❧CHAPTER TWO.❧

Nicole.

The collective gasp from the congregation echoed off the walls, like a thunderclap of judgement. But not nearly loud enough to drown the silence in my chest.

I looked around trying to get a peek of their expressions.

I could almost hear them distinctively calling Marcus an asshole but that wasn’t what I needed to hear.

I needed to feel the ache in my chest lessen, anything to soothe the ache they had left behind.

“And the bride standing on that altar is my so-called best friend,” I said again like the betrayal hadn’t sunk in deep enough.

“What?” The priest was the first to speak before another series of whispers broke around.

My throat was getting dry and across from where I stood I could remember the way Marcus once looked at me.

Everything was a lie, the whole look of love, the vows he had said on our wedding day like he wanted me forever.

“I want to show you what love is, Nicole” He had said.

Was this it?

What a fucking joke.

“We are not married, Nicole” He looked at me, shaking his head “Not anymore”

The church was silent and it was loud against my skull.

“What?” I stared at him with disbelief.

Were we telling lies now?

My chest caved in. I stepped closer to the altar, whispering an apology to God as if that made any of this okay.

Being devoted all my life wasn’t enough for him to grant me protection from this?

“You don’t get to say that when I still have your ring on my finger.” I raised my right hand up to show him “You can’t fucking tell me that when you got up from our bed this morning!” I yelled, at the brink of tears.

Brittney stared at me and there was no way she wasn’t glad to see me losing my sanity in the front of the congregation.

What was the point of our friendship?

What was the point of everything?

“Nicole, let’s not do—“

“Shut that lying mouth of yours,Brittney” I cut her off. “You can’t tell me not to do this when this is my reaction to your action” I pointed at her with anger and hurt situated deep within my core.

“We didn’t mean to do this…” Brittney started.

“Didn’t mean to? You accidentally planned a wedding with my husband?” I let out a bitter laugh. “Congrats, Brittney. You are so clumsy”

“Stop this. We just started talking and we happened to fall in love, Nicole” and he had the audacity to look at her with a smile on his face.

My head rang and I reached for my hair, yanking at the roots, trying to focus on anything but the hurt trying to swallow me whole.

“How…..” I tried to find reasoning with the words he had just uttered but nothing was making sense. Nothing could quench this fire heating up my insides, trying to set me ablaze.

“She knows me better than you—“

“Spare me that fucking bullshit, Marcus” I yanked harder on my roots and began pacing, pausing to look back at him. “Did you ever consider me?”

I looked at Brittney “Did you for once think about how I was going to feel about this?”

God, I felt pathetic—So pathetic that it felt like I was drowning and there was no surface. No damn thing to hold on to.

The cut they had created was bleeding and it was killing me.

The air around me felt suffocating and it held me in a choke hold.

I needed to breathe.

I tried taking a deep breath but I just couldn’t.

I clutched my chest, pounding it like i could force the air back in. Like I could beat the betrayal out of my ribs but my lungs wouldn’t open. My knees buckled and Marcus reached out to help me but I didn’t want help. I wanted to disappear.

To the congregation it must have looked like I needed to be at an asylum but I just needed to breathe.

Fucking breathe Nicole.

I doubled over, holding my knees while heaving but nothing was coming out. Nothing was making me feel better.

“We wanted to tell you…”

“I had dropped off the divorce papers at the table.” Marcus picked up from where Brittney had stopped.

“What?” I stood straight from where I was hunched over.

“I had dropped it this morning before leaving”

I broke out in a fit of laughter but it had no wits.

“You had dropped off the divorce papers on your way to your wedding and assumed that settled it?” I gave him a mocking smile.

“If you’d just let me, I can explain,” He said in almost a whisper.

“Explain what?” I scoffed “How much of a coward you are?”

“You are making things hard, Nicole,” Brittney sighed.

“I am making things hard?” I retorted in disbelief. “You made me the maid of honor to your wedding knowing fully well my husband is the groom and I am making things hard?”

“Stop calling him that! He is not your husband anymore!” She yelled.

Oh, you poor thing.

“You think standing on that altar makes him yours now?” I laughed “I was once there. I stood there while he went on and on about how much he loves me, now where am I?”

She looked at me, seething like she had every right to be pissed.

“Yeah, you get it. He went for another wife without telling me. Don’t expect this marriage of a sham to be any different”

And if anything, I felt almost relieved at the look on her face.

“That’s enough, Nicole!” Marcus yelled, coming off the altar and marching straight to stand in front of me.

“Why? Your new bride can’t handle the truth?”

“Stop with your childish attitude,” He reached for my hand, trying to pull me towards the door but I pulled back, removing his hold on me.

“Do not fucking touch me!”I spat out in disgust.

“Nicole, people are watching,” He whispered.

“What? You don’t want them to know how much of a bastard you are?”

He glared at me. “Our marriage hasn't been good, what exactly are you fighting for huh?”

And there is was, the final insult. As if years of promises meant nothing to him.

I blame his fucking idiotic step-brother.

“I am pregnant Marcus!” I yelled out in frustration.

How dare him think I had no reason to react this way? The fact they were having a wedding while I was still married to him should be enough.

“What?”

“I am pregnant. Want me to spell it out to you?” I bit out.

He looked at me then at Brittney with widened eyes like the pregnancy was rocket science.

“You are a liar, Nicole.” Brittney spoke up after what felt like an eternity of silence.

“You must think I am low like you to pull off a stunt like that. I have no reason to lie about being pregnant”

“Shut up! You must really want him back, don’t you?”

I looked at her with my brow up, “Really? You already took him, didn’t you?”

I looked towards Marcus and he still stood frozen. I would have laughed if I had any mental strength to do so.

“Where are the results?,” Brittney asked with a sly smile.

Walking to my bag, I brought out the results, walked to the altar and flung them at her.

“This was the reason I was late to this forsaken wedding”

Scrambling, she picked up one of the papers off the floor and her eyes scanned through it.

“What?” She gasped “it shouldn’t be”

I turned to the people looking “There it is. I am carrying his child” I pointed towards Marcus, “While he has been fucking my stupid best friend.”

Everyone looked back at me with pity and I couldn't help but laugh.

Fuck my life.

“Nicole,” Marcus called and I turned back to look at the embarrassment I brought upon myself.

“Abort the child” He whispered like it was the only solution, like it didn’t destroy me.

He might as well have slapped me because those words stung harder than any physical hit.