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“I know this may be a bit intrusive but what happened to Axel’s father?”
She was silent for a moment, and I instantly regretted saying anything to her. I was about to begin apologizing profusely when she cut me off.
“He didn’t want him when I told him I was pregnant. I didn’t want Axel growing up with a father who didn’t care. So, he left to pursue whatever stupid dream he had in mind in New York.”
“I’m sorry. That must suck.”
“It does but I’m happy. My son is healthy, and he is happy. That’s all I could ever want in life.”
We continued to drive away from the ranch. By the time we got back into town, the sun was now setting behind the mountainous horizon of Riverroad. I dropped Danny off and headed home. When I drew closer to the house, I noticed that Marcus’ truck was in the driveway.
I had been ignoring him the whole day. I had even silenced my phone so I wouldn’t hear his incessant buzzing. But now I was finally ready to talk. We were going to be married tomorrow, and I didn’t want the first time we spoke to be at the altar.
I exited out of the car and made my way to the door. When I entered, I could feel something wrong in the air. I heard low whispering in the kitchen, and I walked over to the area and stilled.
I didn’t know it was physically possible to actually feel your heart break, but I was sure that the tightening in my chest was my heart breaking.
Standing by the counter kissing and groping one another was Marcus and Ashleigh.
Here I had thought the whole day, he had been remorseful and sorry for what he had done. But no, instead he had invited the witch over to have a little touch and feel session.
“This has to be some fucking joke,” my voice came out calm and collected, but I was fuming on the inside. This man had disrespected me more in these past two days than any man had ever disrespected me in my entire life. That included Daniel, too.
They broke apart, and the shock was clear on both their faces.
This was exactly why I didn’t like people. It only brought pain and misery.
Present-day
I closed my eyes and allowed Danny to finish off my makeup. I had tossed and turned all night thinking over my decision on marrying Marcus. I still needed him. I couldn’t do this without him. So, I was stuck.
“There.” She finished applying the final touches, and she was done.
I opened my eyes and stared at myself in the mirror. Danny had done an amazing job. She had kept my makeup fairly natural. She used gentle pinks on my eyes that made my eyes stand out even more.
Unlike most days when I straightened my hair to get rid of the curls, I had left it to be in its natural curly texture. I had pinned it up, so it had a half up and half down style.
Danny stared at me through the mirror. “You make such a beautiful bride.”
“She does, doesn’t she?” Lara sniffed behind me. She dabbed her eyes with some tissues, trying to keep herself from ruining her makeup.
I stood from my chair and walked over to the dress all three of us had picked out. It was simple yet still so beautiful. Lara came to stand next to me and wrapped her arm around my waist. She squeezed me gently to her side.
“I gain another child today. All I have ever wanted for my son was to find peace and happiness again, and I am so glad he found it in you, Maddison. I will forever be grateful for what you are doing for my family.”
My heart squeezed a little. This was all a façade, but this façade was also bringing her such joy. Little did she know that this new daughter she was gaining would leave her family once she had acquired what she wanted.
“Now, let’s get you changed and married.” She laughed lightly.
We had opted to have the wedding at the local church and were using the back area for the reception. The wedding itself was fairly small. It was made up of about 50 people, the majority of which were Marcus’ people.
I had extended an invite to my parents, but I had not heard back, and I hadn’t expected to. I was the screwed-up daughter after all.
When I envisioned my possible wedding as a little girl, I never imagined it to be something like this.
