I promise

I, Veronica, take you, Alejandro, to be my lawfully-wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, I promise to love and cherish you.

I promise:

• I promise to fill your days with sunshine, and do everything in my power to ensure your daily happiness. 
• -- Like when I learned the theme song of your favorite video game on the piano and played it for you on your birthday -- which you said was the best gift you’d ever received.
• I promise to be by your side, for better or for worse.
• -- Like when your grandmother died, and I went with you to the funeral, even though you know I’m terrified of death and cemeteries.
• I promise to stay with you, whatever life may bring, be it rags or riches.
• -- Like when you almost lost your job because you’d made a tiny but irreparable mistake on the software you were working on and I told you we would get through this together.
• I promise to honor and cherish you, and obey your every whim.
• -- Like when you had a falling out with your family and wanted to keep me away from that tense environment so you started going alone to see them on the holidays.
• I promise to always be honest with you and keep no secrets from you.
• -- Like when we first met, and I told you upfront about having recently gotten out of a bad relationship and not being over my ex yet.
• I promise not to throw a fit when you forget my birthday, again.
• -- Like when I cried on my 23rd birthday when you didn’t call but then a few days later you showed up with a dozen roses and said ‘you know I love you and would never do anything to hurt you, right?’
• I promise to be faithful even when you don’t give me a reason to be.
• -- Like when I found irrefutable proof that you’d been seeing someone else and you played it off as me being crazy and irrational, ‘I can’t believe you don’t trust me babe’.
• I promise to pretend not to care when you say you don’t love me anymore and want a divorce.
• I promise not to cry when signing the divorce papers.
• But despite all this, I promise that I will never forget you. You may move on with your life as I move on with mine, but whenever I'm laughing with a stranger, cuddling naked in their bed as we share our life stories, I will think of you. And when they fall asleep and pull me closer, I’ll shut my eyes tightly, tracing the shape of your face in my mind, feeling the warmth of your body pulling me in. Yearning--

You promise:

• You promise to fill my days with uncertainty, and do everything in your power to ensure my endless misery.
• -- Like when your hot-and-cold attitude literally caused me physical pain as I feverishly tried to figure out whether you actually loved me or not.
• You promise to show off my triumphs as your own, then disappear for days on end when the going gets tough.
• -- Like when you paraded me around town as your ‘brilliant’ fiancee after I got promoted at work, but then a pipe burst and my house flooded and you came up with lame excuses for why I couldn’t stay at your place for a few days.
• You promise to shower me with fancy gifts I do not need or want, then dump little ol’ lower-end-of-the-income-bracket me for a hotshot lawyer younger than me.
• -- Did you think I wouldn’t find out? I felt the change in your attitude towards me like a cold draft on a warm summer day.
• You promise to take me for granted and make me feel small every chance you get, to belittle my efforts and fill my head with insecurities.
• -- Like when you couldn’t help but scoff at my profession, then pretend you only meant it as a compliment to my intellect and that ‘you could do so much more than this.’
• You promise to always lie to me, and fill my head with empty promises and blind delusion.
• -- I like to think it wasn’t always like this, that maybe not everything was a lie. I remember the kind, thoughtful gentleman I fell in love with. How did we get here?
• You promise to neglect me and then gaslight me into thinking it was only my insecurities getting to me.
• -- Remember how you promised you’d always take care of me and we’d talk things out when we had issues?
• You promise to betray me.
• -- You said I was your twinflame, your one and only. The love of your life…
• You promise to break my heart into a million little pieces. 
• -- Don’t worry, I won’t even flinch as you do so.
• You promise to cut our forever-and-always short, as if we were just playing make-believe. 
• -- Don’t worry, I have a good idea on how to fix the ending of our story.
• You promise to forget me as soon as we part ways, immediately make a declaration of love to the other woman and start your new life together. To have and to hold from that day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, you promise to love and cherish her. Until--

I undertake this oath as a testament to my undying love for you:

Forevermore I am cursed to be always waiting, waiting patiently for the day I may see you again, run into your embrace and hug you tightly one last time until your heart drips, drips your treacherous blood around my blade and your face contorts in agony. Agony which I promise you will not even be half of what I've suffered. While you bestowed your love upon someone less worthy, my heart has been constant, aching for you, yearning for revenge.