As if realizing his tone had been too harsh, a flash of irritation crossed Patrick's face. He lowered his voice in apology.
"Sorry, babe. I'm just in a rush. Is there anything you've had your eye on lately?"
The implication was clear: he'd foot the bill.
When I ignored him, Patrick slammed his foot on the gas. His expression darkened like a storm cloud.
His voice turned cold. "I'm taking you to the hospital first, so you can't try to pin anything on my wife."
Patrick swerved between lanes again and again, cutting off cars and nearly causing a collision. Edith's already pale face went a shade whiter.
Afraid he'd cause an accident, I spoke up quickly. "Slow down. You're going to get us killed."
Patrick didn't hear me. The car wove through traffic like a bolt of lightning.
Edith gripped her seatbelt with white knuckles, her voice trembling on the edge of tears. "Patrick, please stop. I'm scared."
The car slowed immediately.
And my heart sank right along with the speedometer.
The same request. He only ever heard it when it came from her.
My throat tightened as I watched the faint smile tugging at the corner of Patrick's mouth. Something in my gut told me he didn't actually dislike Edith. Not even close.
In the end, Patrick dropped me on the side of the road and took Edith to her checkup alone.
His reasoning: Edith had just cleared her name of being the other woman. Exposing his real relationship with me right now would undo all of that. I'd just have to bear with it for a while.
Edith settled into the passenger seat, all soft and delicate, and clenched her fist over her heart like she was making a solemn vow. "Don't worry, sweetie. I'll keep an eye on him for you. I won't let any other woman swoop in while you're apart."
Standing outside the car, I didn't bother looking at the way her fingers kept drifting over the silver ring Patrick had put on her finger, that seemingly absent-minded caress. My eyes were fixed on Patrick.
"Do you even remember what you promised me today?"
Patrick looked at me with that indulgent, helpless expression, like he was coaxing a child who'd been denied candy.
"Edith's reputation is what matters right now. Can you just cut me some slack? Please?"
Every single word dripped with indifference toward me and unmistakable devotion toward Edith.
And the worst part was that he thought this was perfectly normal. He even thought I was the one being unreasonable.
When Edith noticed the tension crackling between Patrick and me, she pushed open the car door and forced a smile. "Patrick, maybe you should pay more attention to how she feels. I can always hold another press conference and come clean about my mistakes to the public."
She paused, her voice going thin. "I've already been through one failed relationship. I don't want you to end up the same way because of me."
Watching her spiral into self-deprecation, a layer of frost settled over Patrick's face. But the raw ache in his eyes betrayed exactly how he really felt.
All those tangled emotions finally condensed into a single, desperate question.
"Do you really have to leave me?"
Edith glanced at me nervously, gauging my reaction, and then, under Patrick's insistence, reluctantly climbed back into the passenger seat.
Patrick turned to me. His voice was laced with ice.
"Don't make me regret choosing you."
I stared at him in disbelief. This was who he really was.
It felt like someone had torn a gash straight through my chest, and the cold wind was howling right through it.
Then came his final verdict: the public announcement of our marriage would be postponed. A punishment.
"I want you to use this time, while I'm taking care of Edith, to think long and hard about what you've done wrong. When you figure it out, come find me."
I stood there, numb, watching Patrick pull a blanket from the back seat and drape it over Edith with the tenderness of a man cradling something precious he thought he'd lost forever.
He hit the gas and disappeared down the road, swallowed by the blur of my stinging eyes.
For a long time, I just stood there. Then, with trembling hands, I pulled out my phone and sent Patrick a message.
I told you before we got married: I don't share. It's me or Edith. You can only pick one.
