Despite her weakness, she forced herself to stand and gripped my hand, her face pale, tears spilling onto my hand.
“I’m so sorry, Maisie. I never should have introduced you to Ross,” she said softly, her voice trembling. “You deserve so much better than this.”
I could see the guilt weighing on her, but honestly, my heart hurt more for her.
She had spent two years trying to conceive, only to lose her baby before she even realized she was pregnant.
Just as I was about to speak, her husband, Sean, called.
“My brother says Maisie is planning to get rid of the baby. Was this your idea? Can you two stop acting crazy for once?
“And didn’t I tell you yesterday I was working on Winnie’s case? It’s important! I told you not to bother me – are you deaf?
“Honestly, I don’t know why we married you. Always causing trouble, talking about divorce and abortion like threats! Go ahead if you want to divorce; no one’s asking you not to!”
The call ended abruptly.
My best friend looked at her phone, shook her head, and tried to brush it off, but her eyes grew red.
Taking her cold hand in mine, I whispered, “Don’t be sad. We’re alive – that’s what matters. Maybe this is just a sign. It’s time for us to let go.”
“Let’s get some rest, and when we’re stronger, we’ll move out. Deal?”
She choked out a small “okay,” and finally let herself cry, collapsing onto my shoulder as our emotions overflowed. Fear, anger, and heartbreak – all the feelings we had bottled up finally spilled out.
What we thought were dream marriages turned out to be nothing but nightmares.
I remembered when we first got married, sharing the story of “best friends marrying brothers” online.
We even got tons of comments, with people saying things like, “Wow, friends marrying into the same family – double the fun!” and “Dream come true; you two have got it made!”
But the fantasy shattered six months ago, when Winnie Greene came back from overseas.
Suddenly, Ross was always “too busy” to pick up his phone, and Sean was constantly out, drinking and networking.
That’s when we realized this marriage had never been about love – it was Ross and Sean’s twisted plan to get back at Winnie.
All those promises, all that affection – just part of their selfish game.
The cruel irony was how long Ellie and I had been fooled by them.
We had even allowed them to bring Winnie into the house, only for them to dote on her in ways they never did with us.