Automated Good Morning，Ten Girlfriends, One Group Chat

My longdistance boyfriend sent me a "good morning" text at exactly 5:20 AM every single day. At first, I thought it was the ultimate romance. Until I was added to a Snapchat group.

There were ten of us in total. The latest message in the group read: "Girls, his 5:20 AM texts are automated.

He sends them to all ten of us every single day." I stared at the screen, my fingers trembling. The chat was blowing up. The other girls were sharing when they started dating him.

Most of them had only known him for a year or two. So, the other nine girls were also his girlfriends?

The romance I cherished so deeply was just an automated task he had set up on a schedule? But we had been together for six years. We were getting married next month.

A notification popped up at the top of my screen. It was from him: "Babe, I'm here." A second later, I heard the sound of keys turning in my front door.

Liam Hayes stood at the door, holding a massive bouquet of champagne roses. "Babe, we're finally done with the long distance." He walked in, handed me the flowers, his eyes shining with a warm smile. "My transfer got approved.

I'm back for good. We can be together every day now." Yes, our longdistance struggle was finally over. Six years of being apart.

Every single morning, at exactly 5:20 AM, he would text me "good morning." He told me 5:20 was our magic number, standing for "five minutes to say I love you." I truly believed it was a romance meant only for me.

He used to say that if we could survive a longdistance relationship, we would survive for a lifetime. He said we would never have to say goodbye again.

I believed him with all my heart. I wanted to speak, but my throat was tight. Nothing came out.

Liam bent down to change his shoes, wheeled his suitcase into the living room, and turned around to see me standing frozen.

He reached out and gently squeezed my shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?" He tilted his head, studying my face with a soft chuckle. "Are you really that excited?

Speechless, huh?" His thumb brushed against my cheek. "Your eyes are so red." He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a gentle whisper. "Oh, come on, babe.

It's just the end of long distance. We're going to see each other every single day now. Just don't get sick of me." He thought I was crying tears of joy.

Liam didn't notice anything off. Or rather, he assumed my reaction was just normal emotional relief.

He gently took the flowers from my hands, tossed them onto the shoe cabinet, and pulled my wrist to lead me into the living room. "Sit down and relax.

I'll make us dinner." He guided me onto the couch. "You said you wanted my homemade steak last time. I actually practiced making it.

Let me show off my skills tonight." I sat on the couch, completely paralyzed. Liam looked around the kitchen, checked the fridge, and walked back out. "Just wait here, okay?

No more tears." He ruffled my hair affectionately and went back into the kitchen. Liam's phone was sitting on the coffee table. I reached out and picked it up. I knew his passcode.

It was my birthday. I unlocked it, my heart pounding violently against my ribs. My fingers shook as I swiped across the screen. And then, I saw their profile pictures. Nine of them.

I remembered every single one. They were all right there in his Snapchat friends list. I tapped on the first girl's chat. Empty. Squeaky clean. Not a single message.

The others were the exact same. Completely wiped. The only thing left was the date they added each other. The earliest one was a girl named Sophia Miller.

They added each other two years ago. Two years ago. What did he tell me back then? He said his work projects were getting crazy, and that he might not reply as fast.

And I believed him. I even ordered him vitamins and healthy snacks, telling him to stop staying up so late. I opened his photo library. His recent album was practically empty.

Just a few work screenshots and a food delivery receipt. I scrolled up, and up. It was all useless stuff. No personal photos, no screenshots of chat logs, nothing.

He had wiped everything clean.

Suddenly, I remembered. A year ago, I had checked his phone too. My best friend had warned me back then, saying I needed to keep my guard up in a longdistance relationship.

I had searched through his phone while he was in the shower, but I found absolutely nothing. At the time, I felt so guilty. I thought I was being paranoid and untrustworthy.

Now, I knew the truth. It wasn't that he hadn't cheated. It was just that he was too good at deleting the evidence. But I didn't understand. I really, truly didn't understand.

Why did he cheat? We were doing so well. Even though we were hundreds of miles apart for six years, we talked on the phone every single day. We never ran out of things to say.

During the first two years, our calls would last two or three hours. We talked about everything, from what we ate for lunch to what we would name our future kids.

By the third and fourth year, the conversations naturally slowed down. Two hours became one hour, then thirty minutes. I thought that was normal.

Long distance is hard, and the initial spark always fades. Every couple transitions from passionate lovers to a comfortable routine, right?

But every time we met in person, it felt like the honeymoon phase all over again. And he sent that 5:20 AM text every single morning, without fail, for six years.

He told me it was a special devotion meant only for me. And I believed him. The tears finally spilled over, hot and heavy, running down my cheeks.

