The first thing she does when she wakes up each day is send a text to the boy she abandoned at the altar.

The first thing she does when she wakes up each day is send a text to the boy she abandoned at the altar. It’s a group message, with the groom, the best man, the maid of honor, her bridesmaids, his groomsmen, all 30 people total. She sends a sweet text at exactly 6am every morning. “Good morning everyone!” And she follows it with a random, fun fact. Today’s was “Did you know that if you swallow gum, it takes 95% of your body 40 days to digest it?” She smiles a bit as she waits for the responses. She’s been doing it since the day she left. The day of her wedding, exactly a year ago, was one of the worst days of her life. The day she realized how much she didn’t know about her soon to be husband. She found out he’d been cheating on her, that he’d been lying to her face for months. She had to get up and speak to all 130 guests, smiling and pretending she didn’t know the man she was about to marry had been sh*tting on her. And then she had to walk back into the reception entrance and into a taxi, leaving all those people talking about her for years to come. But she made sure that before she left, she did everything right. She refused all the gifts and favors she was offered, she got her dress and heels and purse back, and she sent every single guest a card with a thank you note and an apology message. She made sure to do the right thing. But that didn’t stop the rumors, and her best friend and sister, and best man and brother, and groom all suing her for “emotional distress” and “financial losses.” They say the boy is a shadow of his former self now, and he spends most of his days drunk in a bar. But she doesn’t care. She knows she did the right thing, even if she was scared to do it. And she’ll keep doing the right thing. But she’ll do it alone. Because she lost all her friends after that day. She still gets calls from her parents, but they don’t speak about that day ever. She’s been alone for a year now, and she’s happy. She’s happy working her job at the hospital, she’s happy reading her books, she’s happy listening to music. And every morning, she sends that text to remind herself she still has a purpose in this world. She waits for the responses, and after a few minutes, the messages start pouring in. “Good morning.” From the groom. “Lmao you think a random fact is going to make us forget what you did?” From her former best friend. “I’ll never forget you did this for me!” From the groom. “Thanks <3” She scrolls down the message thread. Most people are being polite. Some are being mean. The groom and best man are being friendly. And the maid of honor is being sweet. After a few minutes, the messages die down, and she goes about her day. She feels good. She knows she made the right decision, and she knows she’s happy, and she knows she still has a purpose. And when she goes to bed, she sets the reminder for the next day.