Cerita Pendek Obsessive Romance & Novel Independence Marriage

Lily Harper was my husband Victor Carter's first love. The day she got divorced, Victor dressed up and headed out with the newest toy on the market for her son. That was the day I started teaching our son, Arthur, to call him "Mr. Carter." He skipped Arthur's first-day-of-school assembly to take Lily's son, Leo, to an amusement park. I told Arthur, "Mr. Carter has a lot of work to do." When Lily called to say her place felt empty, Victor walked out on us on Christmas Day. I comforted my heartbroken son. "Let Mr. Carter go do his work. Mommy will always be here with you." Later, the two boys got into a fight at school, and the teacher called us in. Victor stood across from Arthur and me, right beside Lily. Arthur clenched his fists. "Mr. Carter, your precious Leo hit me first." When we got home, Victor realized how badly he'd hurt Arthur and decided to throw him a huge birthday party. In the middle of the party, Lily called again, crying because Leo had a fever. Victor put his phone down and gave Arthur an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I..." Arthur looked back at him, his face blank. "It's okay, Mr. Carter. I have Mom. That's enough."

On the way back from our pre-wedding trip, the yacht hit a reef and started taking on water. There were five of us on board, and only four life jackets. My fiancé, Ethan Clarke, slipped the last life jacket over my adopted sister Sienna Shaw's shoulders and fastened the buckles for her. "I might as well tell you the truth now. "Sienna's pregnant with my baby. Nothing can happen to her." Before I could say a word, Owen Ford, my childhood friend, stepped in front of me. "You've had years of happiness that should've been hers. This time, give her a chance to live." My brother, Adrian, wouldn't meet my eyes. "Mom and Dad know about it too. You've always been a better swimmer than Sienna. You'll figure something out." Sienna cradled her belly and looked at me through her tears. "I'm sorry. But out of five people, someone has to stay behind." So this pre-wedding trip was really just a celebration of their baby and a farewell they'd planned for me. The yacht slowly began to sink. They jumped into the sea, and not one of them looked back. Half an hour later, a rescue boat came cutting through the waves. I stayed in the cabin, yet I was the first to be rescued. If five was too many, I'd be better off alone.

At the party the night before our wedding, I came across a couples' challenge post online: [If I weren't an option, who would you most want to marry?] I smiled as I asked my fiance, Julian Hayes. He didn't hesitate. "Vivian." Vivian Bennett was my younger sister. My best friend chimed in. "Honestly, Vivian does understand him best. Every time you two fight, she's the one who stays up talking to Julian until dawn." Vivian reached over and gave him a playful punch on the chest. "Better keep your fiance in line, sis. Can't have him pining after me all the time." The whole table erupted in laughter. My mother, Margaret Bennett, gave an amused tsk. "It's just a joke. Besides, Vivian never complains the way you do. It's only natural that Julian likes her." Julian glanced at me. "It was just a joke. What, you can't take one again?" I didn't respond. I looked down at the confirmation form the wedding planner had just sent over. The gown, the bouquet, the music, the menu. All chosen to Vivian's taste. So this wedding, from start to finish, had only one thing that was mine: my name in the bride's place. If it didn't matter who the bride was, then there was no point in having this wedding at all.

Before the wedding, I received a deduction alert from our joint account. Amount: $1,314. Merchant: Love hotel. Note: One last fling before the wedding. The cardholder was Ethan Greyson. The one who’d used it was his childhood friend, Sophie. I stared at my phone, my fingers ice cold. Sophie was sitting in the bridesmaids’ dressing room touching up her lipstick, wearing Ethan’s suit jacket over her shoulders. She saw the notification and came over with a smile. “Amber, don’t get the wrong idea. “I forgot my wallet, so I used your husband’s joint account to get a room to rest. “He said you’d be sharing finances anyway, so he let me charge it this once.” I looked at Ethan. His first instinct wasn’t to explain, but to turn off my phone. “Sophie just went through a breakup. She’s in a bad place. “Don’t humiliate her over a little money right before the wedding.” Before, she’d charged things to his supplementary card, and he’d say she was short on cash. She’d book couple’s suites using his membership, and he’d say the hotel was safer. She’d send him suggestive selfies at midnight asking how she looked, and he’d say friends joke around like that. And now, she was spending our marital assets to sleep in a room he’d booked. Ethan coaxed me in a low voice, “After the wedding, I’ll transfer the money back to you. “From now on, I won’t let Sophie spend your money. “The apartment, the hotel rooms, me. All yours. Forever.” I looked at him and suddenly found those words laughable. So he did know these things were supposed to have boundaries. I didn’t argue anymore. Because there would be no forever.

Three years into our long-distance relationship, my daily conversations with Evan Crawford turned into a three-person group chat. He said the company was busy preparing for its IPO and that he didn't have time to check his phone. If I needed anything, I should tell his "buddy," Nicole Pearce, and she'd pass it along. From then on, everything came through Nicole: what time he left the office, when he traveled for work, what he took for his stomach pain. She knew every moment of his day. Every message I sent him just sat there on "unread." On my birthday, I asked in the group chat if he could spare ten minutes for a video call. Nicole replied, "The launch event is right around the corner. Don't distract him." And yet somehow he had time to like her latest Instagram post. The night the company went public, I took an overnight bus to the celebration dinner and arrived in time to hear him raise a toast. "I owe these past six months to Nicole. She took care of all the little things for me." When he spotted me, he frowned. "Why didn't you check in through the group chat first?" Nicole took the gift from my hands. "He's exhausted. Whatever you need to say, I'll pass it along." A wave of helplessness hit me. I pulled my hand back and left the group chat. If even missing him had to go through her, I had no reason to report my life to him anymore.

Five years ago, my family went bankrupt. When I had nowhere left to turn, it was my rival, Grant Ford, who threw me a lifeline. He paid off all our debts on one condition: I had to marry him. I assumed the marriage was revenge he'd been planning for years. Instead, for five years, he treated me like I was precious. He never even raised his voice at me. When my anxiety grew worse, he slept beside my bed for months and held my hand through every panic attack. Little by little, I let my guard down. For him, I even dulled my edge. Then, out of nowhere, an intern joined the company. She wore the clothes I used to love. She even copied the way I pitched ideas when I was younger. And she stole the project I'd spent eight months of late nights landing, all while I was pregnant. But Grant only smiled at her indulgently. "Let her try. It's good for young people to have some drive." When he turned to me, his voice was cool. "You've gotten too cautious lately. Let her take the lead on the project." I looked down at the milk stain on my sleeve from feeding our baby, Jamie. That was when I understood. He loved the defiant woman I'd been, not the wife he'd worn down. No wonder he was so eager to find a stand-in for the younger, sharper woman I'd been. But a replacement only gets her turn once the original leaves the stage. If he was so impatient, I'd give him what he wanted.