Sustaining a happy and healthy relationship can be difficult. We don’t always have enough time on our hands to be able to spend quality time with our partners. However, technological advancements have meant that we are able to communicate with each other quickly and efficiently. Social media platforms and messaging services mean that couples can stay connected without being close to one another.
The fact that it’s possible to send real-time pictures, videos and voice clips makes this a lot more personal. It can feel as if you are actually with that person. However, as with anything else, there are risks. What happens when an image shows more to a story than you were willing to share? This couple from Portugal would certainly agree that some pictures can end up doing more harm than good. You will be in for a shock when you discover just how much damage was done!
*The story you are about to read is not a true story. It has been written for entertainment purposes. All photos were taken from Stockphoto’s.
Meet Iris
Iris is a beautiful young graduate. She recently completed a degree in fashion. She is currently looking for love but she has one minor setback in that she is very shy. She suffers from social anxiety and struggles when meeting people in person for the first time.
Iris never fails to attract attention when she goes out, so much so that she never even has to buy her own drinks. Seeing how eager Iris was to find love and how much she struggled to chat to new people, her friends came up with a simple solution to her problems.
It all begins with an app
This shocking story began where so many love stories do in this day and age; on a dating app. Iris’ friends suggested that she make herself a profile on a dating app. They thought that Iris’ fear of interacting with strangers would soon diminish if she got to know them online first.
Iris agreed to try out this option as she was really desperate to find love. The app appeared easy at first, but as she scrolled, she came across some slightly disconcerting questions. She was about to call it a day with the app, and then she found him…
A magical first date
Well, we could say that this ‘him’ was the one. His name was Thomas and he worked in sales. They started chatting and it wasn’t long before the pair couldn’t get enough of each other, texting and calling all day, everyday.
They would both sit there staring at their phones, anxiously anticipating the next text. Eventually, they decided to meet. Iris couldn’t have been more excited to finally see Thomas in the flesh. The date was a huge success. It was the best date Iris had ever been on (not that this was too difficult!) What happened next will shock you.
Status: “Infatuated”
It wasn’t long before the couple were official. Soon they were attending events together and making their friends very envious of their relationship. Iris had finally found the love of her life and she wanted to show him to the world.
The love they shared for one another was plain for all to see. It was the first time that both of them had fallen so in love. “It was like meeting your soulmate!” One of the soul mates was about to do something very bold…
A surprise trip to paradise
Wanting to prove his love to Iris even more, Thomas decided to surprise her with a trip away. He chose a warm and romantic location so that they could spend some time with each other without fear of interruption. They were more committed to each other than ever.
As he wanted it to be a total surprise, Thomas asked one of Iris’ friends to drive her to the airport. It wasn’t long before the couple found themselves on the plane. They were so excited. Little did Iris know that there was an even bigger surprise in store…
The proposal
It was the most perfect weekend of their lives. They spent the weekend bathing in the sunshine and simply enjoying each other’s company. They visited all the places on the island, including the beach.
On their last day, they went for a stroll along the beach. They wanted to enjoy every moment before having to face reality again. When they were walking, Iris noticed some bright lights, and as she got closer, she made out the message: “will you marry me?!”
She said Yes!
While they had only been dating for several months, to them it felt like a whole lifetime. Iris was not entirely comfortable as she was someone who had a slight fear of commitment and this was a huge commitment and very early into their relationship.
This fear of commitment didn’t prevent her from saying yes, however. The setting couldn’t have been more perfect and the thought of spending the rest of her life with Thomas made her so excited. She was convinced that Thomas was different from everyone else and so, without thinking twice, she said yes. They were so thrilled to share this wonderful news with the world.
A magical wedding
They were so happy that they had found each other. After getting engaged, they were eager to start preparations for the wedding as soon as possible. They didn’t want to waste any time. However, they knew that planning the wedding would be a big job.
They wanted to have a small ceremony, only with their close friends and family. The wedding was perfect, simple yet elegant and all the guests were ecstatic for the couple. At the same time, some guests wondered how they would fare after the honeymoon phase was over. After all, this had all happened so fast.
A happy marriage
After the wedding, they had a super romantic honeymoon. When this was over, they returned to their normal lives. They moved into an apartment that they thought perfect for them and started their new lives as husband and wife.
There were obviously some people doubting their relationship, but they were so happy with each other. They couple continued to do well together, ensuring that they made enough time for one another and planning out their future together.
