Chapter 3

Just then, Patricia stopped dodging and raised an eyebrow. "Are you throwing another fit? You get to have things your way, but what about your grandmother? Are you just going to leave her to die?"

I thought of Grandma lying in her hospital bed, little more than skin and bones.

My body went rigid, and a lump rose in my throat. By the time I'd nearly cried myself dry, my voice came out flat. "You can have the house. Just please, promise me you'll keep Grandma alive."

Patricia smiled and reached out to stroke my hair. But before she could touch me, I caught a whiff of Marvin's cologne on her.

I instinctively stepped back. "Don't touch me. You're disgusting."

Patricia let out an exasperated laugh. "Oh, so you can't stand me? Fine. I'll give you some time to get used to it. But once we're married, you'll just have to accept it."

She sounded completely unbothered, as though she was certain I'd never leave her.

I was too exhausted to even speak to her anymore. All I could think about was Grandma's recovery. Once she was better, I'd take her somewhere far away from here.

What I hadn't expected was that Patricia would hold a grand wedding for Marvin.

I grabbed the hem of her jacket, pleading, "Patricia, you're practically announcing this wedding to the whole town. What if Grandma finds out? She might not be able to take it."

She merely pinched the bridge of her nose, sounding impatient. "Our wedding upset Marvin enough as it was. I'm going to give him the grand wedding he deserves.

"I'll have someone assigned to watch your grandmother. Nothing will happen to her. Oh, and Marvin needs one more groomsman. You'll do."

A sharp pang went through my chest, and I stared at Patricia in disbelief. "After the way he's treated me, you expect me to stand beside him as his groomsman?"

She ruffled my hair with a smile. "You've been through a wedding before. Consider yourself experienced."

The memory of our disastrous wedding left me with nothing more to say.

After that, I simply went through the motions. I delivered invitations for them while Marvin watched with a malicious smile.

Gordon took one look at me and immediately sneered. "I went to the homewrecker's wedding once. That was more than enough. Going twice is too much of a disgrace."

Amelia rolled her eyes too.

"Marvin's the only man I recognize as my brother-in-law," she said. "No one else gets my blessing."

One after another, our friends and family said no before I could even hand them the invitations. Some even threw them in my face, then launched into a tirade.

"You were always going on about how much you hated homewreckers. And now you're the one tearing a family apart. You're disgusting!"

I mechanically told them that Marvin was the groom. Their hostility vanished the moment they heard that, and they promised to be there.

Even Susan Jones, Patricia's mother, made a point of handing the family heirloom pendant to Marvin right in front of me.

She said sharply, "Honestly, what kind of son would you expect from a woman who broke up someone else's marriage? And he actually had the nerve to demand a wedding from Patricia.

"Homewreckers these days have no shame. Thank goodness Patricia is marrying Marvin publicly. Otherwise, I'd be letting down this entire family."

The sheer humiliation left me so shaken I could barely stay on my feet.

Even then, Patricia merely frowned and spoke with a hint of reproach. "Mom, that's enough. You're taking it too far."

Then, she glanced at Marvin as he showed off the pendant and chuckled. "That's my man. Even a family heirloom looks better on you."

All the hurt I'd kept bottled up for so long finally spilled over.

I gathered everything that documented my relationship with Patricia, ready to set the record straight with the people around us.

But before I could get the truth out, my phone was flooded with a barrage of vile messages. The calls started coming one after another, each one full of abuse.

Explicit photos of me were plastered all over the internet, with captions branding me a shameless homewrecker.

Before long, the scandal was trending across the city. The headline read, "Man Sleeps With His Own Brother's Wife While Brother Is Abroad Receiving Treatment."

The post even included the very records I'd put together. But everything Marvin had done had been twisted to make it look as though I'd done it.

Patricia saw how the online abuse had left me too afraid to step outside. Then, without an ounce of shame, she admitted that it had all been her doing.

She looked at me calmly as though I were a child throwing a tantrum. "Brad, you're not thinking straight. Marvin is the father of my child. I can't let you ruin his life."