When "perfect" partners meet, they eagerly look forward to settling down, just like Mason did when he met Julia. To him, he had met his perfect match, who he grew to love dearly. However, their first night proved anything but blissful as things started spiraling out of control almost immediately.

When all was done and dusted, Mason made his way back to his room that evening with astonishment on his face. All he could think about as his only option under the circumstances was divorce. In fact, to him, the earlier it was done, the better it was for everyone. What had just happened?

Strange Letter

Mason knocked at their hotel room door and called out for his newlywed wife but was met with no answer for quite some time. Was she sound asleep, or had something happened to her? Is this how their first night as a new couple going to go? Questions without answers clouded his mind.

His incessant noise prompted his neighbors to come out and told him to call someone from the hotel for help. The receptionist opened the door for him, and he rushed in just in case he was not late to rescue any bad situation. Alas! The room was empty. Oh, except for a strange note left on the bed.

New Couples' Drama

Mason opened the letter to start reading it with a predetermined idea of what its contents were, imagining what Julia could have written. How could she be so cruel to him after all they had been through? He thought to himself even as he was still opening the note.

He didn't imagine Julia walking out on him, let alone on their wedding night. Everything was clouded in mystery, and he was left to wonder why their day had panned out the way it did. His possibly good romantic dream turned into a nightmare and a real-life couple drama because of his wife's unknown whereabouts.

The First Meeting

Julia and Mason met in a pub one cold night where everyone else was having an ordinary evening, except for them, who were unaware of what destiny had in store. This was her first time there, while he was a regular customer. He was taken aback by her beauty as soon as he saw her.

Mason gathered his courage and approached the gorgeous beau to strike up a conversation with her. They immediately appeared to be on the same page before he requested her cell phone number. Julia appeared to be into him despite his belief that she was way out of his league.

Steady but Sure

The duo grew closer steadily, clearly having nothing to hold any of them back from pursuing a relationship with each other. They became inseparable in the weeks that followed their first meeting and exchanging of contacts, not caring what was ahead of them. Living in the moment became their ultimate goal.

In no time, the lovebirds publicly declared their relationship to family and friends, even though others felt their union was moving at high speed. It's normal for people to move that fast in real life, though, so they had nothing to worry about. There was, however, an anxious problem they had to deal with!

Past Long-Term Relationship

Apparently, Julia wasn't Mason's first love, not by a mile, as he had been in a previous long-term union with another woman. Samantha was his first love, and we don't even have to tell you that they hold a special place and power over each other. Destiny had other plans for them, though!

He had tragically lost her in a grisly road accident some five years ago while she was just 22 years old and their love life was just about to blossom. Of course, the loss was so traumatizing for him that he needed to pull himself together for the people around him, if not for his son.

The Young Connor

Yes, the devastating loss of Samantha left him with a huge responsibility: taking care of their only son, Connor. At the time of the accident, the young boy had just turned three years old, so he evidently still needed a lot of the care children are known to crave.

Tough as it turned out to be, Mason bravely accepted the responsibility that suddenly fell on him by becoming a single father at a young age. The painful struggles of raising his son alone pushed him on edge on many occasions. Realizing that he needed help, Mason decided to give love another shot.

Reconstructing His Life

The young father decided to reconstruct his life, but with Julia in it. At least that would help him overcome the traumatic journey he had gone through, or so he thought. He deserved to live a better life, but was there a connection between his present and past lives?

Having dated for a month, he decided to introduce Julia to Connor, and the young man was more than elated to see her. His father had been raving so much about her that he expected everything to fall into place about Julia. She was, after all, going to be her mother. His reaction told a different story, though!

Unsavory Meeting

Connor welcomed his potentially new mother with a disdain no one expected of him, and his father was left speechless. It had taken him years to recover from Samantha's unexpected loss, so the last thing he wanted was the rejection of his new heartbeat, at least not from his son.

When tasked by his father to explain the meaning of his reaction, Connor pulled him aside and let him know his worries about their age gap. He may have been young, but he could see clearly that his father was about eight years older than Julia, who was herself getting into her teenage years.

What Next?

When they first met, Julia had apparently just turned 18 and was hitting the club for the first time to have a taste of "the world." Mason didn't see their apparent age gap; after all, love conquers all, and he intended to marry her. However, Connor threw him off guard.

They were left with two choices: either to break their relationship or stay together despite the young boy's apprehension. Mason consoled himself by reminding himself that love has nothing to do with age differences; in any case, he knew many couples with a bigger age gap than theirs. Love had to win either way.

Strong Family Ties and Friendship

Other than Connor's misgivings, the rest of Mason's family and friends seemed okay with their relationship and were thrilled for him. The visibly closely knit unit was elated that he was finally moving on from the angst of pain Samantha's sudden death brought to his life.

