I played that video in front of Owen, over and over. “Owen, I told you. As long as you kept it away from me, I could take it.”
My voice shook the whole time.
“How far are you going to push me?”
He didn't care. Same lines, same empty reassurances.
That time, I broke up with him.
The next day, I found out I was pregnant.
Owen was thrilled. He held my hands, earnest and intent. “Margaret, I'll really change.”
“Right now the most important thing is for you to have this baby.”
“Let's get married, okay?”
I believed him again.
But the pregnancy before a wedding gave Owen's mother all the ammunition she needed. She picked me apart over everything—and then insisted the marriage come with no gift, no dowry, not a single dollar from their side.
Owen sat across from me and said nothing.
“All my money will be yours eventually.”
“What difference does the bride price make right now?”
He said it with his head down the whole time, scrolling through his phone.
I didn't find out until later—Rachel Fox showed up right around then. While I was pregnant, before the wedding ever happened. That was the lesson Owen taught me, and it was the worst one of my life.
The memory broke off. I glanced back at Owen.
“I don't want to marry you.”
The finality in my voice caught him off guard.
But it only lasted a moment before he slid right back into form.
“Stop lying.”
“Margaret, you were four months along when you ran. ”
“You're telling me you got rid of it at four months? No way you could do that.”
I almost laughed.
So that was it. Owen thought I'd had his baby. That was why he'd rushed back a year later, desperate to patch things up.
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“I didn't have your child.”
My lips curled into a cold smile.
“Owen, the confidence on you.”
“A man who betrayed me again and again and again. What made you think I'd carry your baby to term?”
He clearly didn't believe me.
“Margaret, I'm a senior partner now. Do you know how many women are lining up to marry me?”
That part wasn't a lie.
Half the women at this table probably wanted a piece of Owen Finch.
A few of them hadn't taken their eyes off him all night.
“Margaret, quit being stubborn.”
“Four months along—you wouldn't have gone through with it. You couldn't.”
Before I could respond, his hand reached for mine.
The next second he grabbed my wrist and stood up.
I didn't move. Stayed right where I was.
He tugged at me several times. I still didn't budge.
When he realized I wasn't going to cooperate, he decided to put on the show by himself.
“Hey, everyone—since we're all together tonight, I want to announce that Margaret and I are getting married. You're all invited.”
“Don't worry about gifts—just show up!”
Applause thundered across the table.
Envious looks, congratulations coming from every direction.
“Margaret, you've gotta think about the future.”
“Bring the kid back. I'll take you to get everything sorted—put my name on the paperwork.”
“I've already talked to my mom. I'll pay the bride price myself. How's that?”
He sat back down and leaned in close, his voice low.
I gave him one sidelong look and let out a scoff.
“Owen, nobody cares about your pocket change.”
I shoved back my chair and stood.
“I am not marrying Owen Finch.”
“We broke up a year ago.”
“Since Owen likes making sure everyone knows his business, let me go ahead and tell you why.”
I snapped my fingers, and a PDF appeared on the private room's big screen.
The photo on the first page was Owen and Rachel Fox.
“Isn't that the girl a year below us? I remember she used to chase after Owen.”
“God, isn't Rachel Fox at the same firm as Owen now?”
“Oh my God! Owen cheated that many times?”
“Holy shit, Margaret really put up with all that!”
“I knew it. Someone with Margaret's personality would never have run from her own wedding without a reason.”
……
As the screen flipped page after page, Owen's ugly past was laid completely bare.
His face had gone a deep, burning red. Every trace of the composure he'd walked in with was gone.
He was too arrogant.
Thought I was still waiting for him. Thought I'd come back.
But what he didn't know was that the moment I chose to leave that wedding and end things, we were done. Completely.
“Turn it off!”
Owen's roar filled the entire room. The manager rushed in, flustered, and killed the screen.
Dead silence.
“Margaret, was that really necessary?”
“So a guy slips up a few times—big deal. I'm still willing to marry you, aren't I? What more do you want?”
The thickness of this man's skin was beyond anything I could have imagined.
I let out a short, cold laugh and shook my head.
“Owen, I don't need you to marry me.”
“I'm already married.”
“Bigamy is a felony. I'm not stupid.”
That shut him up cold. He just stared at me, eyes blown wide.
“You're married?”
