Ever since Jamie posted his wedding photos on Facebook, many old university friends had sent me congratulatory messages.

At first, I did not understand.

Then I realised they thought I was the bride.

One after another, I had to explain.

We broke up half a year ago.

No, that isn’t me.

Yes, I know she looks a little similar.

Each time I typed those words, it felt like pressing my finger against a bruise.

Most people were shocked.

No way. Are you serious?

But the bride looks just like you in the photo.

You must be joking.

Everyone said the bride looked like me.

And I knew they were right.

From a certain angle, she really did.

Her face shape, her smile, the way she stood beside him. If someone only glanced quickly, they might mistake her for me.

So how could I not think too much?

If Jamie had truly stopped loving me, why would he marry someone who looked like me?

If I meant nothing to him anymore, why did his bride carry my shadow?

The thought gave me a strange, complicated feeling.

Pain.

Regret.

And, hidden beneath both, a sour little sense of satisfaction.

Maybe she was only my substitute.

Maybe the woman standing beside him was not the person he loved most.

Maybe even on his wedding day, the one he truly could not let go of was still me.

I knew these thoughts were not rational.

But heartbreak has never been a reasonable thing.

The more I looked at their wedding photos, the more I felt as if something had been stolen from me.

That dress should have been mine.

That smile should have been mine.

The man standing beside her should have been mine.

I decided I would go to the wedding.

Not miserably.

Not crying.

I would go proudly, beautifully, calmly.

I would let Jamie see that I was perfectly fine without him. I would let everyone see that I had not lost.

But even then, deep down, I still believed he loved me.

With that mysterious confidence, I even imagined a ridiculous scene.

On the wedding day, before everyone, I would take his hand and tell him I still loved him.

Then Jamie would look at me, finally wake up from his mistake, and run away from the wedding with me.

The thought was absurd.

I knew it was absurd.

But at that moment, I still could not stop myself from believing it.