Six months ago, I was in for a checkup at one of the hospitals under my family's group.
A man was out in the corridor, yelling in a doctor's face.
"There's something wrong with your hospital!"
"I just have a normal fever. How can you tell me I have HIV?"
"You people got the test wrong. I'm going to expose all of you!"
Security came running. He shoved past me on his way into the elevator.
That face belonged to Brendan Fox.
My mother went white in an instant.
"Nelson, you and Karen haven't recently…"
I knew what she wanted to ask, and I shook my head.
"No. Ever since Brendan joined the company, she's been working late constantly. We've barely had the chance."
Then I laughed at myself.
Fate, apparently.
The doctor had someone bring an ice pack and pressed it to my face for the time being.
My father wanted to take me to the hospital right away.
I looked toward the banquet hall.
"A few more minutes."
"There's something I have to finish in front of everyone."
Inside the hall, the ceremony had reached the exchange of rings.
I pushed open the lounge door and walked out.
Every eye in the room turned to me.
Karen saw me and assumed I'd had a change of heart.
She drew the ring back, a look of relief on her face.
"Done making a scene?"
"Come here. Just apologize to Brendan, and I can pretend none of today happened."
Brendan bit his lip, his face full of reluctance.
"Ms. Gilbert, Nelson is your groom. I'm fine, really."
I stepped up onto the stage without so much as a glance at Brendan.
"Karen, I'm only going to ask you one thing."
"Did you sleep with him?"
The room detonated.
Karen faltered at first, then caught the gleam of gossip on every face below, and her anger quickly swallowed her guilt.
"Nelson, are you insane? You had to ask this today, of all days?"
Brendan's face paled, then, as if he'd made up his mind, he dropped to his knees in front of me with a thud.
"Nelson, this is my fault."
"That day I'd just been dumped. I drank too much and mistook Ms. Gilbert for my ex-girlfriend."
"Ms. Gilbert was afraid something would happen to me, so she stayed with me in the hotel room that night."
"If you have to blame someone, blame me."
"I grew up starved for love. The moment Ms. Gilbert was kind to me, I couldn't control myself."
And of course, Karen's heart went out to him. She hurried to help Brendan up.
Then she rounded on me.
"Are you satisfied?"
"You won't be happy until you've pushed him this far?"
I looked at her.
"So everything he just said is true?"
Karen glanced at Brendan and was silent for a few seconds.
"Yes."
"But it isn't what you think."
"I've been under so much pressure lately. All you ever did was push me to get married. You never understood me at all."
"Brendan is simple. Being around him means I don't have to think so hard about everything."
She took a step closer, reaching for my hand.
"Nelson, I just made one careless mistake."
"We've been together seven years. You can't throw away everything I feel for you over this one thing."
I stared at her.
"When?"
"A little over a month ago."
"Did you use protection?"
Karen's expression turned ugly.
"Can you not ask something like this in front of all these people?"
Brendan cried harder.
"It's all my fault. I'll quit. I'll disappear forever."
"Nelson, please don't blame Ms. Gilbert."
Seeing him like this, Karen's heart ached even more.
"Disappear? You don't get to say that. He hasn't earned the right to drive you out."
Then she turned that cold stare on me.
"Nelson, you've made your point. Rein it in."
"You think you could still live the way you do now if you walked away from me?"
I couldn't help but laugh.
She'd climbed to the top on the steps I'd laid for her, then turned around to ask me whether I could even survive without her.
I lifted my eyes to the big screen in the center of the hall.
"You're right."
"I really can't throw away what you've felt for me these seven years."
Karen thought I was backing down, and her face finally softened.
"As long as you stop going after Brendan, we can go back to how we were."
I took out my phone, opened the file my assistant had sent, and cast it onto the big screen.
"Then let everyone see for themselves whether he's worth protecting."
