“Thanks, Mom.”
She disappears into the kitchen where I can see my father and Will talking. He glances towards me and smiles, and I smile back. I remember the first time my parents interrogated Wyatt. I was so nervous I thought I was going to pass out. I’m not nervous at all now—there’s nothing to be nervous about. Will is a good man, and I don’t have any doubt he’ll charm my parents.
I wander out into the backyard, and this time the looks I’m getting aren’t ones of poorly veiled pity, but of shock and confusion, some of admiration. I left my drink in the kitchen, so I get another one from the buffet table and a plate of finger food and wander further into the garden. My parents have a beautiful yard, and my mother’s passion is her garden. I used to find it so peaceful out here on summer evenings as a teenager, and a little bit of that peace comes seeping back as I find my favorite stone bench. From here, the party looks tranquil, even though I can see from the clusters of people and the glances my way that the bomb we dropped will be the talk of the town for the foreseeable future.
I watch the guests, letting my mind wander, when Wyatt appears beside me out of nowhere. He’s still angry, an ugly expression on his face. “So you’re a gold-digging whore now?”
The words hit me like a slap in the face. “Excuse me?”
“It’s been what, three weeks since we broke up and now you’re married to some rich sugar daddy.”
Anger surges up through my veins, hot and sweet. “Are you seriously angry, Wyatt? Because you don’t have a leg to stand on here.”
“I think I do—”
“No. You don’t. First, we didn’t break up. You left me.” I try to hide the way my voice breaks a little, the scar still too fresh, but I press on. “You left me. You’d been sleeping with my sister for who knows how long while we were supposed to be getting married. You cheated on me and broke my heart, so you can’t say anything about the fact that I’m now with someone else.” I shrug. “You can’t have it both ways, and you chose. That’s it.”
“Is that why you came to this party, so you could throw your rich jackass in my face?” He puffs himself up, like somehow looking bigger will scare me, or make me take back what I said.
“No. I came so I could give you this.” I reach into the pocket of my dress and grab the box containing his ring.
I hold it out to him and he laughs. “You think I want that back?”
“Well it’s not right that I keep it, and frankly, I don’t want any reminders of you.”
Wyatt laughs even harder. “Do whatever you want with it, bitch. It’s fake.”
My heart skips a beat. “What?”
“It’s not a real diamond. You think I would shell out for a real diamond? For you?” He laughs again. “Now that I know what a slut you are I’m even happier that I didn’t.”
That anger that I’ve felt for him these past few weeks cools into pure, frozen rage. Everything about our relationship was a lie. Every single thing. How could I have ever been in love with him? How could I have thought that this was forever? “Wyatt, I need you to walk away from me right now.” I grit my teeth. “Right. Now.” If he’s near me for even a second longer I think I’m going to become violent.
Wyatt senses the weakness and pounces. “It doesn’t matter anyway; he can have you. He’ll always be having my sloppy seconds while I get the sister who isn’t a wet rag and still has a tight pussy.”
Will strides out from between two of the trees in the garden, and I don’t know how long he’s been standing there. From the look on his face, it was long enough. The relief when he slips his arm around my waist is so acute that I could cry. He’s there to back me up, just like he said he would be. His presence is strengthening—he won’t let me do anything I’ll regret, and I know he’ll support me. I turn my head into his chest, and the warmth of his body is soothing.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” Will says, voice deadly smooth and quiet. “You must be Wyatt. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m the rich jackass.”
Wyatt sneers, “Don’t listen to anything that bitch says about me. She’s just jealous that she wasn’t enough to keep me happy.”
There’s a small sound that comes from Will, somewhere between a laugh and a growl. “I heard you say enough to make my own judgement about to you. Let me make myself clear, you will never speak to my wife like that again.”