Instead, I stayed.
I cooked for him.
Supported him.
Believed in him.
And when he proposed, I cried with happiness.
Derek insisted that we keep the ceremony simple.
He arranged a short ceremony in a modest room at a hotel where his company was also hosting a much larger investor celebration that evening.
“The business reception is already being paid for through our marketing budget,” he explained. “But we shouldn’t waste our personal savings on extravagant wedding details.”
I agreed.
The dress he selected for me was a forty-dollar rental.
I didn’t mind.
I thought the dress was unimportant compared with the person waiting at the altar.
I had no idea he was preparing to replace me before I ever reached it.
Part 3 — The Truth Hidden Inside His Company
The SUV carried us toward my parents’ home in La Jolla.
I had changed out of my torn wedding dress and wrapped myself in one of my mother’s coats.