Picture perfect couple may not be so perfect
The couple were madly in love and they appeared as though “they were right out of a magazine.” Iris was young and gorgeous. She was very fashionable and always up to date on the latest trends.
Thomas was young and ambitious. He had a bright future ahead of him with Iris by his side. However, as every good thing tends to be followed by a bad thing, the young couple would, of course, go through some struggles. How would they handle this?
Happy ever after isn’t complete without a home
After six months of dating, the couple decided that they wanted a place that they could call home. They started searching with the hope of finding something that they would both agree on. After several viewings, they settled on a house.
However, the place was old and definitely needed some work. The couple were confident that this was nothing that they couldn’t handle. However, renovating the house would end up being the least of their worries…
Thomas gets fired
The happy couple divided the tasks between them. Iris concentrated on the house renovation while Thomas threw everything at his job. Then the executives of his company asked him to attend a meeting.
He thought that they were going to offer him a pay-rise, since he had been working so hard. How wrong he was. The company needed to downsize so they decided to let Thomas go. This was a devastating blow for Thomas. The couple’s handling of the situation was quite shocking…
Money problems
With Thomas unemployed, they no longer had any source of income. They had previously decided that Iris would be a stay-at-home wife. Now, as their only way of earning money was gone, they had to rely on their savings.
They were forced to continue with the renovations with no steady income. This would prove to be very difficult. They could never have anticipated that their first year of marriage would end up being this challenging.
The job search began
The couple decided to persevere. As long as they had each other, they could get through anything. They would cut back on their spending and Thomas would work on finding a new job. He attended many interviews in the hope that he would finally get a job.
Eventually, he got a new job. Thomas was so happy as he could give his wife a perfect life again. Iris was happy too and they thought that they had got through the worst of it. However, the new job had certain requirements that would ultimately put a further strain on their marriage.
The strains of work
Thomas worked in sales, so he had to travel with his job. He was used to travelling, since he had done a lot of it in the past. He was usually gone for several days each year. This had been difficult for Iris, as she would be left completely on her own whenever Thomas left.
Though he had travelled with his previous job, he had hoped to get a promotion which would involve a lot less travelling. He had promised Iris that things would changed after his promotion. However, things didn’t work out as they had hoped.
The new requirement would cost the couple quality time together
The new job was even worse. It required extensive travel. Thomas had to travel a lot more than he used to. Both Thomas and Iris were upset about this, but they were not in the position to let this job go. After all, it had taken months for Thomas to find this job.
The couple knew that Thomas had to accept this job offer if they were to survive, especially with the renovations continuing. They knew that this was just a part of life. They would have to find a way to overcome the problem.
Thomas found great success in his new job
After discussing it at length with Iris, Thomas decided to take the job. Now they had a stable income. This meant that Iris could get stuck into renovating the house. Thomas travelled while Iris stayed home. Iris had decided to support her husband with his job.
Thomas worked hard at his new job and was very successful at what he did. His salary had been doubled within the first year of working for the new company. Unfortunately, Thomas’ success would end up having negative consequences on their relationship.
The cost of success became loneliness for the young couple
Even though the young couple made a real effort to remain in contact, filling each other in on everything that happened during their day over the phone rather than face to face, loneliness began to creep in, as did bitterness.
Thomas hung onto the hope that if he continued to move up the career ladder, he would eventually no longer be required to travel. However, his pursuit of this goal ended up being very costly for the couple. Iris felt distant and alone.
The couple continued to grow apart
As the years passed, the couple became even more distant from each other. They were drifting apart and started to feel like strangers. Iris no longer felt like encouraging her husband to achieve his dreams.
Even when Thomas was around, he was often too tired from work to spend quality time with his wife. Their love began to turn into resentment towards each other. Then Thomas received a heart-wrenching message while he was travelling to Paris that changed everything.
Thomas makes a decision
Iris had grown tired of the distance in their marriage. She sent an emotional text to Thomas saying that she was completely fed up and that she didn’t feel loved anymore in the marriage. Upon reading this, Thomas realised that he had completely prioritised his career over his wife’s needs.
He decided to find a job which was closer to home. Since he had advanced so much in his career, he was sure that he would be able to find a good job. He was excited and returned home with the good news. But one mistake would throw their happiness into jeopardy.
Thomas sets his plan in motion.
