The lie of love, the truth of hatred
Chapter 1
98
The day before my wedding, my best friend,
Tiffany, ran over my mom with her car. And get
this
—
—
my fiancé, Ben, didn’t just forgive her, he actually posted a picture of their marriage certificate online! I sued Tiffany, crashed their wedding, demanded she pay for what she did and ended up the laughingstock of everyone. Just when I was about to lose it completely, my childhood buddy, Jake, proposed right there in
front of everyone, promising he’d be my rock
for life. I said yes, what else could I do?
I handed him the whole car crash thing, trusting
him to sort it all out. He told me Tiffany was in
jail; I believed him. Then, three years into our
marriage, I accidentally overheard a
conversation between him and his lawyer:
“Mr. Johnson, were you serious about marrying
<
Sarah just for that release form? A car
accident, it’s hardly worth jeopardizing your
own life, is it?”
“Marrying Sarah was the only way I could, as
family, get that release written and get Tiffany
out of the slammer.”
“As long as she’s happy overseas, that’s what
matters. As for me… I can handle whatever.”
So, the marriage I thought was my salvation
was nothing but a carefully constructed lie.
That release form, using my name, to buy
Tiffany’s freedom – that was his real goal.
Guess who needs to leave? Me.
1
In his office, Jake was staring at pictures of
Tiffany living it up overseas, a look of
heartbroken longing on his face.
<
“Three years, and seeing her happy is enough,
even if it’s not because of me.”
“As for Sarah… I’ll spend the rest of my life
making it up to her. This is all in the past.‘
وو
The company’s legal guy looked like he was
about to explode.
“Mr. Johnson, the company is finally taking off!
How can you joke about manslaughter? If our
competitors find out, it’s not just you, your
whole family’s business goes down!”
“That woman intentionally killed someone, you
can’t excuse that! She doesn’t even love you!”
Jake’s face hardened, his tone sharp.
“Enough! I told you not to mention it again. I
don’t believe Tiffany meant to kill anyone, it was
an accident. And I took care of Ms. Smith’s
funeral
–
that’s enough for the family.”
<
“If it means getting her back, I’d give anything –
the company, my life, anything!”
The lawyer looked frantic.
“And what about Sarah? She’s going to find
out! Once she visits Tiffany in jail, your whole
plan will blow up!”
“You got a release using her name to free the
woman who killed her own mother! What’s she
supposed to do?”
Jake fell silent, then lit a cigarette, his eyes
looking lost.
“Then she’ll just never know. It’s been three
years, Tiffany should be getting out soon.”
“Get it arranged, and make sure Sarah doesn’t
find out.
“Mr. Johnson, as a lawyer, let me remind you,
what goes around comes around. You can’t
hide this forever. All this for a murderer, hurting
a woman who did nothing wrong – if Sarah
finds out, you’re done!”
Tears streamed down my face, my hands
shaking so hard I could barely hold the food
container I was holding. I stumbled into the
stairwell, trying to get away from the noise.
So, it was never a real case. Tiffany wasn’t in
jail, like he said. She was living it up overseas.
All thanks to my beloved husband. His humble
demeanor, his endless concessions… all a show
to save the woman he truly loved. For three
years, I’ve been living a lie. I thought I was
happy, but I was just trapped in my own
personal hell. What a joke.
I stumbled downstairs, stood outside the
building. I waited there for five hours, not
moving. Finally, the last lights in the building
went out and he emerged. He looked surprised
to see me and pulled me into a concerned hug.
“What are you doing here? How long have you been waiting?”
“Not long, I just got here. I know you’ve been
working hard. I brought you some soup I made;
the secretary said you were in a meeting, so I
came back out.”
“Don’t do this again; you’re not feeling too well,
I don’t want you getting hurt.” He gently pulled
me into a hug, kissing my forehead as he
always did. The moves were familiar, but the
warmth was gone. How could one person do
this to another person?
He opened the passenger side of his car and as
if it was no big deal he said
“By the way, Tiffany’s getting out of prison
soon. You guys were good friends once, and
she’s paid her dues. Plus, our company is
く
working on several projects with the Hamilton’s
So…”
“It’s all in the past. I won’t go after her. Don’t
worry about it.” I responded softly.
He seemed to relax a little, a small smile on his
lips.
“Thanks honey; I’m so lucky to have you.”
