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“Now, Nathan, is there something that I need to know? When I asked you about this woman and the photo, you told me that it was innocent. If it was innocent, why is she here, talking about she is, well, was your woman?” Veronica asked. Before he could respond, she held her finger up. “Nathaniel Dennis Morrison, you have already lied to me once. Please don’t do it again.”

Memoree Layne was impressed by the way Veronica handled their man. Nathan sat there for a moment with his thoughts beating against his head. He knew the risk if he lied to Veronica again. He had already done her in a way that she didn’t deserve. He also had done Memoree Layne in a way she didn’t deserve either. He was in a situation where he had bagged two amazing women, but there was only one who he truly loved.

He pulled the seat from the empty table that was in the room, then sat down. His elbows rested on his thighs as his head bowed. “Man, Veronica, I am so sorry. You don’t deserve this.” His head shot up. “Neither do you, Memoree Layne. Both of you are good women.”

“So what? You got caught the fuck up because it doesn’t seem like you had any intentions on leaving either of us,” Memoree Layne said. She tried her best to keep her tone leveled, even though she wanted to fly across the room and knock the Mario coins out of this nigga.

“Um, Veronica, I love you, and when we started talking, and you told me that you planned to practice celibacy until you were married, I didn’t believe you. I thought that I could break you, but I found out that I couldn’t. That’s when I knew I loved you, but the shit was hard.”

The women sat silently as they listened to him talk. Veronica’s and Memoree’s hearts broke increasingly as he spoke. It seemed like no one would leave this room happy tonight.

“Memoree, when I met you, I was in a weak spot, and I just let our shit get carried away. You are such a good fuckin’ woman, so I kind of wanted my cake and eat it too. I knew at some point that I would have to let what we had go. Shit, after I left your apartment the other day, I was lowkey happy that your sister shared the photo because it gave me my out with you,” he said with little emotion.

Veronica’s head bucked back. “How can you speak so callously to her? Yes, I told you that I was not going to have sex with a man unless he was my husband. You said that you understood and respected that.”

“Baby, I did. I just got weak,” Nathan claimed. He had been weak alright.

Now Memoree Layne’s head bucked. “You were weak for two years, Nathaniel? I could see if we were fuck buddies or some shit. No, we were in a committed relationship. You met my parents on several occasions.”

That pulled a chuckle from Veronica. “Wow, two years? So we’ve been together for three years, and you’ve been with her for two. I guess it was easy to miss it since I don’t allow you to spend the night at my house.”

“Yep, that’ll do it,” Milan Renee mumbled. Until her mumbled words, she sat in the room with Sasha like a fly on the wall. “Don’t mind me. I’m just here to make sure my sister is safe.”

“Yeah, that explains how I missed the fact that he was in another relationship. He spent a lot of nights at my house. No, we weren’t on social media like you two because he claimed he was private. Now I see that he was hiding me,” Memoree Layne said with a titter. “Here I thought he was hiding me because he was ashamed of my albinism.”

Veronica nodded. “I didn’t want to ask. You are beautiful, though, either way. I can see why he likes you.”

The words felt weird in the atmosphere of the room, but so did the whole situation. How should this situation have been handled? Both women were mature enough to know that Nathan was the issue, not them.

“Veronica, like I said, I wanted to drop his things off because I knew he would be here. He is not welcome back at my place. You are very beautiful as well,” she complimented genuinely. “We’ll get out of your hair so you can salvage the rest of your night.”

Both women fought back tears. Milan Renee cleared her throat. She felt like Nathan would get off a little too easily after he’d demolished two women’s hearts. “Veronica, there are two other women that you may want to have a conversation with. After I posted the photo, you weren’t the only one that contacted me. I’ll send you their information.”

Nathan’s eyes bucked. Yeah, he had two other females that he fucked with, but that was all it was. He made sure not to make the same mistake twice by leading on other women. He wasn’t even sure why those women reached out to Milan Renee, because they knew he had a woman.

Veronica crossed her arms over her breasts. “Oh, really?” She glanced at her man. “You’ve been a busy boy. Ladies, there is a lot of food, and we have to-go plates. Please take a plate to go. It would be a shame to leave and not have at least eaten.”

Milan Renee sucked her teeth. “You don’t have to tell me twice. This is one of my favorite restaurants.”

Nathan stood. “Baby, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think they⁠—”

“I didn’t ask you what you thought. You want to think now? You should have done that before you decided to break the hearts of women.” She giggled. “You know what’s funny? Yesterday, I prayed and asked God to give me a sign if you were the man for me before you potentially proposed. God works fast and precise, I tell you.”

Once again, Veronica led the way. Moments later, they were back in the main room where the party was held. All eyes were on them. It was clear that a lot of conversation happened after they left the room.

“Everyone, this is Memoree Layne, her sister, Milan Renee, and her best friend, Sasha. Memoree Layne has given me one of the best gifts tonight, and I wanted to publicly thank her.” Veronica saw some eyes go to the three suitcases that were at the presents table. With a giggle, she said, “Those three gifts that they came in with were a gift for Nathan, technically. The gift that she gave me was the gift of clarity and freedom.

“See, Nathan and Memoree Layne have been in a relationship for two years. I won’t go into details. I just want you to know that she is not the bad person here; Nathan is. I asked God for a sign, and she walked in tonight to let me know that he is not the man that God has for me,” Veronica said.

The crowd muttered while Nathan stood frozen with shock. He couldn’t believe this shit was happening in front of his parents. His parents looked on with disappointment, embarrassment, and pity. There was a ring in his pocket that he planned to present to Veronica tonight, and now that shit was over. It wasn’t just any ring either. It was the ring that his father proposed to his mother with. He stepped in front of the woman that he loved. “Baby, please don’t do this.”

“I didn’t do this . . . You did,” Veronica said. She reached out and grabbed his hands. “I promise it’s alright. I’m hurt, but I’m not mad. You knew that this was a deal breaker, but you still chose to take the risk. Now it’s time for you to deal with the consequences.”

Memoree Layne stood there in awe of this woman. She couldn’t even be sure if she was a woman, because Veronica’s demeanor screamed saint or angel. Veronica was raised with extremely high moral values that she lived by. She thought that she’d found a man who shared the same values. Her purity promise was something that she took seriously from the day she made it when she was fourteen years old. It was a promise that she made to God, herself, and her parents that she had no intention of breaking. She was proud that she hadn’t.

There were a few weak moments when she almost slipped with Nathan, but she got herself together. After she almost slipped, she knew that they couldn’t spend the night together. Little did she know, Memoree Layne knew she wouldn’t have missed much.

Memoree glanced over to the buffet table that was set up and saw Milan Renee and Sasha. They had to-go plates and were doing just as Veronica had given them permission to do. They moved with haste so that they could leave. It was awkward as hell in the room now that everyone knew that Nathan was a fuck boy, and Memoree Layne was the other woman, for all intents and purposes.