The Wrong Bride - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mark came home close to midnight, silent as a tomb. This was his usual routine when he was angry: the silent treatment. He wouldn’t talk, wouldn’t explain, until I gave in.

He thought I’d apologize like always. I mean, I loved him. For him, I’d walked away from my family’s plan for my life, left the comfort and privilege to be with him in this city.

He’d told me, “If I stay in my hometown, I’ll always be under the influence of your parents and they will make it seem like I’m using your family. I don’t want to live like that.”

I looked at his stubborn, handsome face, and my heart just melted. I fought my parents for a year, when they finally gave in and let me leave with Mark. We started in a cramped basement apartment, and now, we were living in a mansion in the most live area in the city.

I thought we had it all: status, money, and most of all, each other. Mark was great to me; he made me feel like I was the center of his world. I guess no one ever told me that happiness had an expiration date. It all started when I found a pair of high heels under his office desk.

I held them up, looking at him, and he looked sheepis et there was also something smug in his eyes. “Oh, that’s Tiffany being her usual self; she changed shoes here and forgot to take them.”

An assistant, changing her shoes in the CEO’s office?

I just smiled sarcastically. “Careful, Mark, you’re playing a dangerous game.”

He said I was being paranoid.

But then things started to change. The charm on his car mirror, that used to be my lucky charm, turned into a trendy crystal; the throw pillow on the couch went from sophisticated silver to some colorful cartoonish thing…

I knew his promises were starting to fade. This time, he thought the silent treatment would get me to give in again. But I was done. I couldn’t do this anymore. The next morning, Mark was waiting for me.

He stood at the table, his face cold. “You’re coming with me to the office today.”

I just looked at him and didn’t say a word.

“You’re going to apologize to Tiffany. You’re a CEO’s wife. You shouldn’t be acting so ridiculous.”

“Jealous of his assistant, how low can you go?” 

I put my glass of milk on the table, looked him. straight in the eye, “Alright, I’ll get her a gift.

It should be something really good if I’m going to apologize. Mark seemed relieved, his tone slightly softer.

“It would have been nice if you acted this way yesterday, you would not have looked like such a fool.”

When we got to the office, Tiffany jumped up. the moment she saw me. “Hi, Sarah.” Her eyes were puffy, like she’d been crying in front of Mark. Several of the other assistants were watching, eager to see what was going to happen.

I smiled, looked at Tiffany, and then at Mark. “I said you two looked great yesterday, didn’t I? No offense: Mark thinks I should say sorry. So, I figured the best way to do that is to give you a little something.”

Tiffany shook her head. “Oh, you don’t have to, I was the one who messed up.”

Mark put his arm around her and said, “It’s ok, Sarah is giving you a gift for being so sweet.”

I patted Tiffany’s hand and opened a jewelry box. I pulled out a ring, a beautiful diamond halo ring. The other assistants gasped. I put the ring on Tiffany’s ring finger, held up her hand to admire it. “It’s beautiful. Fits you perfectly. How do you like the gift?”

Mark’s face had gone white. That ring was our wedding ring, the one he bought for me when we had nothing. He spent everything he had on it.

It was when he gave me everything he had. Now, I didn’t want his love.