When I surprised my fiancé with a getaway before our wedding, I thought it would be the perfect escape. But the moment we stepped into the hotel, the staff greeted him with “Welcome back” and even called him by another name, though he swore he had never been there before.
I woke up early, the sunlight gently streaming through the window and brushing my face. I smiled, remembering that was the day I had planned the surprise for James.
We had been together for nine months, and every moment felt perfect. It had been love at first sight.
It was like we both knew right away that we were meant to be together, and after six months of dating, he proposed.
I had been looking forward to our wedding for months, and James had been incredibly supportive, helping with every little detail.
My parents were paying for the wedding, though James was well-off himself. My father had insisted on covering the expenses as a gesture for me.
One evening, while we were talking about how tired we were from all the wedding planning, James said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just escape for a few days, somewhere no one could bother us?”
I agreed, and then an idea popped into my head.
I decided to plan a little getaway for James, just the two of us, a break before the big day.
I kept it a secret, making all the arrangements, and that morning, we got in the car.
I told James we were going to choose our wedding cake, but when we pulled up to the airport, he started to realize something wasn’t right.
“What’s going on?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as I handed him the tickets.
“We’re going on a little vacation,” I said. “Surprise! Just the two of us, a break before everything gets crazy.”
“You’re the best,” he said, pulling me into a hug. I could already feel the tension from the wedding preparations melting away, replaced by excitement.
When we arrived at the resort, I noticed something shift in James’s expression as we pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. He seemed… uneasy. He asked, “Why did you pick this hotel?”
I told him, “I don’t know, I just liked it. It’s a new place, and it felt right.” It was the truth, but for some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
When we walked inside, the receptionist greeted us with a smile, but then she said something that made my heart skip a beat. “Welcome back, Mark.”
I froze. “Mark?” I asked, looking at James. He quickly smiled and shrugged. “It’s probably a mix-up,” he said. “I’ve never been here before.”
But the look on his face didn’t match his words. Something wasn’t right.
James’s behavior didn’t improve over the first day at the resort. He stayed in the hotel room the entire time, saying he wasn’t feeling well after the flight.
So, I went to the beach by myself, trying to enjoy the sun and relax. But the whole time, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
When I returned in the evening, a different hotel staff member approached me as I was walking back to the room. “How’s everything going for you and your fiancé?” she asked. “I hope Mark is feeling better.”
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“Mark,” she repeated. “Is he okay?”
“That’s not his name.”
“I’m so sorry, I must have mixed up the names,” she stammered before quickly walking away.
I stood there for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. The first staff member called him “Mark,” and now this woman had done the same thing.
What was going on? I tried to convince myself it was just a mistake, that maybe the staff here had mixed up names before, but something didn’t sit right with me. I needed answers.
I went back to the room and found James lounging on the bed, his eyes glued to his phone. I couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“James, what’s going on? Why is everyone calling you Mark? And why does it feel like you’ve been here before?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe there’s another guest with a similar name. Don’t worry about it.”
This wasn’t just a coincidence. I could feel it deep down.
The next morning, James suggested we take a boat trip for the day. “I’ve booked us a full-day excursion,” he said, eager. “Just you and me, we’ll finally get some time alone.”
Relieved, I agreed. A day alone together sounded perfect, a chance to relax and forget about the strange moments from the day before.
James left the room first while I finished getting ready. When I entered the lobby, I saw him talking to Lily, the same hotel employee who had greeted us earlier.
They were standing close to each other, smiling and laughing. She even took his hand, as if to comfort him.
Curious, I stepped closer, trying to overhear their conversation. I caught one sentence from Lily: “You won’t be able to hide this much longer. She’ll find out.”
What was she talking about? As soon as James saw me approaching, he quickly pulled away from Lily.
I walked up to him. “What were you two talking about?”
“Just some details about the hotel. Nothing to worry about.”
But my gut told me otherwise. The way Lily had spoken to him, the way he had pulled away, it all felt wrong.
We made our way to the dock, where the boat was waiting. As we prepared to board, James’s phone rang. He stepped aside to take the call, leaving me alone.
