I couldn't sleep. The image of Frances in my wedding dress, wearing my necklace, played on repeat behind my eyelids. Beside me, Henry slept soundly, his breathing deep and even, as if he hadn't just shattered my trust hours earlier.
Three days had passed since the engagement party. Three days of pretending everything was fine, of smiling through dinner conversations and returning congratulatory texts. Three days of watching Henry check his phone whenever I turned away.
I glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand: 2:17 AM. Henry had taken a sleeping pill after dinner, claiming stress from work. He wouldn't wake for hours.
"You owe yourself the truth," I whispered to myself, my voice barely audible.
Slowly, I reached across his body, my fingers stretching toward the phone charging on his nightstand. His arm twitched in his sleep, and I froze, my heart hammering against my ribs. After a moment, his breathing remained steady.
I grabbed the phone and slid out of bed, padding quietly to the bathroom. The blue light of the screen illuminated my face as I swiped to unlock it.
Password protected, of course. I tried his birthday. Nothing. Our anniversary. Nothing.
Then I remembered the date we met—October 15th. 0715.
The screen unlocked.
My fingers trembled as I opened his messages. There were hundreds of exchanges with Frances, spread over months. Years, even.
"Miss you already," read one from last week. "Our little place was perfect tonight."
Attached was a selfie of them together, her head on his shoulder, both smiling in front of a fireplace I didn't recognize.
I scrolled further back.
"The hotel on Maple Street has that room available again," Henry had texted her three weeks ago. "Same one as last time?"
"Heart emoji," she'd replied. "I'll bring the wine."
My stomach twisted as I found more photos—them at a lake house, at a concert, at what looked like a small cabin in the woods. Places we'd never been together.
"The dress fitting was perfect," read a message from yesterday. "Can't wait to see it on you for real."
"You looked gorgeous," Henry had replied. "Almost as beautiful as you'll look in it someday."
Someday. The word burned into my brain.
I was so engrossed that I didn't hear him until he spoke.
"What are you doing?"
I nearly dropped the phone. Henry stood in the doorway, his eyes heavy with sleep but sharpening with awareness.
"I—" My voice caught. "You lied to me."
"About what?" He crossed his arms, suddenly wide awake.
"About Frances." I held up the phone. "About all of it."
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You're invading my privacy, Elise."
"Privacy?" I laughed, the sound brittle even to my own ears. "We're engaged, Henry. Or were you lying about that too?"
"Don't be dramatic." He stepped forward, taking the phone from my hand. "Those messages are just friendly banter."
"Friendly banter doesn't include heart emojis and secret meetings."
"You're being paranoid." His voice softened, becoming the gentle tone he used when he wanted to convince me of something. "Frances is going through a lot right now. She needs a friend."
"And I need a fiancé who respects me," I countered.
Instead of apologizing, he turned the tables. "How would you feel if I went through your phone? If I questioned every conversation you have with Marcus?"
The comparison was absurd, but somehow, I found myself apologizing anyway.
"I'm sorry for looking at your phone," I said, hating how small my voice sounded.
He nodded, satisfied. "I forgive you."
---
Two weeks later, I woke gasping for air, my throat closing as hives erupted across my skin. Henry found me on the bathroom floor, struggling to breathe.
"Allergic reaction," he said, recognizing the signs immediately. "We need to get you to the hospital."
The emergency room was chaotic, nurses rushing around as they administered epinephrine and antihistamines. Henry held my hand, his thumb tracing circles on my palm.
"You're going to be okay," he promised, his eyes never leaving my face.
I believed him. For those few hours, as the medication slowly opened my airways, I believed he truly cared.
Then his phone rang.
Frances's name flashed on the screen.
"I have to take this," he said, already standing.
"But—"
"It's important, Elise." He was already walking toward the door. "She's having a crisis."
"What about my crisis?" I called after him, my voice still raspy from the allergic reaction.
He paused at the doorway. "The doctors have it under control now."
And then he was gone, leaving me alone among strangers in hospital gowns and surgical masks.
I stared at the ceiling, listening to the steady beep of monitors and the distant sound of Henry's voice echoing down the hallway.
In that moment, as tears slid silently down my temples into my hair, I knew with absolute certainty that I was not his priority.
And perhaps never had been.
