Five Years, A Forged Vow

devoted wife who helped Br

eigned injury, he handed her the diamond necklace meant f

made storms terrifying, yet he drove

ied of the stranger driving my rid

er," she taunted. "Don'

eturn home and discover the ultimate betrayal: Br

wife. I was just a placeh

omforting her, I di

e wedding certificate, pa

mistake and came begging on

pte

rey

s eyes, usually so warm for me, fixed on her as he clutched the diamond necklace I

the golf prodigy who had traded his clubs for a tech empire. They hois

back!" someo

it!" another v

n his wife, his steady support as he built his business from the ground up, after he' d walked aw

on the green, winning,

h Kristal?" a woman next to

parable. He practically

ld did. Brandon, the seasoned pro, and Kristal, his star pupil, h

tinued, oblivious to my presence. "She was just a slip

cal flutter, and Brandon, still on the shoulders of the crowd, reached out instinctively.

on her lips. He smiled back, a genuine, unburdened smile I hadn't seen

an next to me gushed. "

ir past, their shared history, stories I was merely an audi

ter she left?" another voice cut in. "S

," a third person added. "He'

rld, or at least this tournament, and here she was. My

like it was spinning out of control. The cold steel of a stranger's hand on my arm, the whispered threats, the frantic st

state-of-the-art security system, he'd brushed it off. "Audrey, darling, you'r

nightmare, he'd merely offered a pat on the head.

p blade. To him, my fears were an inconvenience. Her needs, her past, her he

I wouldn't cry here. Not now. Not in front of this crowd

ble, not unkindly. "She always loo

. Adrift in a sea of his past, a

niscing. "Taught her everything she knows, th

Audrey came along and nursed him b

vy in my gut. I had built my life around him, helped him transition from golf to tech, celebrat

voice, when it came, was a tigh

too busy looking at Kristal, a soft, al

ried again, lo

cused for a moment as they landed on me. A flicker

ched himself from Kristal, but not complet

voice shaking despite my be

te drumbeat. I needed him to say my name. I

Kristal, who now looked down demure

lapped him on the shoulder. "It's for Kristal, right,

ed through the ai

night," another friend added. "Rushing to comf

me up for dinner. He had said

eyeing for Audrey's anniversary gift, Brandon?" someone el

e air, a cruel, public accusation. The whispers started