The boat started to pull away from the dock, and I turned around to see James still on the phone. I tried to call out to him, but the captain told me they couldn’t stop.
I felt a knot form in my stomach as I realized James wasn’t coming. He had left me alone on the boat, and I was stuck there for the entire day.
It wasn’t what I had planned, and it certainly wasn’t what I had imagined for this “getaway.”
After spending the entire day alone on the boat, I returned to the hotel with a heavy heart.
I was exhausted, but the nagging feeling of something being wrong kept me alert. I walked into the lobby and immediately froze.
James was walking into the hotel with Lily. She was holding his hand and pulling him toward the staff supply closet; he didn’t pull away.
It wasn’t just a friendly gesture, he was comfortable with her, as if they had done this before.
I felt a wave of realization hit me. My worst suspicions were true, James was cheating on me with her.
I quickly moved toward, hoping to confront them. I reached the door of the supply closet and tried the handle, but the door was locked.
I could hear muffled voices inside, but I didn’t know what to do. I stepped back, feeling like everything was falling apart.
I returned to our room and started packing my things. My hands shook as I folded clothes into the suitcase, tears blurring my vision.
How had I missed this? How could James betray me like this?
I dragged my suitcase through the lobby, I was heading straight for the exit when a hand suddenly grabbed mine. I turned and saw James standing there, out of breath.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m not going to stay here and pretend everything’s fine. I can’t stand being treated like this,” I said.
I reached down, pulled off my engagement ring, and threw it at his feet. “I’m done.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” I said. “I know you’ve been with Lily. I saw you two together. I saw how comfortable you were with her, holding her hand.”
“No, Em, it’s not like that,” James stammered.
“Don’t make me look like a fool, James. I saw you two talking, I heard what Lily said, I saw you go into the staff room with her. What’s going on?”
“It’s not what you think,” he said.
“Then what is it?” I demanded. “Why does she keep calling you by a different name? Why is everyone acting like you’ve been here before?”
“That’s my first name. It’s Mark. I didn’t want you to know.”
I blinked in confusion. “Mark? How?”
“I grew up here. My mom worked here as a maid. I worked here, too. I didn’t want you to know the truth. James is my middle name. I started using it when I left this place. Mark was the kid who scrubbed floors. James… James was someone new.”
I stood there, stunned. “You grew up here?”
He nodded, looking ashamed. “Yeah, my family wasn’t rich.”
“So, why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”
“Because I knew you wouldn’t accept me if you knew the truth. And your family definitely wouldn’t. I didn’t want them to see me as some poor nobody.”
“But how were you planning to get out of all this? Did you want to lie to me for the rest of your life?”
“The owner of this hotel treated me like his own son. Before he died, he left the hotel to me. The will is just now coming into effect. If you hadn’t started suspecting anything, you probably wouldn’t have found out.”
“That’s not normal, James. None of this is normal.”
“I know. It was a mistake. That’s why I kept talking with Lily. We weren’t hiding an affair, we were discussing the will. She kept telling me I had to come clean with you.”
I wiped my eyes, anger mixing with exhaustion. “She was right. You should have told me the truth.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I was afraid you wouldn’t love me if you knew the truth.”
“I never loved you for your money, James. I loved you for who you were. But now, I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
He fell to his knees. “I love you, Em. I was afraid of losing you, and that’s why I lied. Please, forgive me.”
Tears filled my eyes as I looked down at him. “I don’t know if I can forgive you,” I whispered. “Not after all the lies.”
“Please, I’ll do anything. Just don’t leave me.”
I knelt down beside him, wiping my eyes. “If I hear one more lie from you, I’m gone. Do you understand?”
He nodded, tears streaming down his face. “I swear, no more lies. I’ll be honest with you, always.”
I hugged him tightly. “I would have chosen you even if you were just a janitor, James. It didn’t matter to me.”
He kissed me gently. “I would have chosen you, even if you were a bum.”
We laughed, a small moment of light breaking through the heavy tension. I wasn’t sure where we would go from here, but at that moment, I had to believe him. At that moment, that was enough.
