Uma mãe de aluguel

When Morgan Sweeney came back, I had just finished clearing out every last thing in the house that had anything to do with our wedding.

Our wedding had been two days ago, but she had left me standing at the altar in front of everyone.

After spending the past two days with her first love, she had finally remembered that she had a fiancé.

Morgan placed a watch on the table. It was the one I'd once loved most.

She bit her lip, a trace of guilt in her eyes. "Anthony, you've had a rough few days. Take this watch as my apology. I know I was being too selfish. Are you still mad at me?"

She lowered her gaze. Her dark eyes glistened with tears and brimmed with unease and remorse.

In the past, whenever she looked at me like that, even my greatest anger would have melted away.

But now, I felt completely calm. Not even the slightest ripple stirred in my heart.

I had loved her, so everything she did and said had mattered to me. I cared when she ignored me. I cared when she treated me coldly. But now, I'd completely given up on her.

I flipped through the book in my hands without looking up. "Yeah, it's fine."

Morgan froze for a moment. The explanation she'd been about to give died in her throat.

She stared at me in surprise, and something strange flickered in her eyes. She probably thought I'd react the way I used to. She expected me to stay up all night demanding answers, then desperately and pathetically beg her to stay. Or maybe she expected me to lose control and make a scene.

Truthfully, when she dropped the ring and ran toward Leonardo Bloom, even I thought I'd react like a character in a TV drama and rush forward to fight for my place beside her. When the moment actually came, though, I was unbelievably calm.

On our wedding day...

Just as Morgan picked up the ring and was about to slip it onto my finger, the church doors opened.

It was Leonardo, her first love and the man she'd never been able to forget.

Five years ago, Leonardo had broken up with Morgan because he'd chosen practicality over their relationship. She had desperately tried to win him back, but nothing worked.

On the day Leonardo left the country, Morgan rushed to the airport as soon as she heard the news. She chased after him, crying and begging him not to leave her. Every word carried desperation. Every sentence came through tears. None of it mattered. Leonardo never even looked back.

After he left, Morgan lost her appetite and barely ate. She couldn't even hold her liquor, yet she drank so much that she ended up in the hospital.

Back then, I was the one who stayed by her side. I was the one who helped her through that heartbreak with nothing but sincerity.

And yet, the moment Morgan saw Leonardo again, she still wavered, even after everything he'd done to hurt her.

"Morgan, when we were 18, you told me that if we ever broke up, all I had to do was show up at your wedding and you'd leave with me," Leonardo said in a gentle, tender voice. "So now I want to know. Does that promise still stand?"

Morgan didn't say a word, but I could feel her body trembling.

I turned to her, my voice unsteady with uncertainty. "Morgan, don't go. If you leave, I'll forget you. I'll never be able to love you again."

The moment I finished speaking, Morgan answered through her actions. She didn't even spare me a glance. Right in front of every guest, she dropped the ring, gathered the skirt of her wedding dress, and ran straight toward Leonardo.

She threw herself into his arms and wrapped both arms tightly around his waist, as if he were a precious treasure she'd lost and finally found again.

Later, the two of them walked away hand in hand. Their silhouettes looked light and carefree.

Of course they did. They were the ones who truly belonged together. I had only entered Morgan's life because Leonardo had left. I was nothing more than someone who had stepped into the space he'd left behind and stayed by her side for a brief while.