Never Legally Mine

I stared at the marriage certificate on my screen, then looked again.

There was no mistaking the two names in the photograph.

Daniel Pierce. Sophie Bennett.

The date was today.

Our fifth wedding anniversary.

I kept staring until my fingertips went numb. Then I went to find Sophie.

Holding out my phone, I fought to keep my anger under control.

"You signed a marriage certificate with Daniel?"

Her expression changed. She didn't deny it.

The room tilted. I swayed, and when I spoke again, I couldn't stop my voice from shaking.

"Then what am I to you?"

Sophie sighed and softened her voice, coaxing me.

"Ethan, don't start. Daniel's having surgery soon, and the doctors aren't optimistic. Ever since we were kids, all he's wanted was to marry me."

She paused, then added as if it should have been obvious, "I'm just granting him one wish."

I was so angry I laughed.

"And you had to sacrifice our marriage to do it?"

"What do you mean, sacrifice our marriage?" Irritation sharpened her voice. "We had a wedding, didn't we? We've lived together all these years. What difference does the paperwork make?"

She shrugged it off.

"It's just a piece of paper."

And suddenly, I was back at our wedding five years ago.

I'd planned it myself, all to give her a wedding the whole city would talk about.

But as soon as the ceremony ended, she rushed away.

Daniel was having heart trouble.

That night, I sat alone in an empty hotel, surrounded by untouched food and wine.

She sent a single message.

"Daniel needs me. I'm going to check on him."

Later, she'd apologized. Told me over and over that she loved me.

"He's an old friend. I have a responsibility to look after him, but you're the one I love. You always have been."

I told myself he was ill. She was softhearted.

I let it go.

After the wedding, our honeymoon kept getting postponed.

The first time, Daniel needed a follow-up appointment abroad.

The second, he'd been admitted to the hospital again.

By the third, she didn't bother explaining. She simply told me to change the dates.

I let that go, too.

We'd make plans to celebrate a birthday together, and she'd cancel to find Daniel a specialist.

We'd arrange a dinner date, and she'd rush off to make him soup because he didn't feel like eating.

Even when I was the one in the hospital, she couldn't stay. She promised to spend the night with me, then walked out when Daniel called in the early hours.

I sat alone in my hospital bed and watched my IV drip.

And I swallowed that hurt, too.

Because I still believed I was the one she loved.

Our marriage had never been made legal, but we'd had a wedding. We'd shared five years of our lives.

I'd thought the certificate didn't matter.

Today, I finally understood.

It wasn't that the paper meant nothing.

She just didn't want to give it to me.

To make Daniel happy, she'd signed it without a second thought.

I closed my eyes. It felt as though something were crushing my chest.

Sophie was still trying to reason with me.

"Ethan, you really don't need to be upset. We're the ones who share a life. You're my husband."

"No."

I cut her off, my voice final.

"Daniel is your husband. I'm nothing."

For a few seconds, she just stared. Then her face hardened.

"Seriously, Ethan?"

Her voice was cold, her eyes full of disappointment.

"You'd say something that cruel over a little thing like this?

"I'm granting Daniel what could be his last wish, and you're making it sound like I betrayed you. When did you become so heartless? So petty?"

I looked at her, unable to answer.

To her, this really was a little thing.

My silence only seemed to make her angrier.

"Calm down. I don't want to talk to you when you're like this."

She walked out, slamming the door hard enough to make her point.

Usually, I would have chased after her. Apologized. Begged her to stop being angry and come home.

This time, I opened the wardrobe and took out my suitcase.

One by one, I folded my clothes and packed them away.

Once, I would have put up with any mood, done anything to make her happy.

Now she had a real husband.

I had no reason left to stay.