However, anxiety hovered over their impending visit to Julia's family. Connor's words made him realize that he could be the subject of the age gap issue, being perceived as being too old for his mate. How would he convince them that he meant well for their 18-year-old girl? Did he actually need to be worried about anything?

Meeting Julia's Family

Contrary to his initial worries, Mason was gladly received by Julia's folks and friends, who apparently had a hint of her dating life and readiness to settle down and start a family. Young as she was, no one seemed to have issues with her choices in life since she had always been right with her wise decisions.

It had, however, taken a long time to get this meeting to happen, something which had bothered Mason for a while. He wasn't sure whether Julia valued their union enough to let others know about it or if she was afraid of being judged by people she loved and valued their opinions.

A Deep-Rooted Secret

Having received the warm welcome gesture from his would-be in-laws, Mason felt relieved that indeed, love conquers everything. In fact, he admirably remembered that one need not change to be accepted or loved by everyone. To him, it was a positive development in their budding relationship.

But there was a deep, lying secret on his end. A secret piece of information that caused him to see Julia as more perfect in their relationship than he was. To keep things flowing as they were, he chose to keep it close to his heart. After all, what someone doesn't know won't harm them, so he thought.

The Proposal

With his conscience clear, was it really? Mason decided to continue dating Julia for some time. Years passed, and they grew even closer, their happiness multiplying in folds. When Julia turned 21, Connor turned around and gave his father consent to marry her. Mason needed to make his proposal memorable.

He took his girlfriend to an upscale restaurant for a romantic candle-lit dinner to change her status to "fiancé." In the middle of their supper, he caught her by surprise by proposing marriage to her, which she accepted with a lot of enthusiasm. The ball was set to roll for a wedding.

Savings and Wedding Preparations

Julia got down to the business of organizing their upcoming wedding day in the days following her proposal acceptance. There was a slight problem, though. She started making plans for a lavish ceremony, which Mason wasn't looking forward to. It was a destination nuptial ceremony in Mexico, and the expenses weren't adding up for him.

Since he wanted to give her the best, Mason obliged and supported her despite his doubts. It was his savings that took years to accumulate that were channeled into that course. Julia undertook to refund him everything down to the last coin, and she even kept a record of every penny spent.

An Itching Urge

Mason went along with her refund plan, which did more damage to his conscience about his tightly guarded secret. He started itching to let Julia know of it, especially with their wedding drawing closer by the day. There was a growing inward pressure for him to divulge this big secret.

He knew too well that he was being unfair to her given that the secret revolved around their long-term commitment to each other. It ate him up for days until one night when he could no longer hold it in. He sat Julia down to let her know his life-changing, deeply held secret.

Children Disappointment

Julia, who was overjoyed, thought there was another surprise in store for their wedding plans until she noticed Mason's concerned expression. She quickly realized it was a serious matter and comported herself to hear him out. "I had a vasectomy after Connor's birth," Mason blurted out. A deafening silence followed those words.

A disappointed Julia, who was elated to have kids with him, felt weak in her body, disbelieving what she had just heard. Her disappointment at never being a mother was visible on her face. She wanted to hold her babies in her arms so badly. She stormed out of the apartment.

A Love Sacrifice

After some time, Julia came back to the house as she needed to understand things better. She asked why it took him that long to let her in on his secret and if he could consider reversing the situation. Mason didn't answer why it took him so long, but he wasn't willing to reverse his status.

Julia became even more enraged, but Mason immediately felt a tinge inside him to correct the picture he had painted previously. To give her what she desired, he said he would go for a medical reversal of his status. He would undergo an invasive procedure, just to make her happy.

Anxiety and Excitement

Was his sacrifice worthwhile? Mason wondered if he made the right choice by reversing his vasectomy procedure. What kept ringing in his head was that Julia needed to be happy, and at that point in his life, he would go to great lengths to give her that.

Headed to the clinic, Mason started growing into the prospect of having children again, especially with the young Julia. His enthusiasm was reassured by the smiling and elated face of his soon-to-be wife, who was by his side. In no time, the clinical procedure was over. What remained was healing and finalizing their wedding plans.

The Big Day

After months of preparation and expectation, the wedding day arrived, and the wife-to-be and groom were evidently more joyful than everyone else. Their love had landed them there, amid their family members and friends who sacrificed a lot to travel to Mexico for their sake.

Their over-the-top ceremony didn't spare any expense on the day, and Mason wasn't worried that his long-saved finances were being drained in a single day. In fact, with every glance at his elated wife's face, he became more convinced that everything that had been done there was worth more than any amount of cash in the world. Was he fooled?

