9 - Richard

My palms turned sweaty as I parked my car in front of the Williams mansion. It was Sarah and Elena's birthday today, and while I was happy to see Elena and celebrate with her, I couldn't say the same about Sarah. Things had not been the same between us for a while, and I was tired of ignoring it. I couldn't keep up with the pretense anymore.

With barely three weeks to our wedding, every issue we'd ever had seemed amplified. Perhaps I'd lost interest, call it cold feet, but it felt bigger than that. There was a part of me that kept wondering if the only reason she and I even started dating was the knowledge that we'd end up eventually, through our arranged marriage.

But the catch was... would we have? The woman my parents had chosen was Elena. If I hadn't...if that night hadn't happened, would I have been married to Elena now?

I ran a hand through my hair and drew a shaky breath. It didn't matter now, did it? There was no going back in time to change anything, and loss of interest or n