When my ex-wife invited me to her wedding, I knew exactly why she wanted our son there. What I didn\u2019t expect was how far I\u2019d go to keep her from humiliating us again, or that the woman I hired for one fake night would see through everything the second we arrived.<\/p>\n
When Monica\u2019s message lit up my phone, I stopped breathing for a second.<\/p>\n
I was standing in my kitchen, rinsing spaghetti sauce off a plate while my ten-year-old son, Liam, sat at the table with his homework spread around him. My phone buzzed again. Her name stayed there on the screen, bright and ugly.<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
There it was. The real reason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to invite you to my wedding. Bring our son with you. It would mean a lot if we could show everyone there\u2019s no bad blood. How will I look in front of my fianc\u00e9\u2019s family if my own son isn\u2019t there with me, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
I read it twice.<\/p>\n
There it was. The real reason.<\/p>\n
Not Liam.<\/p>\n
Not me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wants us at her wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n
How will I look.<\/p>\n
Liam looked up from his math sheet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas that Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does she want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wants us at her wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t ask if she missed him.<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she wants to look good in front of people,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
He looked back down at his worksheet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s dumb.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d I said. \u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought hard work could fix anything.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t ask if she missed him.<\/p>\n
He had stopped asking that years ago.<\/p>\n
Monica and I got married right after college.<\/p>\n
Back then, I thought love meant choosing each other and keeping that promise.<\/p>\n
I thought hard work could fix anything.<\/p>\n
I thought loyalty was obvious.<\/p>\n
He was one month old when Monica packed two suitcases and left.<\/p>\n
I came from nothing. Real nothing. The kind where your parents count cash on the kitchen table before deciding whether groceries or the electric bill matters more that week. The kind where new shoes mean somebody worked extra hours or went without.<\/p>\n
After college, I worked every job I could get. Warehouse shifts, delivery runs, weekend landscaping, night inventory. I slept four hours some weeks.<\/p>\n
Then Liam was born.<\/p>\n
He was one month old when Monica packed two suitcases and left.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could a woman like me stay with someone like you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Liam asleep against my chest. Monica by the door in a coat too expensive for our hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cMonica, please,\u201d I said. \u201cWhatever this is, we can work it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me like I had tracked mud across her floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t fix being you.\u201d<\/p>\n
She gave a short laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re broke. Look at yourself in the mirror. How could a woman like me stay with someone like you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I should have told her no and blocked the number.<\/p>\n
For the next ten years, I raised Liam by myself.<\/p>\n
I should have ignored her wedding invitation.<\/p>\n
I should have told her no and blocked the number.<\/p>\n
Instead, I made the mistake of imagining that day. Monica greeting us in front of her fianc\u00e9\u2019s family. Looking me over. Seeing my old truck. Seeing the suit I only wore to funerals and job interviews. Seeing Liam beside me and acting like she had always been a mother.<\/p>\n
I could survive Monica making me feel small again.<\/p>\n
I hired an actress to pretend to be my wife.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t survive Liam watching it happen.<\/p>\n
That night, after Liam went to bed, I sat alone on the couch and did something I never thought I would do in my life.<\/p>\n
I hired an actress to pretend to be my wife.<\/p>\n
Two days later, Susan came to my house.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo,\u201d she said, setting her bag down, \u201ctell me about the ex-wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is her full name?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019ve heard that name before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMonica.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her pen stopped.<\/p>\n
She looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cMonica? Is this her last name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n
She tapped the pen once against the page.<\/p>\n
He froze when he saw her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019ve heard that name before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then Liam came in.<\/p>\n
He froze when he saw her.<\/p>\n
Susan stood and held out her hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Susan.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at her hand, then at me.<\/p>\n
Susan did not blink.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she the fake wife?\u201d<\/p>\n
Susan did not blink.<\/p>\n
\u201cTemporary role,\u201d she said. \u201cLow budget. Emotionally demanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liam stared at her another second, then shook her hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Susan sat back down.<\/p>\n
Ten years ago, Monica told me I could not fix being me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to ask me anything?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
He shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you act like you like my dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that part will be hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ten years ago, Monica told me I could not fix being me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s protective of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Susan had just made it sound like being me was not something broken.<\/p>\n
Susan watched him go.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s protective of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe shouldn\u2019t have to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he is,\u201d she said quietly.<\/p>\n
The wedding was at a country club outside the city, the kind of place with white stone columns, trimmed hedges, and people who smiled at you while deciding your value in under five seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you leave now, you\u2019ll think about it for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost turned the truck around in the parking lot.<\/p>\n
Susan touched my arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you leave now, you\u2019ll think about it for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liam leaned between the front seats.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s just get it over with.\u201d<\/p>\n
So we went in.<\/p>\n
She was standing near the entrance with her fianc\u00e9. Then she saw Susan.<\/p>\n
Monica saw us before we reached the main hall.<\/p>\n
She was standing near the entrance with her fianc\u00e9 and a few relatives, already in her dress, already wearing that polished smile she used whenever she wanted something. Then she saw Susan.<\/p>\n
Her smile changed.<\/p>\n
She walked over, kissed the air near Liam\u2019s head without really touching him, and then looked straight at Susan.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy God,\u201d she said loudly. \u201cDaniel, how did you manage to land someone that gorgeous? Do you still take her to McDonald\u2019s for dates and drive her around in that old pickup truck of yours?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then Susan took my hand.<\/p>\n
A few people nearby laughed.<\/p>\n
I felt Liam go still beside me.<\/p>\n
I should have answered. I should have said something. But I was back in that hallway ten years ago, holding a baby while Monica looked at me like I was dirt she had stepped in.<\/p>\n
Then Susan took my hand.<\/p>\n
She did it gently, but there was nothing uncertain about it.<\/p>\n
And suddenly I knew Susan knew more than she had said.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually,\u201d she said, smiling at Monica, \u201cI\u2019ve always found reliability attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monica\u2019s mouth tightened.<\/p>\n
Then Susan tilted her head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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