𝒟𝐸𝒮𝒯𝐼𝒩𝒴

3 | Rule Book

Arabella POV:

I stare down at the ring on my left hand, feeling a wave of sadness wash over me. It's a beautiful ring, but it's a symbol of a meaningless marriage. When I look up I see Jeremy headed towards me. I wasn't ready to talk but there was no way out of this. I just can't bring myself to tell him the truth.

I feel a pang of guilt in my chest as I remember all the promises we made to each about. We planned a wedding on the beach where we'd only invite the people actually meant something to us. 

"Can we talk?" he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.

I look away, unable to meet his gaze. "Not here, Jeremy. It's not a good time."

He walks over to me and takes my hand. "Please, Ara. I need to know what's going on." I pull my hand out of his grasp. I feel ashamed. He's still trying, while I keep pushing him away.

I can feel my heart racing in my chest as I try to come up with an excuse. "It's just...it's complicated, okay?"

He looks at me with a mixture of confusion and hurt. "Complicated how?"

I take a deep breath, knowing that I need to be careful with my words. "It's just...I'm married now. And Mateo is my husband."

His expression turns to one of shock. "But-t, we were happy weren't we? Did I do something wrong?" I felt the tears slightly making their way to my eyes.

"No, no you didn't. I just can't tell you."

Jeremy looks down at my ring and then back up at me. "Why can't you tell me?"

"Because I just can't. Please, just leave." I felt terrible. He felt betrayed. 

"Look, if it's some here that's stopping you from telling me. Let's go outside and talk, I promise I'll understand." I shook my head.

I feel like the worst person in the world. "Jeremy, I can't."

"Well, I think we need to talk. I haven't seen you since the day your dad messaged you."

"I know," I say, my voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry, Jeremy. I really am." His head turns to the right of me and he shakes his head.

My heart sinks as I watch Jeremy walk away, and I can feel Mateo's unwelcoming presence beside me. I can sense his disapproval, but I don't want to face him right now. All I can think about is the man who just walked out of my life.

"He's been staring at you the whole time," Mateo says in a cold tone, fixing his shirt sleeve.

I look at him with a sense of frustration. "He's my boyfriend, Mateo. We had history."

"Was your boyfriend," he emphasizes. "And now he's nothing but a distraction."

I couldn't say anything. Because he's right. Jeremy's not my boyfriend anymore. Mateo's my husband. But he wasn't a distraction. He was a person I threw away at the side all because of my father.

"Why is he even here?"

I turn to him, feeling a pang of guilt. "I didn't invite him. I don't know how he got the invitation."

Mateo's eyes narrow, and I can tell he's not convinced. "Well, he should leave." I walked off to my siblings who were smiling.

"You looked amazing." Rufus hugged me knowing he would have to leave soon.

"I guess this is goodbye." My tone was sad even as I tried to stop it. I don't want to cry with them here, I want to be alone to soak all the sadness for myself.

I kept a smile on my face no matter what emotion was going on in my head. I see Mateo storming over and I just kept my smile on my face. 

"Don't walk away from me." Thank God my siblings had already left, so they didn't have to see Mateo grabbing my arm. I ignored what he said and two people who looked like him walked up to us with wide smiles. Well at least the woman.