“What’s happening?” Phoenix whispers next to me, staring with wide eyes as the priest starts talking again.
“They are getting married.” I curse under my breath. “And then we will get married again here.”
I don’t look at Phoenix to judge her reaction. I’m sure she has a smug expression on her face, knowing that not only did I marry her once, but I’m going to marry her again. She thinks she’s won, that she has a claim over me that Liesel will never have. And yet, I can’t stop looking at Liesel.
She will always be mine, even if she’s married to another man. She will always be mine.
“I do,” Maxwell says.
My heart feels like it’s just been hit with a hammer, exploding from two little words. I can’t imagine how it’s going to feel when she says them.
This is for the best. I can never forgive her—never love her. Getting married is necessary, for both of us.
I try to close my eyes, so I don’t have to watch Liesel pledge her life to another man, but I can’t seem to force my eyes closed. They are fixated on the tragic nightmare in front of me.
Silence stretches around the room, and I know the priest has just asked Liesel if she takes Maxwell as her husband. All that is left now is for her to answer. For her to reach into my chest cavity and pull out what’s left of my disintegrated heart.
“You know they are going to have to fuck, right?” Phoenix says.
I snap my head toward her. “What?”
“That old man will know if their marriage isn’t real. They are going to have to consummate the marriage or he’ll know. I don’t know how, but he seems to know everything. I don’t know if this will work if they don’t act like a married couple.”
“Fuck,” I curse. She’s right. I know she is. They are going to have to fuck, to pretend to be in love. And then they’ll have to do god knows what in order to get the next clue.
I glance to Phoenix. I’m going to have to do the same with Phoenix.
This is truly goodbye. I have to let Liesel go. In order to get the treasure, she has to be committed to being married to Maxwell, and I Phoenix. And after all that, she won’t want me.
Finally, my eyes are able to close. I slam them shut, sealing myself from the extraordinary pain that only Liesel can cause me. For decades, I’ve been chasing her—hating her, yet wanting her, knowing how wrong we are for each other, yet assuming we would end up together no matter how wrong it is. In reality, we were destined to get the briefest of moments together and then be lost to another forever.
I keep my eyes closed as a single painful tear escapes. My tear duct takes its time purging the tear, and then the liquid is even slower to descend over my cheek, stopping at each pore to remind me just how painful this moment is.
I hear Liesel breathe, and I open my eyes, knowing this is the moment she says ‘I do.’ The moment she marries another man.
“Wait!” Phoenix shouts.
I blink, trying to flush the rest of the tears from my eyes so I can figure out if this is a dream or not.
Phoenix pushes me out of the way as she runs up to the altar. She whispers something to Liesel that I can’t hear as she takes her hands in hers.
Liesel gasps in shock at whatever she says.
“Are you sure?” Liesel asks.
“More than anything. I was a selfish bitch before.”
The two women hug.
I narrow my eyes, trying to understand what the fuck is happening.
Then, Phoenix rushes back to my side. She takes my hand and pulls me out toward the back of the church.
“Wait, I can’t leave—”
“Trust me,” Phoenix says, yanking me out the doors.
Maybe she’s right. Maybe it’s for the best I don’t want Liesel stomp all over my heart.