Chapter 5: The Secret Behind Our Wedding Night
I stared at Marcus.
Not at the phone.
Not at the photo.
At him.
Because for the first time since I walked into that hallway and found another woman holding my key, I saw something different in his eyes.
Not guilt.
Not regret.
Fear.
Real fear.
The kind that made his carefully built world shake.
“Who is she?””
Marcus looked away.
“Nia…”
I stepped closer.
“No.””
My voice was steady.
“Not this time.””
He looked back at me.
“I need you to answer me.””
He swallowed.
“She’s someone from my past.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“It’s complicated.””
I almost smiled.
“Everything with you is complicated when you don’t want to tell the truth.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
The man who always had an answer.
The man who could talk his way through any argument.
Was silent.
And somehow, that scared me more.
“Her name.””
He looked at me.
“What?””
“Her name, Marcus.””
A few seconds passed.
Then he whispered:
“Lauren.””
The name meant nothing.
And somehow, that made it worse.
Because I knew everyone in Marcus’s life.
Or I thought I did.
“Who is Lauren?””
Marcus walked toward the couch and sat down.
For the first time all night, he looked old.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
Like the weight of all his lies had finally become too heavy to carry.
“She was someone I knew before you.””
I crossed my arms.
“How long before me?””
He hesitated.
“Three years.””
I stared at him.
“You were with her when we met?””
“No.””
The answer came quickly.
Too quickly.
“I wasn’t.””
“Then what happened?””
Marcus looked down at his hands.
“I dated her.””
“Dated?””
“Yes.””
“And?””
He was quiet.
I felt my stomach tighten.
“And what, Marcus?””
His voice became smaller.
“She got pregnant.””
The room went completely still.
I didn’t move.
I didn’t blink.
I just stared.
“What?””
Marcus looked up.
“I didn’t know at first.””
My mind raced.
The apartment.
The key.
Claire.
The money.
The lies.
And now this.
A child?
“No.””
The word came out automatically.
Marcus looked hurt.
“I’m sorry.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“No, because you’re about to tell me something that changes everything, and I need you to understand something.””
He looked at me.
“I don’t want pieces anymore.””
My voice cracked.
“I don’t want half-truths.””
I pointed at him.
“I want the whole thing.””
Marcus nodded slowly.
“Okay.””
“Start from the beginning.””
He took a deep breath.
“Lauren and I were together for about a year before I met you.””
I listened.
“I thought we were serious.””
“Were you?””
He looked down.
“I thought we were.””
That answer bothered me.
Because it sounded familiar.
Like the same words he had probably told Claire.
“I found out she was pregnant a few months before I met you.””
My eyebrows pulled together.
“What?””
“I know.””
“You knew she was pregnant before we started dating?””
“Yes.””
“And you still dated me?””
His face tightened.
“I thought she was lying.””
I stared.
“You thought?””
“She had a history of making things complicated.””
I felt anger rising.
Not because I knew Lauren.
I didn’t.
But because Marcus was doing it again.
Explaining.
Justifying.
Making someone else the problem.
“Did you get a paternity test?””
Silence.
That silence answered before he did.
“No.””
I closed my eyes.
“You never checked?””
“I was scared.””
“You were scared.””
“Yes.””
I laughed quietly.
“You were scared, so you started a relationship with me.””
Marcus looked away.
“I loved you.””
I opened my eyes.
“And you buried an entire person from your past.””
He didn’t argue.
Because he couldn’t.
“When did Lauren contact you again?””
Marcus looked toward the phone.
“Last year.””
My heart sank.
“Last year?””
“Yes.””
“And you didn’t tell me?””
“No.””
I nodded slowly.
Of course.
Another secret.
Another thing he decided I didn’t deserve to know.
“What did she want?””
Marcus rubbed his hands together.
“She needed help.””
I almost laughed.
“Everyone needs help from you.””
“Nia.””
“No, seriously.””
I looked at him.
“Your brother needed money. Claire needed a future. Lauren needed help.””
I pointed at my chest.
“What did I need?””
Marcus looked at me.
Nothing.
Because he knew.
I needed honesty.
And that was the one thing he never gave me.
My phone buzzed.
I looked down.
Another message.
This time from the unknown number.
*Ask him why Lauren was at your wedding.*
My entire body went cold.
I looked at Marcus.
“What?””
He saw the message.
His face changed.
And I knew.
I knew before he spoke.
“She was there.””
The room tilted.
“What?””
“At the wedding?””
Marcus nodded.
Slowly.
“She came.””
My voice dropped.
“You told me she wasn’t there.””
“I didn’t know she would show up.””
“But she did.””
“Yes.””
I felt a strange numbness spread through me.
Because my wedding day had always been the one memory I protected.
The day everything felt perfect.
The day Marcus looked at me like I was the only person in the world.
The day I thought I was starting forever.
And now he was telling me someone from his past had been there.
Someone he never mentioned.
“Where was she?””
Marcus looked away.
“Outside.””
“Outside where?””
“The venue.””
My heart pounded.
“What happened?””
He didn’t answer.
“Marcus.””
His jaw tightened.
“She wanted to talk.””
“About the baby?””
“Yes.””
“And?””
He looked at me.
“I told her I was getting married.””
I waited.
“That’s it?””
“No.””
The word was barely audible.
I stepped closer.
“What else?””
Marcus looked terrified again.
“She said something.””
“What?””
He stared at the floor.
“She said if I walked down that aisle, she would make sure you knew everything.””
My breath caught.
“And you still married me.””
His eyes filled with regret.
“Yes.””
I looked at him.
“You knew there was a woman outside threatening to expose something, and you still stood there and said vows to me?””
“I thought she was trying to ruin my life.””
“Maybe she was trying to tell me the truth.””
Marcus looked like I had slapped him.
But I didn’t care.
Because suddenly, I couldn’t stop thinking about that day.
The woman who arrived late.
The woman who argued with one of Marcus’s friends.
The woman I assumed was just someone causing trouble.
I remembered something.
A detail I had buried.
A detail that suddenly felt important.
“Wait.””
Marcus looked up.
“What?””
“At the wedding…”
I searched my memory.
“There was a woman near the parking lot.””
His face changed.
“You saw her?””
“I didn’t know who she was.””
My heart started racing.
“She said something to me.””
Marcus froze.
“What did she say?””
I looked at him.
“She said…”
The memory came back.
The way the woman looked at me.
The sadness in her eyes.
The way she looked like she wanted to warn me.
“She said, ‘You don’t know who you’re marrying.’”
Marcus went pale.
I watched him carefully.
Because that reaction told me everything.
He remembered.
He knew.
And suddenly, all the secrets from the past connected to the lies of the present.
The affair.
The money.
The fake signature.
The hidden relationship.
They weren’t random.
They were pieces of something bigger.
I looked down at the photo again.
At Lauren’s face.
“Where is she now?””
Marcus didn’t answer.
“Marcus.””
His voice was barely a whisper.
“She disappeared.””
I stared.
“What?””
“She left town after the wedding.””
“Why?””
He looked at me.
“Because something happened.””
“What happened?””
He hesitated.
And then he said the one thing that made my blood run cold.
“She wasn’t the only person who knew my secret.””
I felt my fingers tighten around my phone.
“Who else knew?””
Marcus looked toward the hallway.
Toward the life we had built.
Then back at me.
“My best man.””
I frowned.
“Dylan?””
Marcus nodded.
And before I could ask another question, my phone lit up.
A new message.
Not from the unknown number.
From a name I recognized.
*Dylan Carter.*
May you like
The message contained only four words.
*Nia, I need to tell you what Marcus did.*