A Drink With the Best Man

The day had been so long for both Julia and Mason that they couldn't wait to finish up with their guests. It had also been an excellent day, so when exhaustion kicked in, Julia, who looked more fatigued, left for their hotel room. She left her husband to handle the remaining bit of the evening.

When Mason was done, instead of heading straight to his expectantly awaiting new wife, he chose to have a drink with his best man. He thought a bottle or two would psyche him up for what was still to come back in his room. Was it a wise choice?

Initial Doubts

Since it had taken them time to catch up as bosom buddies, Mason and his best man decided to discuss the day and a few happenings in their lives over some bottles of drinks. He was shocked that his friend had had his apprehensions about Julia from the beginning.

When he first met her at the start of their relationship, he apparently did not approve of their relationship. However, his worries were dispelled by the glamorous wedding that just took place in Mexico. Was that the case, or something was still to happen? We guessed time would tell if something was yet to come.

Fixated in His Head

When they were done drinking and catching up, Mason and his best man left the pub to retire for the night. However, he couldn't seem to get rid of his friend's words about his initial worries about Julia. He kept wondering what his friend had seen in his wife that made him doubt her.

He shook his head backward, hoping to plunge the thoughts deep into the last part of his brain and make them a distant memory. Even his slight drunk state wasn't helping, yet drunkenness is somewhat associated with forgetting stressful situations. He needed to re-direct his attention to pressing matters at hand.

Back to Honeymoon Suite

As their honeymoon suite was located on the hotel's top floor, Mason struggled to get there given his slight drunk state. He was giddy, anticipating Julia patiently waiting for him in their "chamber" to formally seal their marriage. His body was more than ready for the rest of the night.

On getting to his hotel room door, Mason was shocked to find it tightly locked and secured as if no one had accessed it since they left for the wedding. He assumed Julia had locked him out of their hotel room for some reason because she wasn't answering his calls to open.

Incessant Calls and Knocking

He recalled giving Julia their hotel room key, and there was no way he could have misplaced it. If so, where was his wife, and why isn't she opening the door? His continuous knocking at the door, accompanied by yelling Julia's name, alerted other room guests.

Oblivious to the noise he was making, Mason continued to knock and yell without any iota of consideration for his neighbors. Given that it was late at night, Julia possibly fell deep asleep as she had been extremely exhausted from the day's events. What was he to do now if not to continue with what he was doing?

A Receptionist to the Rescue

The next-door neighbors decided that enough was enough, so they came out to confirm for themselves what was happening. One of them, in utter dissatisfaction at his out-of-place behavior, told Mason to call the hotel's phone line for help. How had he even missed that? He felt stupid about himself.

On hand to receive the call was a lady receptionist serving the night shift who responded with speed, coming with a spare key for their room. Mason stormed inside the room to respond in case Julia was in a bad state and needed any kind of urgent help. She wasn't even in the room.

Without a Trace

Mason went about the room frantically, checking every open space available that could harbor a whole human frame. He thought, "Julia has to be somewhere. He, after all, gave her the key to come to their room and wait on him for the final rite of their wedding night.

Breathing heavily after a continuous search for his wife, Mason felt disappointed that he couldn't even find a single trace of Julia in the room. He didn't even stumble on any piece of her clothing, gems, or face-enhancing products. What's going on and where's my wife? These questions rang loudly in Mason's mind without answers.

A Bedside Note

Clearly getting worried about how his wedding night was turning out, Mason continued to search more as he wasn't convinced that his newlywed wife wasn't in their hotel room. It was then that he saw a note left by their bedside. As expected, he pounced on it frantically to read its content.

All the while, he didn't realize that the receptionist was still around and kept observing his every move in case he hurt himself in the process. As he opened the letter, Mason was thinking that perhaps Julia had gone out with her friends and thought it wise and courteous to let him know her whereabouts.

Contents of the Letter

To put his worries to rest, Mason read the note. At least by doing that, he'll allay his fears about the unprecedented situation. The tone of the letter shook him to the core. It was an unequivocal and horrifying note that carried a heavy meaning.

No, it wasn't an abduction case, as he had thought at some point, but it contained Julia's request for some time alone from him. She, apparently, needed to think through what they had just done over the day in a secluded environment. One of her requests was to be allowed to come back to their hotel room the next morning.

A Strange Behavior

Although it initially appeared to be an odd request, Mason was relieved that it had nothing to do with his initial wild and worrisome thoughts. He calmed down and spoke briefly with the receptionist and some friendly next-door visitors who had become concerned about his situation.

When they left, he took a shower and retired to bed, but not before questioning where exactly his wife would be spending the needed alone time. The next morning, Julia charmed her way back to their hotel room and pretended as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, Mason could tell something was amiss with her as soon as she walked in.

