The Wife They Cast Aside

elf to sleep on the f

ghter drifting up from the first floor. It was a so

. I slowly, painfully, pulled myself to my feet. The room was clean. Mrs. Gable must have finished while I w

sity, I limped out of my

e living room s

he was.

sibly beautiful and radiant. She was sitting on the sofa,

her every word. Mia was curled up at her feet, her head res

ssion one of such raw, unguarded love that it stole the breath from m

completely invisible.

You have to marry Mark! You have to save this family!" They had stripped me of my own simple dress and forced me into Sophia's extravagant wedding gown, which hung lo

n't recognize, pulled me back to the present. "I' ll have the s

sound that grated on my nerves.

er leaving her face. "We have ten

landed on me, standing on the bottom step

e like honey laced with poison. "It' s

se, Mia shot up from the flo

. "She' s evil! She tried to ruin our family! She said sh

al sadness. She looked at our parents, her lower lip

s turne

e wrote to me. Horrible letters, for years. She told me to never come back. She said Mark hated me and that M

etely fabricated, that I could onl

et, her face contorted with a righteous fury that was terr

d her hand, and this time, the slap was even harder than the one before. It sent me s

ve you everything! A life of luxury, a powerful husband! And this is ho

st. Mark, his face a mask of cold fury, believing every word. Mia, smirking with vindict

es and betrayal. And I was the outsider, the vil

nished, replaced by a profound, chilling emptiness. Th

of them one last time, memorizing their faces-the fa

ed the front door, walked out into the