It's fate

The day before the wedding, I found a bunch of super-hot photos of my fiancé with another woman.

It wasn’t just any other woman. It was intimate stuff, you know? Him, normally Mr. Aloof and Reserved, was all over her, posing like they were made for each other.

I looked at those pictures, at the way they were all touchy-feely, and calmly told Liam, my fiancé, that I wanted a divorce.

His studio’s photographer, Sarah, called me later, her voice cracking, begging me not to be mad.

"Chloe, it was for a project! Liam and I were just doing what we needed to do for the shoot. Please don’t get the wrong idea!” she pleaded.

And I could hear Liam in the background, casually trying to soothe her. “It’s fine, Sarah. She’s got nothing, all her stuff comes from my family anyway. She doesn't have the right to be upset."

I didn’t bother arguing, just left the divorce papers on the table and walked out.

1

Liam was walking into the house just as I was hauling my suitcase out the door.

He froze, mid-setting down a framed picture, and glared at me.

"Chloe, are you seriously pulling a runaway bride act over one photo shoot?"

He was so dismissive. "Here," he tossed a framed wedding photo toward me, "Your wedding photos are here! Big deal."

The 30-inch photo was perfect for the space we'd picked out above the headboard.

Until today, I'd been so excited to see it. Liam is a photographer but hates being photographed. Our couple photos were rare. It had taken weeks of begging just to get him to agree to a wedding shoot.

But seeing those intimate photos, I finally realized he just didn't want my photo taken.

I didn't grab the picture. Instead, I pointed at the divorce papers on the table.

"Convenient timing. I’ve already signed. Let's find time to make this legal.”

Liam slammed the wedding photo down, not even glancing at the papers.

"Are you serious? Me and Sarah are just supporting her work, Chloe. Because of you and your whole divorce thing, she canceled all of her shoots today feeling guilty."

Sarah, Liam’s go-to photographer at his studio. She was artsy, creative, beautiful, and they had this whole photography-soulmate vibe.

When I didn't say anything, Liam rubbed his temples like I was giving him a migraine.

He snatched the divorce papers, ripped them up and threw them in the trash.

"They're just photos, you are so clueless about real art, and you're thinking the absolute worst."

"Just photos?"

We'd been together for years, and Liam and I rarely even kissed, let alone anything more. I'd thought it was his way of respecting me. But turns out he was comfortable being all lovey-dovey with a friend.

It didn't matter anymore. I was just relieved the whole charade was finally over.

“I’m not into that kind of art, sure. You two can keep on shooting all you want," I said, shrugging.

He either didn't get my sarcasm or played dumb. He scoffed.

"See, that's the problem. Sarah is way more chill than you. You can apologize to her after the wedding. The...