Chapter Two: Cracks beneath the veil

The brightness of the morning sun crept through the curtains like though an uninvited guest, brushing against my face, awakening me from a sleep that never came. 

My dress still laid rumpled beside the bed, it's once pure silk now dull from tears and the weight of a night that had turned everything around. 

The house was quiet— too calm for a home that had just witnessed a wedding. 

Someplace down the hall, I could hear distant murmurs, reluctant footsteps, and the clink of porcelain against glass 

The room still retained the smell of rose candles and deceit. 

I rose, my legs heavy, my throat dry. I stared at my reflection in the mirror— with swollen eyes, my mascara appeared faintly and smeared like bruises under my swollen eyes. 

   The lady looking right at me didn't look like a bride. She looked more like a stranger wearing my skin. 

 A faint laugh echoed from downstairs and that was Helen's laugh. That same melodic, yet taunting sound that had once comforted me. 

Now it is scraped against my bones. 

I steadied my breath and opened the door. The smell of coffee drifted through the corridor as I moved barefoot down the stairs. 

At the base of the staircase, Benjamin sat at the dining table, still in his white shirt from the weeding. His sleeves rolled up, collar undone. 

He looked like sleep had evaded him as well. His tie was actually missing. 

Helen sat across him still and composed, sipping coffee like a queen not bothered about the chaos she had just stirred.

Her eyes met with mine. The smile she had on her lips froze for half a second before it resurfaced again, it was perfectly rehearsed"!!. 

" Good morning,sis", she said, her voice smooth as honey yet false.

" Morning", I replied, my voice cold.

Benjamin turned. His eyes met with mine. Soft, unpredictable, searching for forgiveness before he could even say anything.

" Audrey," he started, standing halfway from his chair. "You didn't come down last night.

 I,...I wanted to check on you." He stammered.

I met his gaze without flinching. " You were ... occupied."

The words hung in the air like smoke.

Helen dropped her cup down, seeming surprised.

He swallowed in hard. "It wasn't what it looked like".

I let out a little, but bitter laugh. Isn't that what people always say when it's actually what it seems like?".

Helen leaned back, folding her arms, her tone feigned innocence. " Oh, come on, Audrey. You misread things very easily. We were only just talking."

"Talking"? I stepped closer, the floorboards creaking beneath my feet. 

"You were just talking in the dark right? On my wedding night?".

Benjamin exhaled, rubbing hands against his face. "Helen came to check if everything was fine".

" Benjamin," I interrupted, my voice shaking but steady. " Don't insult me with lies. I saw her hand on your arm." 

Helen smirked, tilting her head. " And what if it was? He's your husband, no doubt about that, but he's not your prisoner. You can't chain a man's will just because you wear a....... Before she completed her statement, I left a hot slap on her cheek. 

The sound echoed through the dining room, very audible. 

Benjamin flinched but didn't say anything. Helen's hand flew to her cheek, her eyes opening in disbelief, narrowing down to fury. 

" How dare you?" She hissed, her composure cracking. "After all I have done for you?". 

"Done for me?" I snapped. "You made my parents' death feel like less of a tragedy and compromised with your selfish mother to turn my own home into a market of deceit. 

You stood beside me yesterday, smiling like a saint you pretended to be, when all along you were whispering poison into my husband's ear". 

Benjamin finally rose up, his voice low but firm. "Enough, both of you!!." 

His eyes lingered on Helen, heavy but with disgust and guilt. "Helen, I think you should leave." 

Helen's jaw dropped slightly. "Excuse me?" 

"I said leave!!", he repeated, his voice more intense this time around. 

Her eyes darted between us. " You're choosing her? After what we.... 

"Shut up!!". "Nothing happened, and nothing ever will. What I did..., what I allowed was very wrong. 

The silence that followed was deafening. Even the air seemed to be void of breath. 

Helen's lips trembled, and for the first time, I saw raw arrogance, hurt and humiliation as well. But she quickly masked it. 

"Fine," she said, standing up slowly. "Enjoy your perfect little marriage. 

She swept past me, I stood still without turning around until the sound of the front door closing faded into silence. 

Benjamin sank into his chair, exhaling deeply. He didn't bother to look at me. 

Finally, he spoke. "You weren't supposed to see that." 

"I wish I hadn't, I said softly. "But I did. "

He nodded, his eyes dark. 

"Helen's been..... Manipulative for months. I didn't see it back then, but maybe it's because I didn't want to. But last night, when she came to me, I knew I should have stopped her before she did anything but..... 

"Why didn't you?" I interrupted. 

His silence was my answer. Shame. 

He looked up, his voice cracking. 

" Because I'm weak, Audrey. And because I didn't know how to love someone like you... Someone pure. I feel like I don't deserve you. "

My chest tightened, the mixture of anger and pity colliding inside me. " You don't need to be perfect, you just have to be honest. "

He stood up and came closer. His hand hovered in the air before he dared touch my arm. " I'm sorry I can't erase what you saw, but I want to make certain things right. "

I looked at his hand, steady but trembling and just for that moment, I believed him. He was clothed with remorse and not arrogance. 

" I don't know if forgiveness comes easily, ” I murmured. 

He nodded slowly. "Then give me a chance to earn it." 

While we stood there still, outside, we heard a car engine start— Helen's car. The sound faded as it drove further .

I couldn't shake the feeling that truth was a da

ngerous thing. 

Because in a marriage like ours. Truth didn't just heal. It revealed. 

   And I feared what more it might uncover.