After Seven Years of Suffering, I Finally Broke Free

The moment I pulled back the curtain to try on the wedding dress, Frederick Shaw answered his phone—with his first love.

He stood with his back to me, whispering words of comfort into the receiver for half an hour.

The shop assistant awkwardly complimented me on how beautiful I looked.

I looked at myself in the mirror, wearing the white wedding dress, and felt like a clown.

Half an hour later, Frederick turned around, without so much as a glance at me, and said,

"Emily’s having a breakdown; she’s threatening to jump off a building. I have to go."