The condoms sat in my hands like proof of something I didn’t want to believe. I was just a room service attendant at a fancy hotel, and Jake—my boyfriend of two years—had just checked in with another woman. I didn’t think. I just marched up to room 302 and knocked.
The door swung open. It was Jake. And behind him, half-dressed, was my so-called friend Haley. “What the hell are you doing here?
” I asked. “You sleeping with my boyfriend? ” Haley laughed. I lost it.
I grabbed her, and in seconds the whole floor was in chaos. Security dragged me out, and Jake stood there smirking while I was accused of assault. Then the hotel owner showed up—Mr. Connor Johnson.
He was sharp, composed, and completely in control. He listened as Jake called me a lunatic and demanded I be fired. Connor didn’t fire me, but he didn’t defend me either. He just said, “Let’s get to the bottom of this.
”
Later, a coworker whispered to me, “That’s our boss, Connor Johnson. Jake’s his nephew. ”
Jake’s uncle. The man who controlled everything my cheating ex wanted.
And in that moment, a bitter little plan took root in my chest: I’d make Connor fall for me. Then I’d have the last laugh. That night, I found him at the bar. I told myself I was just going to get close to him.
But the second we talked, I felt something I didn’t expect. He was nothing like Jake. He was kind, gentle, and quietly lonely. When he told me he didn’t have much time left in this world, I almost broke.
“I have one wish,” he said. “I want to find someone before I go. ”
I panicked. I blurted out, “I want to marry you.
”
He stared at me, and I expected him to laugh. Instead, he said, “Okay. ”
Just like that, we were married. I told myself it was for revenge.
I’d be Jake’s aunt. I’d humiliate him. But then Connor’s father gave me his late wife’s ring, and Connor’s whole family smiled at me like I belonged there. Then Connor pulled me aside.
“I married you to keep my dad happy,” he said. “From now on, we only meet when necessary. And we keep our marriage secret. ”
That stung more than I wanted to admit.
I told myself it didn’t matter. The marriage was fake. I had my revenge. But every time he pushed me away, I felt smaller.
The next morning, I went to the address he gave me. It wasn’t a hotel room—it was a mansion. Haley was there, sneering. “Bethany, how do you have the guts to show up here?
This is a high-end neighborhood. ”
“Actually,” I said, “this is my new home. ”
She shoved me. Then Jake showed up, acting like he owned the place.
He was demanding a job at the hotel, and Connor had told him to go through the interview process like everyone else. Jake was furious. He threatened me, called me trash, and said his uncle would always take his side. But Connor didn’t take his side.
Instead, he gave the manager job to me. Me. Jake’s face went red. “You’re going to regret this.
”
Haley started causing scenes everywhere. She came to my restaurant, demanded I serve her, and ordered a $10,000 bottle of wine she couldn’t pay for. When she couldn’t, she blamed me and turned it into a fight in front of Connor. I thought Connor would side with his nephew again.
Instead, he made Haley leave. He looked at her coldly and said, “You think you can bully my staff? ”
Then I found out why Connor kept our marriage a secret. Juliana—a beautiful, elegant woman—came back.
She was the one he’d been waiting for. She announced she loved him and they were going to get married. I felt stupid. Of course he didn’t love me.
I was just a placeholder. That night, I got drunk. I confessed everything to Connor. I told him I only married him to get back at Jake.
I told him I thought he was Jake’s uncle, Dennis, and that I had used him. He didn’t yell. He didn’t even look surprised. He just said, “I know.
”
“Wait, what? ”
“I suspected it from the start. But I decided to trust you anyway. ”
Then he added, quietly, “But you might want to hear the real reason I married you.
I’m sick, Bethany. I didn’t want my father to worry. So I married the first woman I thought I could care about. ”
Before I could answer, Connor’s assistant walked in and dropped a bomb: Connor and I were never legally divorced.
He’d never signed the papers. But I didn’t know that then. I only knew that Jake was still out there, and he was furious. He cornered me in an alley, banging his fist against the wall beside my head.
“You ruined my career. You ruined my engagement. Now you owe me $50 million. Call your husband.
”
I laughed in his face. “Connor and I are divorced. He won’t give you anything. ”
“Sure he will,” Jake sneered.
“Because if he doesn’t, you’re gone. ”
He grabbed me and dragged me toward a crumbling building. He tied me to a chair in the middle of a dirty room and held a knife to my throat. “Where is he?
” he shouted. “We’re divorced! ”
“Liar! ”
The knife pressed harder against my skin.
I thought that was it. I thought I was going to die in that room, alone, having never told Connor the truth about my feelings. Then the door burst open. It was Connor.
He was breathing hard, and behind him came a swarm of security guards. Jake barely had time to react before Connor tackled him, sending the knife skittering across the floor. “You ruined everything! ” Jake screamed.
“You always ruin everything! ”
Connor threw him aside, and that’s when I saw the glint of the blade in Jake’s hand again. He lunged at Connor. I screamed.
And then I pushed Connor out of the way. The knife went into my side. The world blurred. I remember Connor screaming my name.
I remember his arms around me, and his voice cracking as he said, “Call an ambulance. ”
I woke up days later to a hospital room full of flowers. Connor was sitting beside me, his head bowed. “I’m so sorry I lied to you,” I whispered.
He looked up, and his eyes were wet. “I’m not mad at you, Bethany. How could I be? You stole my heart.
”
“I thought you didn’t care. ”
He took my hand. “How could I not care about you? ”
I smiled.
“I love you, Connor. I’m sorry for everything. ”
“Doesn’t matter. I love you too.
”
“Do you think we can get married again? ”
He squeezed my hand. “We never got divorced. I never signed the papers.
”
The world spun in the best possible way. Connor was mine, and Jake was gone. Haley had disappeared from our lives.
And the ring his father had given me, the one I thought I’d lost when I ran from the hospital—it was back on my finger, where it belonged.
