They say everyone makes mistakes, but no one ever prepares you for the consequences when those mistakes come back to haunt you. It’s been about six months since I made a decision that not only changed my life but shattered my relationship in ways I never thought possible. I cheated on my boyfriend—a man I truly loved. It wasn’t something I planned, but it happened. One night of weakness, one reckless moment, and my whole world turned upside down.

It started innocently enough. Edward—yes, that’s his name—was someone I had known for a while. He was charming, persistent, and honestly, he knew just how to get under my skin. It wasn’t long before I found myself engaging in flirty texts with him, things I should never have been saying to another man. He always sent me dirty texts, and though I hated to admit it, I enjoyed the thrill. I felt guilty but couldn’t stop. I loved my boyfriend with all my heart, but there was something about the attention that Edward gave me that was intoxicating.

Then, the inevitable happened. One night, after weeks of tension building between us, we slept together. I knew immediately that it was a mistake. I hated myself for betraying my man, but in the same breath, I was telling Edward that it was over, that it could never happen again because I was in love with my boyfriend. I was determined to end it, and I did. Or so I thought.

But, as the universe would have it, nothing stays hidden forever. A few weeks later, my boyfriend, who had always trusted me blindly, stumbled upon a text exchange between Edward and me. In it, we discussed the night we spent together, and despite me telling Edward that it was the last time, it was too much for my boyfriend to handle. He was furious, devastated, and completely heartbroken.

The look on his face when he confronted me will haunt me for the rest of my life. He didn’t yell or scream; he simply said, “I never thought you’d do this to me.” His words cut through me like a knife. He asked for a breakup on the spot, and my world came crashing down. I couldn’t let him go. I begged him—literally got on my knees—and pleaded for forgiveness. I promised him that it would never happen again, and after days of pleading, he finally forgave me, or so I thought. He said we could move forward, that he still loved me, and that we would work things out.

I cut Edward off completely. I blocked him, deleted every trace of him from my phone, and swore to myself that I would never let something like that happen again. My boyfriend and I started rebuilding. It was hard—trust had been shattered—but I was determined to win him back. Things seemed to be going well, or so I believed.

Fast forward to just a few weeks ago, we started talking about marriage. We’re both in our late twenties, and naturally, I assumed we were heading toward that next chapter in our lives. During one of our conversations, he casually mentioned that he was already planning a wedding. My heart leaped with excitement. I thought he was finally going to propose! I asked him why he hadn’t said anything about the planning yet, expecting him to drop the biggest surprise of my life.

What he said next floored me.

“I couldn’t talk to you about marriage when it’s not you I’m marrying, dear.”

I felt the air leave my lungs. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What do you mean? What are you talking about?” I asked, my voice trembling. He continued, almost nonchalantly, “I have someone else I’m planning to marry. We’ve been making arrangements.”

I was in shock. I couldn’t process it. My heart was racing, my mind spinning. “What about me? What about us?” I asked, tears already streaming down my face. And then, the real dagger came. He looked at me coldly and said, “Abi, you know all you want is sezz, or isn’t that why you were cheating? I can only plan sezz with you, and after I marry, you can continue with Edward.”

It felt like someone had just taken a sledgehammer to my heart. How could he say that to me? After everything we had been through, after I thought he had forgiven me? He had been planning to marry someone else all along while stringing me along as some sort of sidepiece. I was nothing to him but a body, a reminder of my past mistake.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. I had dedicated myself to him, cut off every temptation, and worked tirelessly to rebuild our relationship. But in the end, it meant nothing. All those nights I spent crying, begging for his forgiveness, trying to make things right—he had already moved on. He never truly forgave me; he was just waiting for the right moment to drop this bombshell.

And as if that wasn’t enough, he mentioned Edward again. The man I had cut off completely, the man I hadn’t spoken to in months. “Go back to Edward,” he said, as if that was all I was worth. It was humiliating. He had reduced our entire relationship to one mistake, and now he was punishing me for it in the cruelest way possible.

Since that day, he hasn’t spoken to me. He’s completely cut me off, acting like I don’t exist. I’ve been crying myself to sleep every night, unable to wrap my head around how things got to this point. I love this man with everything in me. I would have done anything for him. But now, I see that maybe he was just biding his time, waiting to replace me with someone else, while using me for whatever he wanted until then.

It’s scandalous, really. The man who once promised to love me, who forgave me for my mistake, now discarding me like trash because of one night of weakness. I’m hurt, I’m disappointed, and more than anything, I’m heartbroken. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust anyone again.