Thomas, overwhelmed with excitement, began making plans. He secretly applied to multiple companies and had a look at their offers while he brainstormed how he would go about surprising Iris with the news.
He even wanted to get her a gift to prove his commitment to her. He had a lot of making up to do, but he thought that a gift would be a good start. Unfortunately, he would end up making a decision that would threaten their happiness.
The lack of communication would cost him dearly
Although Thomas thought that he had planned well, he still managed to make a serious mistake. He planned to go and see Iris without letting her know in advance. All that he wanted to do was make up for not being there with her.
Iris was already feeling very neglected and under-appreciated by Thomas. Thomas had no idea that this loneliness Iris was feeling would cause her to do something that the couple might never recover from…
Temptation
An inevitable element of travelling regularly is meeting new people and Thomas came across many new people. A man as handsome and successful as Thomas tends to attract plenty of women and he frequently ran into alluring ladies on his work trips.
Travelling regularly and being away from his wife meant that Thomas often felt quite lonely, so when women gave him attention, he found that he enjoyed it. One of these ladies would end up being so charming that he wouldn’t be able to resist. Guess what happened next…
A few drinks at a bar leaves Thomas at a crossroad
The plan was in place to surprise Iris and to tell her about his plan to find another job so that he would have to travel less. Nonetheless, Iris, who felt that she had been pushed to the side, was scolding Thomas for choosing his career over their marriage.
This caused Thomas a lot of stress. With the idea of relieving some tension, Thomas went to a bar. He wanted to relax since he was experiencing significant pressure from both his work life and his personal life. When he was at the bar, he met a mysterious stranger.
A spark between a stranger and a married man
Thomas spent hours conversing with the exquisite, yet secretive woman who sat opposite him at the bar. The night began to draw to a close and the bar grew more empty but Thomas and the woman continued to chat. Thomas was ignoring Iris’ messages, totally distracted by this enchanting woman.
The connection he felt with this stranger was exciting. Thomas couldn’t help but feel tempted. When the bar finally closed, the woman invited him to come back with her. What choice would he make?
Staying faithful is harder than it seems
Thomas gazed at the lovely woman who had offered him something he hadn’t felt in years. Indeed, he loved his wife, but their marriage had been struggling along for a long time now and he had started to lose faith. He was so drunk and he chose to follow her back to her inn.
Consumed by guilt when he awoke the next morning, Thomas left immediately and made a promise to himself that he would never cheat again, under any circumstances. His blatant unfaithfulness would end up being the least of their troubles…
A photo update changes everything
Thomas decided not to mention to Iris what had occurred, not wanting to upset her. Instead, he told her about his intentions to come back home and that the trip he was currently on would be his last.
Iris was ecstatic at this news. The couple returned to feeling like the happy couple they had once been. They were so in love again. However, this wasn’t to last. This happiness was ruined when Iris sent a photo.
Realisation sets in
The photograph was standard and not much different to the ones that Iris had been sending in the previous weeks and during the first year of their marriage. However, Thomas noticed something unusual!
It was a picture of Iris in a white tank top and blue jeans, grinning into the camera. She looked cheerful, but when Thomas examined the picture more closely, he felt a knot in his stomach. Something was different about Iris in the picture.
The devil is always in the details, and this one was heartbreaking
The picture itself was lovely, Iris looked stunning as usual. Thomas ought to have felt glad at the idea of his significant other taking the time to send him a selfie. But, he wasn’t. This one little detail ruined the photo completely for him.
Everything except one thing was as it should be. There was just one small detail that would cause Thomas to have a devastating realisation. Can you guess what it was that made Thomas so upset?
There was no wedding ring.
What was this feeling of loss that made Thomas feel so sad and hopeless due to? The wedding ring. In the image Iris had sent him, she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring. Thomas could only hope that there was a valid reason for this.
Upon noticing it, he could only think that it was intentional: “why would she do that? How could she do that?” Thomas kept on asking himself. Endless possibilities ran through his mind. Within a moment, his felt that his entire world had come crashing down.
He anxiously awaits the moment of reckoning
Thomas stared at the photograph for quite a long time, not knowing how to respond to any of her messages. He felt completely hopeless, convinced that everything he had known about Iris up until this point obviously wasn’t the truth.
His flight back home was on the following day, and he braced himself for the confrontation that would happen when he returned home to Iris. How things would unfold would come as a shock to them both.
