Ten Years of Lies: I Was Just Her Shadow

"Miss Xander, are you sure you want to change your original appearance?" "With current technology, we can completely restore you to how you looked before." The plastic surgeon frowned at me, earnestly advising against my decision. I remained silent and did not respond. He sighed and took out a photo of me before I was disfigured. "Miss Xander, your original appearance was very impressive, especially your eyes. I really don't recommend this..." "You don't need to persuade me anymore." I gazed at the photo of my past self, my face full of smiles, radiating happiness and joy. The man I was intimately leaning against was my boyfriend of ten years. Everyone believed that Yannick loved me. The first thing he did after achieving success in his career was spend a large portion of his wealth to buy me a diamond ring. Since then, it had been the same every year. His love for me seemed unwavering and sincere. I still remember the first thing Yannick said to me when we met. He told me my eyes seemed to hold a sky full of stars. I foolishly believed that love at first sight truly existed. If it weren't for the woman who threw acid on me two months ago, I might have remained in the dark forever. Who would have thought that the man who persistently pursued me and talked about me so affectionately only treated me as a stand-in? "Since you insist, very well," "The surgery will begin in two hours." After explaining some precautions for the procedure, the doctor left the ward. I leaned against the hospital bed and turned on my phone. Today was supposed to be the day Yannick and I got our marriage certificate. It was also the tenth anniversary of our relationship. A month ago, Yannick proposed to me for the ninety-ninth time. He rented a garden and filled it with roses, kneeling before me amidst their overwhelming fragrance. Yannick said that ten years ago, I had told him that if he proposed to me a hundred times, I would marry him. That day, the whole internet witnessed his grand proposal. I only remember tears streaming down my face, not from being moved, but from bewilderment and pain. I didn't understand why he had deceived me. Nor did I understand why everything was a lie. So, I neither accepted nor rejected Yannick's proposal. I just told him that a month later would be our anniversary. And now, someone had photographed Yannick waiting for someone at the entrance of the City Hall. In the photo, Yannick appeared tall and broad-shouldered, with a narrow waist. Even though the photo was a bit vague, I could still see his handsome face that hadn't changed in ten years. I gently touched his face on the screen, and before I knew it, tears had blurred my vision. The person who took this photo was probably one of our fans. She was cheering, thinking that the couple she shipped would finally become a real couple one day. Yet an hour later, she replied to her own Twitter post. "Mr. Scott left! He looked really anxious. Could something have happened to Sarina?" In the photo below, Yannick was holding a phone, walking briskly, with a furrowed brow. The palpable tension and concern, even through the photo and screen, made people's hearts clench. Many speculated whether something had happened to me, causing Yannick to be so flustered. I let out a bitter smile. 'Look, Yannick, how well you acted. You fooled me and so many people around the world. Was there a moment when even you were fooled?' My phone buzzed with a message from Yannick: "Sarina, something came up at the company, I'll handle it first, wait for me to come back!" The message above was the one I had sent him this morning. I told him I'd be waiting for him at the City Hall at four in the afternoon. If he showed up, we'd get married. I still remember his ecstatic call after he got the message. Just like when we first met ten years ago, he was full of excitement and enthusiasm. He said that no matter what happened, nothing could stop him from marrying me. Because he had made up his mind to marry me ten years ago. But Yannick wouldn't know that when I sent him that message, I had sold the last jewelry ring he gave me. He also wouldn't know that four o'clock was the deadline I had set for myself. A deadline for letting go of the past. "Miss Xander, the surgery is ready." "Okay." I put down my phone and turned to leave. Yannick, since everything was a lie. Then I don't want you anymore either. ***** While unconscious from the anesthesia, I dreamt of my first meeting with Yannick for the first time in ages. That year, I was eighteen. I had saved up for a long time and finally, at eighteen, gave myself a coming-of-age gift. I set off on a journey to Veloria City. Meeting Yannick was completely by chance. That night, unable to sleep because of altitude sickness, I left the guesthouse to take a walk. That's when I saw Yannick standing on the rooftop. His eyes were so full of pain and despair that the only thought in my mind was. He was about to jump.