He Took Her Side, I Ended Our Love

Samuel Dean's younger lab mate "accidentally" sent him a private photo. The man who had always claimed to despise foolishness immediately came to her defense. "It was just sent to the wrong person," he said. "She's not as calculating as you are." In that instant, I knew our seven-year relationship was finally over. ***** Samuel and I were pulling another late night in the lab when his phone lit up with a notification. "Can you check that for me?" he said without looking up. "It's probably Professor Jameson." Still half-asleep, I picked up his phone. The moment I unlocked it, every trace of drowsiness vanished. A mirror selfie filled the screen. The girl had a slim, graceful figure, dressed in little more than lingerie. It was Dorothy Campbell, Samuel's younger lab assistant. Dorothy: Baby, which outfit should I wear tomorrow? The message was unmistakably flirtatious. She hadn't even bothered to delete it. Across the bench, Samuel was focused on his cell cultures, completely oblivious to what had just appeared on his screen. Tomorrow was my birthday. It fell on a weekend, and we'd been planning a trip to the beach for weeks. I'd spent days looking forward to it, carefully planning every little detail. Instead, this was what I got. Without a word, I handed him his phone. He glanced at the screen during a break in his work and let out a quiet chuckle. "Wrong person." I looked at him for a long moment. Then I tapped the video call button. The call connected almost instantly. "Baby..." Dorothy's voice came through first, sweet enough to make my skin crawl. "What are you doing?" She smiled into the camera. Then I turned the phone toward myself. Her smile vanished. "You?" For a brief second, the video froze. When it came back, panic had replaced the flirtation on her face. "I'm so sorry! I sent it to the wrong person. I really didn't mean to. It was an accident." I said nothing. Instead, Samuel answered for her. "It's fine." His voice was calm and even. "Just be more careful next time." My heart sank. I'd known him for seven years. No one understood him better than I did. Samuel was a perfectionist. He had no patience for careless people, and even less for those who played games. I wasn't the brightest person, and after we started dating, I was always afraid I'd make some foolish mistake that would finally drive him away. But every time, he'd pull me into his arms and whisper, "You're different." Once, another woman had used the exact same trick. She'd sent an intimate photo and later claimed she'd sent it by mistake. Samuel saw through her immediately. The disgust on his face had been impossible to miss. Back then, I'd been deeply upset by the whole incident. He'd gently comforted me, his expression soft as he said, "She isn't you. That kind of trick doesn't work on me." But tonight... Something about him was different.