Chapter 5

I looked at him, my tears falling even harder. "If you really loved me, you wouldn't have lied to me for eighteen years. If you cared about this family, you wouldn't have done something like this.

"Rupert, what you call love is so empty and selfish.

"You've only ever cared about yourself. You wanted the comfortable life I gave you, but you also wanted to keep your promise to her. You treated both of us like tools for your own selfish desires."

"That's not true!" Rupert grabbed my hand, his grip cold and shaking.

"There was nothing going on between us. We lived under the same roof, but slept in separate rooms. It was just companionship, like family—nothing more," he said.

"Separate rooms? Like family?"

I yanked my hand away, his icy touch making my whole body go numb. "Rupert, do you really expect me to buy that crap?"

The words "Together for 7,305 days" on our couple's profile stung my eyes like a hot iron.

To a seventeen-year-old girl, 'being together' was all about that secret heartbeat and needing to belong to someone. But for Rupert, it was just some lame excuse about 'family companionship.'

"It's true!" Rupert was sweating, his voice almost desperate. "You can ask her, ask anyone in Folnville. We never crossed the line.

"The courtyard was huge, just sitting there empty. I just wanted her to have somewhere to stay.

"She's had it rough. If her family hadn't forced her to marry away back then, things would've been different…"

"Enough!" I cut him off, my voice sharp and my chest heaving. "Sure, her life's been tough, but what about me?

"I've been married to you for eighteen years, raised our kids, worked myself to the bone for this family. I thought we were each other's support, the rock our kids could always count on.

"But I never realized I was just your backup plan, the one you picked after weighing your options. I was just the face of your so-called 'happy family,' while she's the one you've kept close to your heart for twenty years, the one you just can't let go of!"

Rupert's face turned pale, his lips trembling as he tried to speak, but not a single word came out. He looked like he was choking on everything he wanted to say, but just couldn't.

He knew deep down that any excuse he made would crumble before the undeniable truth. It was useless to even try.

I remembered last March, when he came back from that so-called "business trip" with a little red mark on his neck.

I asked him about it, and he just brushed it off with a laugh, saying it was a mosquito bite he'd scratched too much.

I didn't think twice back then, even went and found him some anti-itch cream.

But now, looking back, who was I kidding? That was no bug bite. It was obviously a love bite, left behind by someone he'd gotten way too close to.

And every time he came back from those so-called "business trips," there was always this faint perfume lingering on him, a scent I didn't recognize, and definitely wasn't mine.

He'd claim it was just a sample from a client, something that got on him by accident.

I actually bought it, even complimented the smell without a second thought.

Turns out, all those little signs were screaming the truth at me. I just refused to listen.

Blinded by love and trust, I spent eighteen years lying to myself, refusing to see what was really going on.

"That silver ring," I said, my voice so shaky I could barely speak as I stared at the band on his left ring finger. "You bought it with her, didn't you? Don't tell me it was some college keepsake you got on your own."

Rupert's eyes went dark, his lashes casting a shadow as he looked down, trying to hide the panic in his eyes.

He didn't say a word, but that silence was the cruelest answer of all.

"I always thought that ring was proof of our love," I said, my voice shaking as I tried to hold back the tears.

I let out a bitter laugh, tears streaming down my face. "I even said it looked good, that it meant we'd last forever.

"But now, looking at it, what a joke.

"That ring isn't about us at all—it's the witness to twenty years you couldn't let go of another woman, and eighteen years you lied straight to my face."

He suddenly looked up, pain written all over his face. "No, Lacie, please, just hear me out. That ring—back when we split up, I had a pair made just for us. One for me, one for her.

"I honestly thought I'd never see her again. Wearing it was just my way of keeping her in my thoughts.

"Then I met you, and I truly wanted to start fresh, to build a real life together. I tried to move on from the past, but... I just couldn't let go."

"Can't do it, huh?" I spat out.

My heart felt like it was ripped in two—half of it aching with bone-deep pain, the other half swallowed by endless sorrow. "Just because you can't let go of the past, does that mean you get to betray me now?

"Rupert, did you ever stop to think how pathetic I must have looked, with you wearing that ring you bought with her, holding me, kissing me, telling me you loved me?"

He tried to pull me into his arms, but I shoved him away, hard—not letting him get anywhere near me.

I staggered back a few steps and slumped against the cold wall, feeling like every bit of strength had been sucked out of me.

"I know I was wrong, Lacie. I truly do," Rupert said, his voice thick with regret, eyes pleading for forgiveness.