Cheating is a two-way street.
Thomas wasted no time in standing up to Iris, who reluctantly admitted that she had an affair with a man while Thomas was on his last trip. She had felt completely neglected and this man had offered her a shoulder to cry on.
Thomas was distraught. How would he be able to forgive her for breaking her marriage vows? She had broken his trust and injured his pride and heart out of resentment. Without thinking, he said something that he would never be able to take back.
Betrayed and devastated, the couple chooses to divorce
Thomas admitted to his ow betrayal, which he had also done out of resentment. Iris responded to him by calling him a fraud. They were both furious and filled with disdain towards one another. Their marriage had been ruined to the point of no return.
In all their anger and frustration towards each other, they decided to get a divorce. What had previously been pretty much a perfect relationship, had completely fallen apart and they no longer wanted anything to do with one another. However, life tends to be unpredictable and neither of them could have foreseen what followed.
They go their separate ways
Resentful and heartbroken, the couple went their separate ways and Thomas returned to his old position, continuing to travel abroad. He didn’t want any reminder of Iris and their failed marriage. It was too devastating to think about.
Iris moved back to the city to get a job in fashion, which she had always dreamed of. The couple assumed that they would never see each other again. Both of them thought that it was best to completely cut all communication.
New beginnings in a new city
Some years later, Thomas was assigned to a new city. He was doing very well for himself. Since he is rich and attractive, ladies flock to him, however, due to the heartbreak he had suffered, he had no interest in pursuing any of them.
One night after work, he chose to go to a neighbourhood bistro close to his apartment. Here, something happened that would change everything. Guess what might happen next? Did he meet iris again?
A Stunning guest walks in
While he sat, his eyes focused on the screen in front of him, he was suddenly reminded of the first night he and Iris went on a physical date. Dismissing the thought, he went back to scrolling on his phone and then he heard someone gasp.
A young lady with short hair had strolled into the bistro. She had grabbed the attention of everyone in the bar. Everyone appeared to be overwhelmed by her beauty. Thomas looked up to see what all of the fuss was about and what he saw before him shocked him.
The streets at night are perfect for forgiveness
It was wintertime, and the roads were lit up with Christmas lights. Thomas was captivated by the view and found that it had a calming influence on him. He felt relaxed and continued to enjoy the view before him.
His stroll to the bistro and the feeling of ease that he felt, caused him to acknowledge just how much he had healed and how far he had come since his divorce several years previously. This made the encounter even more shocking.
Thomas meets an old flame
Thomas was stunned to find that the outsider was Angel, his high school sweetheart. They had separated in the junior year of secondary school. She had moved to another country when her dad had found another line of work.
After that, they had lost contact. They were connected on social media, but had never even sent each other birthday posts. The unexpected experience felt significant in some way. Thomas couldn’t believe it was really her.
A fateful reunion
Angel was just as surprised to see Thomas, taking a seat next to him. She sat with him, and they laughed and made up for lost time, filling each other in on all that had happened in their lives since they had last seen each other.
They had not seen each other in over ten years, yet it seemed like no time had passed. They got on so well and talked deep into the night. What do you think? Will they get back together? Well, keep on guessing.
A loving conversation leads to healing
Even though it didn’t feel quite like the first time he met Iris, Thomas felt a warmth and closeness to Angel, a closeness that he had not felt with anyone in a long time. They shared their feelings with one another in great detail.
They were both divorced, and Thomas told Angel that Iris was now married with a child. Angel was understanding and they felt very close to one another. Thomas felt so relaxed in her presence and she in his.
Time flies when you’re in love
They talked for such a long time that they didn’t notice the time pass. Their eyes and hands remained interlocked until the bar closed. The waitress, having observed the whole thing, let them stay until she needed to lock the doors.
Thomas and Angel were appreciative. They were stunned when they realised that the bistro was completely empty. They had been so engaged in conversation that they hadn’t even noticed. Both of them were feeling something. The emotions that they had felt for each other back in school came flooding back to them.
The start of something new
Angel grinned at Thomas and offered to show him around the city soon. The two of them stood outside the bistro, waiting for their respective taxis and admiring the stunning Christmas lights. The atmosphere felt very romantic.
The moment felt completely natural and, as they looked down at their hands, blushing, they realised that they were intertwined. They fell back in love! After all the heartbreak that they had both previously experienced, they deserved to be very happy. And they were.