B
The incident at the wedding soured what should have been a joyous occasion. I spent the rest of the day with a forced smile plastered on my face.
Chapter 2
After the last guest had left, I collapsed onto the bed, physically and emotionally drained.
Vera snuggled up next to me, her hand gently stroking my chest.
“Don’t be angry,” she murmured. “So this wedding wasn’t perfect. I’ll make it up to you with an even better on
someday.”
“For now, let’s think about our honeymoon. A trip around the world, maybe?”
“We’ve both been working so hard for so long. Let’s use this time to finally relax, okay?”
The thought immediately lifted my spirits. Although Vera and I often traveled for business, it was always a whirlwind of meetings and flights. We never had the chance to truly experience the beauty of the places we
visited.
I propped myself up next to her and started looking up destinations on my phone. But with every search images of Ross and Aria, the travel influencers, would pop up, dampening my mood all over again.
Vera, sensing my anxiety, pulled me into her arms and found a much more stimulating way to distract me.
I was so exhausted that I fell into a deep sleep and didn’t even realize when we boarded the plane. I only woke up when we were already cruising at thirty thousand feet.
We took a two-month honeymoon, visiting five different countries. I filled my social media with countless photos. Buried deep in the comments of one post was a message from Aria.
[Didn’t you used to hate traveling?]
I didn’t see it until we had landed back home. I was baffled. I had never hated traveling; in fact, I loved it. I just believed that traveling without a solid financial foundation was a recipe for anxiety. My plan was always to work hard, build a secure future, and then go wherever I wanted.
I had explained all of this to Aria before, but she had always been convinced that her perspective was the only correct one. That, I suppose, was the real reason we were destined to fail.
This time, however, I had no intention of answering her question. I went to her profile and blocked her.
After two months off, despite handling some work remotely, a mountain of it had piled up. Vera and I both dove back into our jobs, only seeing each other late at night.
One evening, I walked out of the office to find it was raining. My driver was on leave, so I called Vera to ask
for a ride. Our offices weren’t far apart, about a ten-minute drive. I decided to wait by the entrance rather
than go back inside.
As I was looking down at my phone, I noticed a long shadow stretching out behind me.
My heart hammered in my chest. Before I could move, a cloth was clamped over my mouth, and the world
went black.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw Aria’s back. I looked around. We were at the courthouse, the very one
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where we were supposed to sign our divorce papers in our past life.
I tried to move and found my hands and feet were bound.
“Aria! What are you doing? This is kidnapping! It’s a crime! Do you want to end up in prison with Ross?”
Her body stiffened. She turned to face me, her gaze unnervingly gentle. “Fred, you’re awake.”
“Don’t mention Ross. I hate him. He’s the one who ruined our relationship. If it wasn’t for him, we would have
been together long ago.”
A nostalgic look entered her eyes.
“What do you want?” I asked, my voice wary.
“Fred, don’t be so defensive. I love you. I just want you to be my husband.”
“I was with Ross for three years. We saw so many places, but I just felt… tired. He’s a great boyfriend, but he’s
not husband material.”
“You and me… can we start over?”
The ropes were tight. I couldn’t break free. I decided to play along, to placate her. “Okay. Yes. But can you please untie me first? My hands are really hurting.”
Aria stared at me for a long moment, then a wide, beaming smile spread across her face.
“I’m so glad you’re willing to start over with me. But it’s not going to be the way you think.”
