Chapter 2

Matthew's face shifted a little, and he moved to come coax me.

Roberta pressed a finger to his chest and pushed him back.

"She's using not getting married as a threat, Matthew. She just wants to force you to cave!"

"Think about it. If you lose face here today, you'll never get the upper hand again, not for the rest of your life."

Matthew stayed quiet for a moment, then remembered what his mother had told him before the wedding.

"You have to lay down the rules at the wedding. A woman who earns too much starts thinking she can run wild. Don't go soft on her, or you're the one who'll suffer down the road."

Fine, he thought. Faith's temper had gotten too wild. It needed reining in. As long as she behaved and got through the ceremony, he could apologize and make it up to her in private.

So he took a step back, pressed his lips together, and said nothing.

The warmth drained out of my eyes, inch by inch.

The boy who had once promised to protect me forever was standing on the other side now.

Leon picked up his teacup and rapped it hard against the table.

"You think marriage is some child's game? Faith Swanson, the Floyd family doesn't run that way!"

A glance from him, and someone moved to drag me off.

"Emcee, move on to the next part of the program."

The groomsmen shoved me down off the stage.

I looked at Matthew, numb, and didn't fight it anymore.

He avoided my eyes, took Roberta's arm, and walked down with her.

I sat below the stage and watched the ceremony carry on.

Leon went up to give a speech as the representative of the groom's family.

"...not exactly a match, but my son truly cares for her, so what can parents do but give their blessing."

I listened, blank, while our past kept replaying in my head against my will.

Both of Matthew's parents were senior executives at a major corporation, and after graduation he'd been placed straight into one himself.

I came from a single-parent home. My mom raised me on what she made selling fruit at a market stall.

I only got into college on my talent for drawing, and after graduating I'd been lucky enough to become a comic blogger, which in their eyes was no real job at all.

The first time I went to his house I brought expensive gifts. Phyllis threw every one of them out the door and said, with open contempt, that she didn't approve. Leon backed her up with his silence.

When I felt so worthless I wanted to give up, it was Matthew who took my hand.

Over and over, firmly, he told everyone that all he wanted was to be with me.

I believed him, and I held on and stumbled all the way here at his side.

I just don't know when it happened, that time had turned the man I loved into someone else.

I came back to myself in time to hear the emcee announce the representative of the bride's family coming up to speak.

My stomach dropped.

My father had died young in a car accident, and early that morning my mom had suddenly called to say she wouldn't attend the wedding, no matter what.

So who was going up to speak?

While I sat there stunned, Roberta's mother had already stepped onto the stage in a red gown to give the speech.

Roberta's laughing voice reached my ear.

"I even lent you my own mom to play your mother-in-law. See? That's what a loyal buddy I am!"

I stared at Matthew, unable to believe it.

He was looking at her tenderly, nodding, doting on her.

Then Roberta suddenly turned to me and smiled.

"Oh, your back tie's come loose. Let me fix it for you."

She came over and pretended to straighten it, leaning in close to my ear.

"Are you wondering why that old widow suddenly decided not to come?"

"All I did was mention she carries a lone-star curse. Leon dropped a hint or two, and she went red in the face all on her own, bowed her head, and said she wouldn't come. She practically got down on her knees promising not to be any trouble, terrified of making the Floyds look down on you."

A bolt of lightning tore through my chest.

So it turned out my mother, who was strong her whole life and never bowed her head to anyone, who wore herself down raising me, had ground herself into the dust for my sake behind my back, swallowing every humiliation.

But she was never the one who should have bowed.

My heart was bleeding, and I couldn't hold back anymore. I shoved Roberta away.

"You bitch!"

Roberta let herself fall back with the push, landing neatly in Matthew's arms.

Matthew steadied her by the waist until she was on her feet.

When he looked at me again, his face was full of anger.

"Shoving people in front of everyone, you've gone too far!"

He strode over and shoved me hard.

The difference in our strength was too great. I went down hard and sat sprawled on the floor.

My elbow slammed into a chair, and pain shot straight through me.

I had no time to tend to it. I looked up at him, frantic, and asked.

"You let her bully my mom? You're the one who kept my mom from coming to the wedding?"

He saw the desolate, helpless look in my eyes, and his throat bobbed twice.

He reached out to pull me up, then drew his hand back.

"That's because your mom's just not fit to be seen in public!"