The Bride He Was Warned Not to Marry Chapter 05
The smile on William’s face cracked, revealing the ugliness and lies beneath.
His mouth twitched as his eyes darted between the officers and the reporter. His breathing turned sharp and fast, his chest heaving, a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead.
“Emily? What are you doing?”
He forced his panic into a helpless, gentle smile.
“Are you so happy you’re not thinking straight?”
“Bigamy? You’re my only wife.”
“Did Sarah put something in your head? Don’t listen to her. You know she’s never wanted us to be together. She’d love to see us break up.”
“Emily, you know how much I love you. You can feel it, can’t you?”
I stared at his face. Even now, he was still trying to lie to me.
Inside my ear, the voice of William from ten years later screamed like an air raid siren, ugly and grating.
“What does that crazy woman think she’s doing? I told you not to marry her! Now what happens to Sarah? Is her tragedy going to happen all over again?”
“Enough!”
“Shut up!”
William ripped the earbuds out of his ears and threw them on the ground.
Silence fell around us.
All the actors he had paid for looked at him, unsure whether to keep going.
Sarah hurried over. She saw the tension between us and a flash of excitement crossed her face.
She reached for my hand the way she always did. “Emily, did you change your mind?”
“Not getting married is a good thing.”
“Trust me. I’ll find you a man a hundred times better than William.”
Her palm was warm, and her smile was something I hadn’t seen in a long time.
I raised my hand and slapped her as hard as I could.
The crack of the slap echoed through the silence, sharp and brutal.
Sarah’s head snapped to the side: Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
She froze in place, like she hadn’t processed what just happened.
Gasps rose from all around.
William was the first to react. He stepped in front of Sarah, shielding her. “Emily, how could you hit her? All she ever wanted was what’s best for you!”
“How dare you hit Sarah! Do you have any idea how much she’s sacrificed to keep you from getting hurt? What gives you the right to lay a hand on her?”
I ignored the screaming in my earbuds. I just looked at Sarah, who stood there in shock.
“You said you’d find me someone better than William.”
“So what happened? He smelled too good to resist? Or is he so terrible that you thought you’d help yourself to a share?”
“Sarah, is this your idea of being good to me?”
The lies crumbled. All that was left was absurdity.
Sarah’s mouth twitched. She let out a breath, like a weight had lifted.
“You know.” She paused. “Okay, then. Honestly, Emily, I’ve felt guilty keeping this from you.”
“You wouldn’t listen when I tried to warn you.”
“William really is a terrible person.”
I stared at her coldly. “He’s so terrible, but you still slept with him?”
Sarah laughed bitterly. “Whether you believe me or not, at first I just wanted to test him for you, to show you he wasn’t worth your trust.”
“But then I fell in too deep. Emily, I never meant to hurt you.”
