Chapter 10 - The Bride Before Me
Derek reached the foyer before anyone else.
I followed.
So did nearly the entire family.
Through the stained-glass panels beside the front door, I saw two women.
One was Olivia.
The other was blonde.
Allison.
Derek didn't open the door.
Instead, he locked it.
"Are you kidding me?" I asked.
"This is private property."
Allison saw him through the glass.
Even from several feet away, I watched fear flash across her face.
Then it disappeared.
She lifted her chin.
Olivia held up her phone.
"Police are already on the way," she called through the door.
Brenda pushed past us.
"On what grounds?"
Olivia looked directly at her.
"Unlawful confinement would be a good place to begin."
Several relatives looked at Derek.
He scoffed.
"I locked a bedroom door for ten minutes."
"After ordering your wife to kneel on the floor?"
"She isn't my wife."
The words escaped before he could stop them.
Silence swallowed the foyer.
I stared at him.
Derek realized what he had said.
Brenda closed her eyes.
Marcus whispered, "Jesus Christ."
I spoke very quietly.
"Say that again."
Derek looked at me.
"You heard me."
"So yesterday's ceremony was fraudulent."
He stepped closer.
"You want the truth?"
"Desperately."
"You wanted a wedding."
"My family gave you a wedding."
"You got the dress."
"The flowers."
"The photographs."
"Don't act like you received nothing."
I couldn't believe the man standing in front of me.
Fourteen hours earlier, he had kissed my forehead beneath strings of white lights and told me I was his entire world.
Now he was explaining marriage like a transaction.
Allison called through the door.
"He said the same thing to me."
Derek spun toward her.
"Shut up."
Allison didn't.
"He told me I should be grateful anyone had married me."
Brenda unlocked the door suddenly.
Derek grabbed her arm.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking control of this."
She opened the door.
Allison stepped inside.
For the first time in six years, husband and wife stood face-to-face.
Derek looked almost afraid.
Allison did not.
"You look disappointed," she said.
Derek's jaw tightened.
"I heard you told everyone I ran away with another man."
Nobody spoke.
Allison looked around the foyer.
"I ran away with sixty-three dollars and a coat Emma left beside the kitchen door."
Emma began crying.
Allison turned toward me.
Then she reached inside her bag.
"I brought what you need."
She pulled out a sealed envelope.
Derek lunged for it.
I moved first.
I took the envelope.
Derek stopped inches from me.
"What is that?"
May you like
Allison smiled without humor.
"The reason your mother has been afraid of me for six years."