When Liam walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of food, he froze.

He quickly set the dish on the dining table and rushed over to me. "Hey, why are you crying?" He knelt in front of me, gently wiping my tears with his fingers, his voice incredibly soft. "Stop crying, please.

I'm back now, aren't I? We're going to be together every day, and we're never parting again. You're just too happy, right?

Seeing you cry like this breaks my heart." I put his phone back on the coffee table and said nothing.

Liam stood up, wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and rested his chin on top of my head. "Alright, alright, no more crying. I made your favorite steak.

Go wash your face, and let's eat." Steak was indeed my favorite. He used to make it for me all the time. Liam handed me a fork and poured me a bowl of soup. "Try it.

I've been practicing this for days, just waiting for you to evaluate my skills." He sat across from me. I picked up a piece of steak with my fork. I put it in my mouth and chewed.

I couldn't taste a thing. "What's wrong? Not good?" Liam looked at me, his fork suspended in midair. I shook my head. "Then eat more.

Look how skinny you've gotten." He placed another piece of steak onto my plate. "We need to feed you up before our prewedding photoshoot.

Otherwise, the photographer is going to think I'm starving you." The prewedding photoshoot.

I thought about how I had started dieting three months ago just to look perfect in those photos.

I ran three miles every day, ate nothing but fruit for dinner, and scrolled through hundreds of photography studios online, making a fifteenpage planning document.

I had lists in my notes app of which studio had the best outdoor lighting, which one did the most natural editing, and which one had the highest quality photo albums.

I thought that day would be one of the happiest days of my life. Me in a white dress, him in a suit, smiling brightly in front of the camera. But now?

Just looking at him made me feel physically sick. Liam kept talking. "My colleague recommended a spot in Miami. He said the beach photos there are stunning.

Is there anywhere else you want to go? Haven't you always wanted to go to California?"

I didn't say a word. I rested my fork against the edge of the plate, my fingernails digging into the wooden grain of the table. "Babe?" he called out.

I raised my eyes to look at him. His expression was so genuine. He had a warm smile, holding a piece of steak on his fork, waiting for my answer. My phone buzzed.

The screen lit up with notifications from that Snapchat group. "Girls, I need to tell you something," a girl named Chloe Bennett wrote. "This morning, he was still with me.

In a hotel." My hand instantly gripped my phone so hard my knuckles turned white. Chloe continued typing: "He told me yesterday that he drove down because he missed me.

We stayed in a hotel all night." "When he left this morning, he even told me he'd come back to see me tonight. I didn't suspect a thing.

Honestly, I thought he was such a sweet boyfriend." "So how did you find out?" someone asked. "He accidentally left his phone on the bed.

When I picked it up to give it back to him, I caught a glimpse of his Instagram following list. I got curious and started clicking on a few profiles.

I noticed several girls, but none of them had any chat history on his Snapchat. I thought it was weird. Why would anyone delete all their chats?

So I went to their Instagram pages." Chloe was typing incredibly fast, paragraph after paragraph. "And guess what? Several of them had cozy, intimate photos with him on their feeds.

I scrolled through them, and my heart sank.

I wrote down their Instagram handles, reached out to them one by one, and pulled us all into this group." "So you're the one who uncovered this?" "Yeah, I added you guys this morning.

I thought there would be three or four of us at most. I never expected nine, and honestly, I think there are more.

After I added the ninth girl, I saw other female profiles on his list, but he came back before I could write them down." I stared at the screen, my fingers shaking violently.

This morning. He was in a hotel room with Chloe this morning.

He spent the morning in bed with another woman, and by evening, he was standing in front of me, telling me we would be together every single day.

He transitioned seamlessly. "Clara, are you there?" Chloe tagged me in the chat. "Yes," I typed back. "Watch out for him. He's a monster.

He gave me a necklace and said it was a custom piece. I scanned the barcode on the packaging, and it led to a cheap $9.99 Wish listing.

I threw it right back at him." While I was reading, Liam got up from the table and walked over to my side. "What's wrong?

You've been staring at your phone this whole time." He leaned over, trying to peek at my screen. With a sharp "clack", I slammed my phone face down on the table.

Liam was taken aback for a second, but he quickly smiled again. "So secretive. Are you looking at wedding dresses? Fine, I won't look.

Keep it a surprise for me." "If you're not hungry, don't force yourself. Go get some rest. You seem really off today. Did you not sleep well?

I'll clean up and join you in a bit." He led me to the bedroom door, opened it, and gently pulled back the comforter for me.

After Liam finished washing the dishes, he stayed in the living room for a while.

I heard him rummaging through his suitcase, and then his footsteps started heading toward the bedroom. "Are you asleep?" he whispered.

