Before I Said 'I Do'

Elena's POV

To marry me, my fiancé Sebastian Knight said he wanted his childhood friend Isabella to be our surrogate.

I agreed. Because I couldn't have children, and the Knight family desperately needed an heir.

After Isabella "successfully" got pregnant, Sebastian became a completely different person. He started making her nutritious meals, accompanying her to prenatal appointments, even memorizing every food she disliked.

Yet he couldn't even remember my birthday.

Two weeks before our wedding, I received an anonymous email.

The video on the screen made me understand everything in an instant—Sebastian and Isabella were in bed together.

So this was his "surrogacy plan."

I, his fiancée, was just the last fool to find out.

I canceled all the wedding arrangements, tore up the wedding dress, and threw away the ring.

On our original wedding day, Isabella gave birth to his son in the delivery room, while I was already sitting in first class on a flight abroad.

Sebastian, this time I'M the one leaving YOU.

"Sebastian, how does this wedding dress look?"

I spun excitedly in front of the mirror.

Sebastian sat on the couch scrolling through his phone, not even looking up. "It's fine."

"You didn't even LOOK!" I couldn't help but raise my voice. "This is OUR wedding dress. Can you please pay attention?"

He finally looked up, giving me an impatient glance. "Elena, they're all pretty much the same. Just decide."

"All the same?" I felt a sharp pain. "Sebastian, this is our once-in-a-lifetime wedding!"

"Elena, I'm really tired." He rubbed his temples. "Company matters, family pressure, and Isabella's situation... I'm already overwhelmed."

Isabella.

Hearing that name made my heart instantly tighten.

Yes, Isabella—his childhood friend, the woman now carrying our child.

It all started nine months ago.

"Elena, we both know the reality," he had said that night, sitting across from me in our apartment. "I need an heir so I can marry you and officially take over the business. And you..." He paused. "You can't have children."

"So what?" I had asked, forcing myself to stay strong.

"Isabella said she could be our surrogate. She's young and healthy. Maybe we could..."

"WHAT?!" I had exploded on the spot. "Are you INSANE? Sebastian, I don't agree!"

But he didn't give up. For the next two weeks, he tried to convince me every single day.

"Elena, please, this is the only way."

"It's just a medical procedure, artificial insemination. There won't be any emotional entanglement between us."

"Isabella is just helping us solve the problem. Once the baby is born, we can officially get married."

I could see his exhaustion. To insist on marrying me, he had fought with his family countless times. The Knight family elders preferred he marry someone from an equally prestigious family who could bear children, not an ordinary architect like me.

"Sebastian, I..."

"Elena, please understand me. I love you, I want to marry you, but I can't lose everything either."

In the end, I compromised.

"Fine." I had said through gritted teeth. "But Sebastian, you promise me there won't be any inappropriate behavior between you and Isabella. This really is just a medical procedure, right?"

"I promise." He had gripped my hands tightly. "Elena, the person I love is you, only you."

Looking back now, how naive I had been.

"Elena?" Sebastian's voice pulled me back to reality. "Are you still listening to me?"

"I'm listening." I tried to calm my emotions. "What did you say about Isabella?"

"Her pregnancy symptoms have been pretty severe lately. I'm worried about her condition." He said with a frown.

"Then you should go with her to the hospital for a check-up."

He nodded, then looked down at his phone again.

I stood in front of the mirror, looking at myself in the wedding dress, suddenly feeling profoundly lonely. This should have been a happy moment we shared together, but his mind was clearly elsewhere.

Just then, his phone rang.

Sebastian instantly changed, asking gently, "Isabella? What's wrong?"

I couldn't hear what Isabella was saying on the phone, but I could clearly see the growing concern on Sebastian's face.

"Where are you? How are you feeling? Have you gone to the hospital?"

"I'm coming right now." He said, already standing up. "Don't move, wait for me."

After hanging up, he hurried toward the door. "Elena, Isabella isn't feeling well. I need to go check on her."

"Sebastian!" I called out to him. "We haven't finished choosing..."

"They all look great. Choose whichever one you want." His figure had already disappeared through the door.

Just like that, he left me behind again, rushing off to take care of another woman.

I stood there, feeling like the entire world had gone quiet.

"Miss Grace, would you like me to help you out of the wedding dress?" The shop assistant approached carefully.

"No need, I'll try some others." I forced a smile.

Back in the fitting room, I sat on the small stool, trying to calm my churning emotions.

This is just temporary, I told myself. Isabella is carrying our child, so it's natural for Sebastian to care about her. Once the baby is born, once we're married, everything will go back to normal.

Once the baby is born, he'll focus his attention back on me, and we can love each other like before...

My phone's notification sound interrupted my self-deception.

An email from an anonymous sender.

I hesitated for a few seconds, then opened the attachment.

Then my entire world collapsed.

In the video, Sebastian was holding Isabella tightly, and they were kissing passionately. Isabella's hands caressed his face, he kissed her neck, her collarbone, her...

My hands trembled violently, and my phone clattered to the floor.

This wasn't some surrogacy procedure. This was two people in love doing the most intimate thing.

I felt my brain go completely blank. Sebastian and Isabella were having an affair, and I was the FOOL who had been kept in the dark!

"No, no, no..." I backed up until I hit the wall, tears instantly streaming down.

I frantically tore at the wedding dress, sequins scattering everywhere. Then the vanity table—I swept all those bottles and jars to the floor.

"Miss Grace?" The shop assistant knocked outside. "Are you alright?"

I collapsed on the floor, my voice hoarse. "I'm fine, I'll be right out."

"Do you still want this wedding dress?"

I looked at the torn wedding dress in the mirror and suddenly laughed, laughing until tears streamed down my face.

"I don't want it." I said. "Cancel EVERYTHING."