All Chapters of The Rejected Bride: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Chapter 21 "Regret is insight that comes a moment too late." — UnknownMy biggest regret was never returning to finish school. After all the drama of the first few years, I’d been too frightened to bring it up with the minister,and he’d never suggested it either. And with each passing year, I felt less and less inclined. The thought of peering with people growing progressively younger than me had no appeal whatsoever.Generally, I had grown accustomed to my life. It wasn’t the best, but I had become comfortable with it. I wasn’t losing out on anything.Or so I thought.It was Christmas of 2003, the year I turned 23. As was our habit, I accompanied the minister for a high society wedding in france. The son of Dr. Steven, the owner of the only hospital in Boston, was marrying a girl from another esteemed medical family in the UK. It had been just like any other high society political wedding, but the moment I clapped eyes on the b

Chapter 23"Better to be awakened by a painful truth than lulled to sleep by a seductive lie." —Dr. Phil McGraw"Why did you bring so many suitcases home?" Damien asked, stepping into the dimly lit room where I had sequestered myself. His voice carried the weight of exhaustion, but I refused to acknowledge it."How long are you here for?""I'm not going back," I answered curtly, my fingers tightening around the fabric of my dress. "Orion is dead. Is there any real reason for me to return to America?"Damien exhaled sharply. "The Minister is your husband, Zeynep," he implored, his eyes pleading. "And he has been good to papa.""Really?" I scoffed, a hollow sound escaping my lips. "Even though he hasn’t sent you anything in years? Every rupee you've spent recently has come from me." I leveled him with a hard stare, my voice dropping lower. "Do you even care about our marriage? Do you really?"A long silence stretched between us. For the first time in my li

Chapter 25 “opening up to people is a scam, don't do it” Sophie smith I was twenty three, and small for my age but had all the curves in the right places. My arms were twisted behind me, wrists bound together with rough yellow nylon rope. My legs were spread apart, my right foot tied tight to the leg of the heavy coffee table, the left to the wooden frame of the couch. The rope cut deep into my ankles, and blood trickled down my legs, mixing with the sweat and dirt that was poured on my skin. My face throbbed, swollen from the blows, one eye bulging and shut, the other barely open. Through the haze, I could see my father lounging in the armchair, a beer bottle dangling from his fingers. I didn’t look at the man on top of me. He was breathing hard, sweating, cursing under his breath. He was hurting me. When he finished, he slapped me so hard my head snapped to the side. He laughed, and my father laughed too. Then they laughed harder, doubling over like it was the funniest

Chapter 27"There are no secrets that time does not reveal." — Jean RacineWhat wasn’t normal though was the minister's new lady love. Over time, he had relegated Amanda to being his companion only during the day, when she would saunter around the house like she owned it, dishing instructions to the staff. They minister had cleaned her up, so she no longer looked quite as dirty and unrefined as she used to. But that wasn’t even the bizarre part of the situation.One evening, I noticed him with another woman, a much younger woman this time. On the one hand, I was happy that Amanda's monopoly on the old man had come to an end, but on the other hand, I couldn’t help but feel threatened by the fact that his new woman looked almost as young as I did.She was very tall, over six feet, and even though she also wasn’t particularly pretty, she had more refinement than was the norm for his courtesans. As she walked into the lobby with h

Chapter 29 "We accept the love we think we deserve." Stephen Chbosky I didn’t go to my garden the next day, and from my window, I saw Jason milling around it, probably hoping to see me. I just couldn’t face him nor deal with my growing envy of him and his accomplishments. I kept away from the garden for a few more days, but the urge for the comfort my flowers gave me was soon too much of a pull. Almost a week after staying away, very early on a Saturday morning before most of the household awoke, I went down there to meditate. I knew I had to come up with a plan for my life, no matter how painful for me such a plan would be. “I thought I’d said something to offend you,” came Jason’s voice, making me jump. I hadn’t expected him to be there so early, and also on a Saturday. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” “Why are you here at the crack of dawn?” “I stayed over last night to help clean out the ponds and aviary,” he answered. “I take on any additional wo