I didn't answer. "Babe," he called out. "I know you're awake.

I can see your phone screen glowing." I froze. "Liam," I spoke, my voice sounding incredibly raspy and hollow. "Yeah?" he replied. "Where were you this morning?" He paused for a fraction of a second. "At home, packing." His tone was perfectly natural. "I spent the whole morning packing up my apartment.

By the time I drove all the way here, it was already evening.

Why do you ask?" I rolled over to face him. "Look at me," I said. "I am looking at you." He smiled, reaching out to stroke my face. "You are being so strange today.

What is going on?" "Liam, where exactly were you this morning?" He blinked, his face showing absolutely no signs of guilt. "I told you, I was at my place packing up my apartment all morning." He withdrew his hand, sat down on the edge of the bed, and turned slightly away from me. "Did you see something?

Or did someone say something to you?" "I want to show you something." I sat up, grabbed my phone, unlocked it, opened the Snapchat group, and turned the screen toward him.

Liam looked down at the screen, and his expression finally cracked.

He looked up at me, his face shifting from confusion to a look of helpless exhaustion. "So, you've been upset all afternoon because of this?" My fingers clenched around the phone. "Is that all you have to say?" "Babe." He sighed, reaching out to take my phone. "This is a massive misunderstanding.

I can explain." I didn't let go of the phone. "Explain then," I said.

Liam pulled his hand back, resting both hands on his knees, and sat up straight. "There is absolutely nothing going on between me and those girls." "They're just people I met online a while ago.

I've met up with some of them, and others I've never even seen in person. We are just friends.

It's not what they think." "Friends?" My voice began to tremble. "If you're just friends, why did you delete all your chat logs?" "Because I didn't want you to get the wrong idea." He said it with absolute conviction, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. "You know how longdistance is.

It's so easy to overthink when we're apart. I was worried you'd feel insecure if you saw me talking to other girls, so I cleared the history regularly.

I wasn't trying to hide anything malicious. I was just trying to protect your feelings.

I didn't want you to worry." I stared at him. "To protect my feelings?" "Yes." He nodded. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. Think about it.

If I really did something to betray you, why would my passcode still be your birthday?

Why would I let you look through my phone so easily?" "Because I never caught you." "Because you deleted everything too quickly." Liam pursed his lips. "Then tell me about Chloe.

You were with her at a hotel this morning." His face stiffened for a split second. "Chloe?" He repeated the name, pretending to search his memory. "Oh, her.

Yes, I did see her this morning, but it's not what she's claiming. She helped me connect with a major client recently, so I took her out for breakfast this morning to thank her.

That's all." "I went to meet her in the lobby of her hotel.

We ate, and then I left." "She said you stayed in her room all night." "She's lying." A flicker of anger finally broke through Liam's calm demeanor, but he quickly suppressed it. "I don't know why she'd say something like that.

Maybe she's trying to ruin what we have. Babe, think about it logically. If I were actually sleeping with her, would I drive all the way here to be with you tonight?

Am I insane?" The logic sounded flawless. But my heart was still racing. Every reaction of his was perfectly measured. Every word was bulletproof.

He wasn't overly defensive, nor was he suspiciously calm. He behaved exactly how an innocent, wronged boyfriend would behave—weary, hurt, but desperately trying to avoid a fight.

But because it was so perfect, it felt entirely artificial. "What about the necklace you gave her?" I asked.

Liam hesitated. "She said you gave her a necklace that scanned as a $9.99 Wish item. Do you remember that?" A genuine crack finally appeared in his armor. It wasn't fear.

It was embarrassment. "Oh, that necklace." He rubbed the back of his neck. "That was a stupid mistake.

I went to a corporate event a while back, and the hosts gave out these little gift bags.

The packaging looked decent, so I just handed it to her as a casual thankyou gift." "I had no idea what was actually inside, and I certainly didn't know it was some cheap $10 knockoff.

If it makes you uncomfortable, I promise I'll never give anyone gifts again." He leaned closer, making his voice even softer. "Babe, I would never do anything to hurt you.

We've been together for six years. Six years.

You know what kind of man I am." "I've sent you a good morning text at 5:20 every single day without fail." "I fought with my boss for six months just to get this transfer so we could be together." "My entire future is planned around you.

How can you doubt me over the words of a complete stranger?" His eyes welled with tears. Seeing the moisture in his eyes made my mind spin even faster.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Liam, please get out." "Babe—" "Get out." My voice was barely a whisper. "I need to be alone right now." Liam stared at me for a few seconds before slowly standing up. "Okay," he said. "I'll be in the living room.

Just call me if you need anything."