache. But she never allowed any man near her heart again.
She focused on herself and her career, and soon enough, she found herself in a much better place. She had learned a valuable lesson about love and relationships, and she was grateful that she didn’t end up marrying someone who wasn’t truly committed to her.