Not Yours to Control
On our wedding day, my boyfriend, Hayden Grant, had me thrown out of the chapel. Instead, he walked down the aisle hand-in-hand with his childhood sweetheart.
I went back in and collapsed at the side of the aisle. The bouquet slipped from my hands, and scattered petals fell everywhere. However, his eyes did not linger on me for even half a second.
"Selena's child needs a dad. Once that's taken care of, I'll marry you."
Everyone thought I, the lovesick fool, would willingly wait another month.
After all, I had already waited for him for seven years.
However, that night, I did something no one expected.
I agreed to my parents' arranged marriage and left the country.
Three years later, I returned home to visit my parents.
My husband, William Fields, was the CEO of a multinational corporation. When an unexpected, important meeting came up, he asked me to head to the company's branch back home ahead of him, where his subordinates would take care of me.
To my surprise, one of those subordinates turned out to be Hayden, the man I had not seen in three years.
His eyes went straight to the sparkling diamond on my ring finger.
"Is this a knockoff of that pink diamond Mr. Fields bought for his wife that's worth five million dollars? I didn't expect you to become so vain after all these years.
"You've stirred up enough drama. Come home. Selena's kid is in school now, so it's the perfect chance for you to take care of his lunches."
I did not say a word and just traced the ring with my fingertips.
He had no idea that this was the cheapest of all the gems William had ever given me.