I'd asked her about it so many times.

If she was still in love with Cody, what was the point of trying again?

Bethany always said I was insecure, and gave me excuses.

"We broke up, he got depressed, he almost took his life. I can't abandon him!"

"But don't worry, I just feel sorry for him, that's all. I'm not in love with him anymore."

"Can you be a man? What if he actually does hurt himself?"

I heard her excuses, but I didn't believe any of it.

"Take his life?" If he did, I would respect him!

I would throw a party at his funeral!

Was he serious? He was just playing her.

He knew Bethany wouldn't leave him.

In Cody's mind, she still cared.

I walked down the street alone and feeling defeated.

The last few years played out in my mind.

I realized, I was in love with Bethany.

Why else would I have helped her all this time?

But I knew, that I was not the only one in her heart.

I ended up at a bar, and I got wasted.

And when I was finally drunk, I took a picture and put it up on my socials.

"Happy V-Day to me. Cheers…"

The photo was a shot of me looking wasted.

Friends and family sent me messages.

"Carter, what's going on? You okay?"

"Where's Bethany? Why aren't you two together tonight?"

"I'm on my way, bro!"

I looked at Bethany's message.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you home?"

I shook my head and put my phone down.

If Cody needed her, she was there instantly.

But if I was upset, I was just being needy.

I spent the night at the bar.

The next day, around noon, Bethany called me.

"Carter, where were you? Why weren't you at home?"

I looked at the time, and answered her coldly.

"Did you just now realize that I wasn't there?"

Bethany paused, then said angrily.

"I told you, I was worried about Cody, I was worried he would hurt himself!"

"I didn't do anything wrong, I spent the night with him, and he was calling my name in his dreams."

"Give me a break, will you? Stop being ridiculous."

"Ha." I laughed.

Valentine's Day, the day we were supposed to get married, and she spent the night with another guy.

People would be laughing at me, making fun of me.

But Bethany didn't care. She had no respect for my feelings.

I hung up the phone and went home.

My dad was sitting there and sighed.

"I saw your post and knew you hadn't gotten the license."

"When are you going to get Bethany back? We need grandkids before I die!"

I looked at my dad, and felt a little numb.

"Dad, you keep running the business here in the States."

"I'm going to run the foreign branch, and I'm going to work on new projects."

My dad lit up.

"You're going with Bethany?"

"It's good, get away from all the things that are happening here."

"Son, I'm getting old, I want to hold my grandchildren."

I knew my dad's health hadn't been good, that overwork had caused a lot of problems.

And his biggest wish was to see me married and having children.

But when I thought about Bethany, I knew I was letting my dad down.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I will figure this out."

"You don't have to worry about the company here, just check in on it."

My dad sighed, shaking his head.

I wanted to go to the foreign branch for a while, but I was tired.

But Bethany was always stopping me.

The third time we tried to get married, I was ready to go.

She stopped me by talking about marriage.

"Our company is here, and what will I do?"

"You don't want to leave me here alone, right?"

"Who needs to go to a foreign country? You don't need to go that far."

Because of her, I gave up on many opportunities.

If our business was in a foreign country, it would reach a new level.

But I let it go.