Chapter 3
Back in college, Ryan and I met during a debate tournament. He was the first speaker, and I was the second.
On stage, we went head-to-head, never backing down from each other. But offstage, we were truly the closest couple.
We had every meal together, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Every night, Ryan made sure to walk me back to my dorm. During the day, we were always glued to each other.
After graduation, Ryan went to work at his family's company. I landed a job at a private firm.
Work kept both of us busy all the time. But every weekend, we'd still be glued to each other.
We'd go shopping, catch a movie, and enjoy being together.
On Thanksgiving or Christmas, we'd take trips together, sometimes overseas, sometimes locally.
I always thought we were the perfect couple, from college sweethearts to marriage.
Until last night, I finally realized that Ryan only started chasing after me because his mom, Victoria Mitchell, watched his debate tournament video and said, "That girl's pretty nice. She'd fit right in with our family."
He put on the perfect boyfriend act for me, making sure I believed every bit of it. And he kept up the charade for a full seven years.
But the truth was that while he was dating me, he was still involved with the girl he'd been helping out financially since high school.
She came from a poor family, basically a scholarship kid.
They started dating back in high school, but Victoria broke them up without a second thought.
Ryan didn't want to break up. He even went on a hunger strike to protest.
But Victoria didn't hesitate. She threatened to stop supporting the girl financially and even threatened to ship Ryan overseas.
In the end, he gave in.
After he got into college, he started dating around like crazy.
But behind my back, he was still seeing that girl.
He even had a kid with her while we were still in college.
From start to finish, he was only with me to fool Victoria and hide the truth from her.
Finally, I agreed to marry him, and we'd already gotten our marriage license.
He couldn't take it anymore and decided to drop the act once and for all.
My heart ached like it was being sliced open.
And now at the wedding venue, I stared at those photos spread out in front of me, each one a picture of happiness. They were almost blindingly painful to look at.
I was barely holding myself back. It took everything I had not to march over and tear those photos to shreds.
So I wandered around the wedding venue, not knowing what to do with myself.
Time flew by, and before I knew it, it was already 11:30 AM.
The place was buzzing with activity. Every table was packed with guests.
Ryan's parents, still clueless about what was about to go down, kept coming over to hold my hand. "You look absolutely gorgeous in that wedding dress."
They were practically bursting with pride, showing me off to all their big-shot business partners.
But I just kept my cool and went through the motions.
If Victoria wanted me to greet someone, I did as she asked.
If she wanted me to smile, I put on a smile.
Even when guests asked where Ryan was, I calmly replied, "He's got a last-minute contract to deal with. He's always hustling and so ambitious that even on his wedding day, he can't tear himself away from work. So he'll be running a bit late."
Like always, Victoria gave me her usual nod of approval and praise, smiling as if I were the perfect daughter-in-law.
And just like that, time slipped by. It was already 11:50 AM.
Ryan finally showed up. But he didn't come alone.
He brought along the woman he'd been all over in the car last night. Tagging along with them was a kid I'd never seen before.
As soon as the kid walked into the hall, he rushed up to Victoria and wrapped his arms around her legs. "Grandma, I missed you so much," he called out.
Panic flashed across Victoria's face. She kept sneaking glances at me.
But Ryan was as laid-back as ever. "Mom, relax. I already told Melora everything. Last night, I told her all about Gracie and me. She didn't freak out or anything. Seriously, Mom, you picked a pretty chill daughter-in-law for me."
As he spoke, Ryan grabbed Gracie's hand, who was standing right next to him. Then he reached over and took my hand too.
He was actually trying to force the two of us to shake hands. "You two are meeting for the first time today, so go ahead, shake hands and say hi. From now on, you should totally hang out together, go shopping, and bond a little."
Gracie was exactly as shameless as I'd uncovered. She even grabbed my hand without a second thought, acting like it was totally normal.
Gracie smirked at me and said, "Melora, you are as pretty as Ryan always bragged.
"If you ever have any questions about Ryan, ask me. I've been with him for twelve years. I know him inside and out, emotionally and physically. Whatever you want to know, I'm your go-to."
She shot Ryan a sweet, almost mocking smile as she turned to him. "Ryan, you know you only landed such a knockout wife because of your mom. So don't you dare mess this up, got it?
"She's from a family of scholars. Her dad's a professor, her mom's a doctor, and she's working at some big-name company. She's got brains and class, different from me. Even with your family's help, all I could manage was a two-year college.
"I ended up getting hitched and popping out a kid early, and I didn't even get a proper wedding or a marriage certificate. So you better show her some respect."
She was smiling sweetly, but her words were anything but polite.