He Thought I'd Stay: His Mistake

hite dress for a surprise he had planned. I spent all afternoon gettin

l ballroom, the banner read, "

y, he got down on one knee and proposed

one he once showed me, saying it was fo

friend." His new fiancée smiled sweetly and told me their marriage

al plan: "Karyn is my wife for show, but

just accept being h

ber I'd never dared to call before-the

claim my in

s. Ford. The stipulation is a marria

ack. My life wit

pte

also the day he was coming back from his three-month business tr

imple but full of promise: "Ember, wear th

ge, about a future, about spending the rest of our

inally put on the white dress he mentioned. It was a designer piece he' d bought for me last year,

What would he say? Would he cry? I felt a thrill of anticip

ified. The entire top-floor ballroom was booked. My heart swelled with joy.

tor, my smile ready, my "Y

reeted me made my sm

, glowing lights. A banner hung across the back wall, but the word

ng for me. He was holding the hands of another woman, Kary

own on o

nd family, their famil

he used when he whispered sweet things to me. "We' ve known e

th tears. She looked be

wasn't just any ring. It was his mother' s, a family heirlo

silent room. "She always wanted me to give it to the woman I would

ut a sob of

marry me?"

and times, ye

erupted in

, almost reverently. He told me it was for his future wife. I had

s knew he'd end up with Karyn. He's been

ing my chest. My four years with him, o

ply did Chace finally see me standing by the entrance. His eyes widened

g a still-beaming Karyn with him. "The

yn, this is Ember Ford, a...

sual, as if he were introducing a stran

s a physical blow. I

dn't reach her eyes. "It' s so lovely to finally me

like honey la

to form a single word, my

ate diamond chain, identical to the one Chace had given me fo

her

uch now feeling foreign and unwelcome. "Karyn' s family is moving back

al thing in the world. As if he expected

d, that I just nodded. I couldn't pro

ut, turning away from them before they

d the restroom,

ful, happy woman who had arrived an hour ago was gone. In her place was a pale,

I heard voices from the hallway. It w

osing to Karyn right in fro

ing my ear aga

e big deal? The Warrens and the Mcfarlands are merging. This

?" his fri

it. Karyn is my wife, but Ember... Ember can be my woman. The one who actually satisfies me. Karyn knows t

woman, a tool f

mmer blow to my already broken heart. Te

ll love you forever." "You're the onl

, had a shelf li

ie. His promises

ed four years of my life to, saw me

t I would just accept this? He thought I would stay a

o

never dared to call. A number given to me by my estranged father' s lawyer just before he died. "Call t

sequence of lies that had destroyed my mother. I never want

Mosley, this is Ember Ford. I

it

ame. It was formal, direc

on in your father's will is a marri

rs. Marry a stranger? It was insane. But staying with Chac

my only

ed my

es