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“Wren.” His voice cracks.
“No.” I shake my head. “No. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to talk to you. You lied to me.”
“Please, let me explain.”
“What? So you can tell me more lies?”
“No. I want to tell you why I made the decision that I did.”
“Fine. Please, spew more of your bullshit lies. Get it over with, so I can get out of this dress.”
“What?” His face pales. He’s white as a sheet.
“I can’t marry you. You lied to me.” My voice cracks, as does my heart. It’s thundering in my chest. And while I’m used to that feeling where Marshall is concerned, this is a different kind of beat. Instead of overflowing happiness, it's sadness and despair.
“No. No. No. You don’t mean that. Let me explain it to you, please.”
“Whatever you have to say won’t change my mind, Marshall. I don’t know if I can do this.”
“No. You’re my fucking wife. What? You think you can just go and take your love and my daughter away from me?”
“She’s not your daughter!” I scream. I see the hurt flash in his eyes, and I feel the guilt weigh heavily on my chest, but the anger I have for him lying to me overpowers the guilt.
“You’re wrong, Wren. She is my daughter. I love her. You’re my wife. Right here.” He taps his chest over his heart. “I don’t need a fucking piece of paper to tell me either is true. Right here is where you, my wife, lives, and right next to you is our daughter.”
“You lied to me. What else have you not been telling me? What else have you lied about?”
I see his face drop, and I know whatever it is he has to say, I’m not going to like it. “Tuition.”
“What about it?”
“It’s a 50 percent reimbursement.”
“Are you kidding me? Why? Why lie to me about that?”
“Because!” he roars. “Do you have any idea what your smile does to me? One tilt of those lips of yours and my entire day is made. When I met you, you were struggling. You were walking everywhere and sleeping on the fucking couch. I listened to you tell me how you gave up your dream for his, and you never got your turn. You never got the opportunity to follow those dreams, and I wanted to be the one to give you that. I want to see you soar, baby. I want to stand back with our daughter and watch you reach for those goals. I want to tell her that she can be just like Mommy and never give up.”
The look in his eyes and the tone of his voice conveys what he’s telling me. He’s telling the truth. But he still lied to me. “Don’t you see? I’m not doing it on my own. Not if you’re paying for it.”
“You’re my wife, Wren. What’s mine is yours. Why can’t you see that? Why is it so hard for you to believe that nothing I have in life is worth shit to me if you’re not by my side to share it?”
His breathing is so heavy his chest is heaving with exertion. I know because I’ve been staring at his chest this entire time. I can’t look at him in the eye and not see the lies he’s told. “How am I supposed to believe you won’t lie to me again when it suits your needs?” I whisper. Even as the words pass my lips I know I’m being dramatic. Marshall has only ever done right by me and Madeline. I know I need to calm down, but the betrayal is still too fresh. Too raw.
He takes a step forward, and his index finger settles under my chin as he lifts my head. His eyes are swimming with tears as he looks me in the eye. “You believe me because it’s the truth. My brothers tried to warn me it was a mistake, but I wanted to give you the world. I was going to tell you. I just— Fuck, you’ve been so happy. The stress that used to weigh you down is no longer there, and I didn’t want to see it come back. I knew you would fight me every step of the way. I swear to you that’s all I’ve ever lied to you about.”
“The job?”
“The day care was Royce’s idea. Sure, I suggested you for the job, but no way would they have given it to you if you were not the best fit. These are their kids we’re talking about. My brothers are not just going to let anyone have that control. They needed someone that they trusted. And that was you.”
“The salary?”
“Owen. He’s the numbers guy. He chose what each position would make. It’s all new for us, so we let Owen take the lead on that.” He digs into his pocket and taps a few buttons on his phone.
