Liam twirled his wedding ring, a smirk playing
on his lips, “Since Mrs. Sterling’s okay with it,
take her…”
He didn’t even finish the sentence. I’d already stormed over. This girl was a carbon copy of that first love of his. I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me. I couldn’t keep playing the role of the perfect wife anymore. I was done with all
of it.
I reached out and lightly pushed on the side of the champagne tower. I watched, almost with glee as it shattered, glass and booze spraying everywhere, and chaos took over the room.
Someone screamed, “Mrs. Sterling has lost it!”
I messed up Liam’s party but he didn’t seem to
care that much. The caterers started cleaning
up, the guests were ushered out, and the young woman he had “received” was still standing
calmly by his side. She even seemed like his
11:54
dead girlfriend. It’s like I was a crazy woman,
reacting too much over nothing.
63
Liam was playing with her fingers, and speaking to me like I was a child. “Why are you so upset, Sarah? If you don’t like her, I’ll just have her stay somewhere else. You know I promised grandma you’d always be my wife. I would never move you from your place.”
The woman added, sweetly. “Mrs. Sterling, I
admire your position, I know your position is
untouchable.”
I slipped my ring off my finger. I placed it right
in front of him. Liam raised his eyebrow, almost
amused.
“Here,” I said, “take it back.”
He picked up the ring, tossed it in the air,
caught it again. “Here,” he said, throwing it to
the girl, “the woman doesn’t need it anyway.
<
11:54
54
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That’s several million dollar ring, just chucked
away by my wife.”
Liam got up and smirked, turning to the butler. “Send some etiquette teachers to my wife, she needs to learn how to act, I’m tired of this kind of behavior.” Then he paused, tossed his own wedding ring on the ground, and it rolled to my
feet.
“If we’re ditching rings, then we’re ditching
them all.”
Liam left, the roar of his engine echoing in the
night. The butler sighed beside me. “Mrs.
Sterling, you don’t have to make him so upset,
you know he’s always been resentful.”
I picked up his ring, threw it in the trash. “Mr.
Peterson, please go, I’m fine here.” He left,
shaking his head.
I went upstairs, changed out of that damn
|| – | -11
<
dress, grabbed my suitcase, and pulled all my
stuff out of the closet. I had a clear side in that
wardrobe, away from all of his clothes. It was
like we never truly shared that space.
When a marriage fails, people talk about
divorce papers. My and Liam’s connection is so
shallow, only a ring is the connection. No one
would expect that the marriage is literally
without a marriage certificate.
I still remembered what Liam said at the
wedding, “My life and documents are only for
Amy, Sarah, you shouldn’t have married me.”
But I still married him anyway, the man I have
had a crush on since I was a girl. I thought I
could win him over, but after all these years, I’m
just his empty–title wife.
I dragged my luggage out, and the house was
quiet, the way it was the night I arrived, years
ago, on a stormy night. Thirteen–year–old Liam
く
stared at me from the top of the stairs. His face showed nothing, but he turned and went to the
kitchen. He came back with warm milk for me.
I booked a flight, six hours in the air and three
hours in a car, to a remote town in the south. People talk about returning home as you get older, but I’m just a lost soul, and the home is
calling.
I rented a small cottage in a quiet town. I had a hard time speaking the local dialect. It has been
a while, since I have been away. I live with a painter next door, who was here a bit before
- me. He helped me with directions when I
couldn’t understand the local vendors.
I made some sweet cornbread for him the next
day to show my appreciation. I found out he is
an artist who is traveling and painting for
inspiration. He seemed so young, and filled with
so much passion.
<
I bought flowers on the street, and filled the
garden with roses. I put a rocking chair on the
porch. The house is not perfect, but everything
is to my liking.
Liam’s garden has yellow roses, which were a
memory of Amy. His greenhouse has an
expensive piano. It was all designed for Amy,
and no one is allowed to touch it.
Grandma wanted to pull out the roses, Liam went ballistic, saying, “If the roses are not here,
I will not come back.” After that, no one ever
brought it up again, the roses and Amy became
forbidden subjects in the house.
I heard a knock on the door one afternoon, Ben,
stood there, smiling at me.
“Hey, Sarah, I’m going up the mountain for the
sunrise. Do you want to come with me for a walk.” He pointed to the hill behind our houses.
It was a maior tourist spot here
