The Night Before Our Wedding, I Replaced Myself With My Best Friend Chapter 10

The Night Before Our Wedding, I Replaced Myself With My Best Friend Chapter 10

Time flew by. Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

Nathan never dated again.

He stayed in that empty condo, keeping everything exactly as it had been. Even the cardboard box stuffed with his old belongings still sat in the entryway corner.

He went through the motions every day-work, home, repeat. A gray, monotonous existence.

Sometimes he’d spot a girl on the street wearing a dress that reminded him of me, and he’d unconsciously chase after her for blocks.

Only when she turned around, revealing a stranger’s face, would he finally stop, eyes burning, and trudge back to the home I no longer lived in.

Molly’s fate wasn’t kind.

After the wedding scandal spread through their social circle, her reputation was destroyed.

She tried starting over in other cities, but old habits died hard. Eventually, she was sued by the wife of another man she’d gotten involved with.

She lost everything, money, status, respect. No one wanted anything to do with her.

As for me, I stayed in Cape Haven.

With the money from selling my apartment, I opened my own studio focused on marine conservation and environmental outreach.

My days were filled with boat trips, photography, campaign planning, busy and fulfilling.

My parents grew healthier and happier.

Mornings, they’d walk the beach boardwalk; evenings, they’d join the local retirees for wine and cards at the community hall.

I no longer had to reheat dinner three times waiting for someone who wouldn’t come home. I no longer wore clothes I hated just to please someone else’s taste.

One weekend evening, I sat on the studio terrace, watching the sun melt slowly below the horizon. The sea breeze tousled my hair.

My phone buzzed. It was Jamie, the new intern.

[Elena, meteor shower tonight! We’re doing a beach BBQ. You in?]

I smiled at the screen and typed back a laughing emoji.

[On my way!]

I stood up and stretched. The past had long since faded.

Ahead of me lay countless new landscapes waiting to be explored. No one needed to cling to anyone

else to be whole.

I could walk far on my own, and I would.