Hoodwinking Mason

Julia tried as much as she could to be herself around Mason, perhaps to hoodwink him into forgetting about last night's events. She looked determined to avoid bringing up anything that could lead them to discuss the matter. Her husband watched in awe as she tried at all costs to avoid engaging him.

She kept reassuring her husband that all was well, but her body language and tone gave a totally different message. It may have been an unintentional quip from her to him, but it served its purpose all the same. All the same, he didn't let his hope for his wife subside or wane.

Honeymoon Preparations

Seeing how much she was struggling to hide her shortcomings, Mason decided to cut his new wife some slack to get her out of her misery. He decided to provide her sufficient time to process what had just happened after their wedding. To him, the space she had requested may not have been well used.

So, the loving husband decided to fly back home and spearhead the process of their yet-to-come honeymoon. He wanted to give her a chance to honor part of her marriage commitment to him when they were at the altar. They both left Mexico and headed home for what lay ahead.

Gone Without a Trace

A few days after they got home, Julia went missing, and this time it was unfortunate that her whereabouts couldn't be traced. Her husband went about preparing for their honeymoon, oblivious of what had transpired. All he needed was to get everything ready for their coming journey.

When he was about ready, the worried Mason got a call from his wife who informed him of her resolve to terminate their union. She expressly told him to find another partner, as she had found herself another to take his place. Well, he had had his fears, but who was this person in the picture?

Heartbreaking Betrayal

Mason's mind quickly ran back to the events of the night of their wedding day, which also included the contents of the letter left for him in the hotel room. As he kept re-reading the note, his mind became suspiciously aroused by the guests as they left the ceremony one after the other.

He kept counting in his mind as people bade him goodbye and good night, while others wished him well on his new journey. Everything seemed to be adding up as he had the guest list of everyone who made the trip to Mexico. Alas, he stumbled on a name he didn't see leave!

Peter's Betrayal

At the base of his visitor's list, there was Peter, his junior co-worker with whom they shared a common workspace. Ten years back, he had taken him under his wing and mentored him at work to become an excellent worker. He believed that they had a strong and unshakable relationship.

In fact, it was Peter who had accompanied him to the gem store to choose and buy their infamous wedding wand. He didn't want to imagine, let alone believe, that he could be the one responsible for his predicament. Just how wrong he was! It was Peter all along, right before his nose.

Second Heartbreak

While his first heartbreak wasn't of his own making, Mason thought that his second was one he could have probably avoided. Horrified after receiving the news, the poor dad wasn't able to eat and couldn't even find the slightest bit of sleep. How couldn't he see his friend's and wife's betrayal coming?

Apparently, all the signs were there to pick out, but for some reason, he couldn't. Was he blinded by his love for the young lass? He reached out to Julia again to find out why she treated him like that. She responded that he was poor in bed, unlike Peter, who was "nicer."

Change of Lifestyle

Julia's smack right into his face and ego left him further devasted, and everything wasn't going as he had envisioned it. He wallowed in his rage and broken moments for a while before deciding to seize control of his life. Life had to move on.

Mason decided to pick up the remaining pieces of his life and mend them for himself and especially for Connor, his son, who seriously needed him. To do that, he had to get rid of everything that reminded him of Julia, and of course, of his unworthy and unreliable friend Peter. The faster he did this, the better it was.

Diamond on Sale

Since Julia had also given him a gem on their engagement night, Mason started by placing luxurious items on sale. He quickly took advantage of the social media space's relevance to place an ad for each item he was getting rid of. Well, social media platforms have turned out to be affordable and excellent marketing platforms.

The estranged husband even ran a bidding war for the diadem, starting at $714 as his reserve price, quite lucrative for such a small but powerful item. Demand for the item soared to unexpected levels in no time, perhaps due to the message he attached to it.

Viral Message

Though initially taken as a hoax by many who read it, Mason's message seemingly struck the right chord with the potential buyers. Better yet, others thought he was a budding comedian who was trying his hands at comedy writing. What was this message anyway?

The heartbroken husband put his heart out by attaching their ill-fated wedding pictures with a message capturing what went down afterward. He let his potential buyers know that Julia had run away with his best friend on their special night, only to return with the sad news. The message let everyone know why he was selling the items.

Getting Better

The message described how Julia had been dating Peter for eight weeks even when she was planning for her upcoming nuptials with Mason. With this, everyone who identified with his story and empathized with him bought these items to rid him of Julia's heartache. It took time to sell everything, though!

When all was said and done, Mason got his life back and on track, and he even admitted that Julia was perhaps way too young for marriage. According to him, she needed to "find herself" and enjoy life before settling down in marriage, and there was no way they could ever get back together.