KINUTYA AKO NG EX-HUSBAND KO SA HARAP NG 150 BISITA—PERO NANG BUKSAN NIYA ANG REGALO NG “FAKE BOYFRIEND” KO, BIGLA SIYANG NAMUTLA
KINUTYA AKO NG EX-HUSBAND KO SA HARAP NG 150 BISITA—PERO NANG BUKSAN NIYA ANG REGALO NG “FAKE BOYFRIEND” KO, BIGLA SIYANG NAMUTLA
Nawala ang ngiti ni Max.
Hindi dahan-dahan.
Parang pinatay iyon gamit ang switch.
Nakatayo kami ni Edward sa harap niya habang hawak niya ang malaking kahong kababalik lang ni Edward mula sa kotse para kunin.
Kanina, halos hindi makahinga si Max sa kakatawa.
Ngayon, nakatitig lang siya sa laman ng kahon.
“What the hell is this?”
Napatingin ako kay Edward.
Hindi rin naman niya sinabi sa akin na may regalo siyang dala.
“Edward?”
Ngumiti lang siya.
“Wedding gift.”
Nasa ibabaw ng kahon ang isang framed photograph.
Kinuha iyon ni Max.
At doon ko nakita kung bakit biglang nagbago ang mukha niya.
Larawan iyon ni Max.
At ni Edward.
Magkatabi.
Naka-suit pareho.
Nagkakamayan sa harap ng malaking corporate logo.
Sa ibaba ng litrato ay may maliit na plaque:
NORTHRIDGE DEVELOPMENT GROUP
ANNUAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Napatingin ako kay Edward.
Then at Max.
“Kilala mo siya?”
Hindi sumagot si Max.
Si Claire naman ay tumingin sa litrato.
“Max?”
Edward calmly reached into the box and pulled out a thick folder.
“Actually, yes.”
He looked at my ex.
“Magkakilala kami.”
Naramdaman kong nanlamig ang mga daliri ko.
“Since when?”
tanong ko.
Edward glanced at me.
“Before I met you.”
Max finally found his voice.
“Hindi ito ang lugar para dito.”
Napangiti si Edward.
“Interesting.”
“Ano?”
“Kanina, okay lang sa iyo na ipahiya si Rachel sa harap ng isang daan at limampung tao.”
Tumigil siya.
“Pero ngayon, biglang gusto mo ng privacy?”
May ilang bisitang nagsimulang magbulungan.
Claire's smile disappeared.
“Max, sino siya?”
“Walang importante.”
Edward laughed.
“That's generous.”
He held out his hand to Claire.
“Edward Sullivan.”
Claire hesitated before shaking it.
Then Edward added:
“Isa ako sa managing partners ng Halcyon Capital.”
Hindi ko alam kung bakit parang sinuntok sa tiyan si Max nang marinig iyon.
Pero halatang alam niya kung ano ang Halcyon.
At apparently, alam din ng ilan sa mga bisita.
Isang lalaking nakatayo malapit sa bar ang napalingon agad.
“Halcyon?”
Edward nodded.
Max slammed the photograph back into the box.
“Enough.”
But Edward wasn't looking at him anymore.
He looked at me.
“Rachel, may hindi ako sinabi sa iyo.”
My stomach dropped.
Wonderful.
I'd brought a fake boyfriend to my ex-husband's wedding, and apparently the fake boyfriend had a secret history with the groom.
“Anong hindi mo sinabi?”
“Alam ko kung sino si Max noong una mong kinuwento sa akin ang divorce.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Hindi ko agad sinabi dahil ayokong isipin mong kinakaibigan kita dahil sa kanya.”
“Edward…”
“Pero pagkatapos kong makita ang invitation…”
He looked at Max.
“Na-realize kong siya nga.”
Max stepped closer.
“If you have a problem with me, call my office Monday.”
Edward's expression changed.
“I already did.”
That shut him up.
Claire looked from one man to the other.
“Can somebody please tell me what's happening?”
Edward opened the folder.
Inside were photographs.
Emails.
Several printed documents.
And what looked like copies of invoices.
“Three years ago,” Edward said, “nag-apply ang company ni Max para sa malaking investment mula sa amin.”
I knew Max owned a construction consultancy.
Or at least, that's what he'd always called it.
He'd started the company during the final years of our marriage.
He constantly told me how stressful it was.
How expensive.
How much sacrifice he was making.
That was why I'd handled almost everything at home.
The girls.
School.
Meals.
Laundry.
Doctor appointments.
Everything.
Because Max was “building our future.”
Edward continued.
“Hindi kami nag-invest.”
Max's jaw tightened.
“Because your people didn't understand the business.”
“No.”
Edward replied calmly.
“Dahil may numbers na hindi nagtutugma.”
Claire looked at Max.
“What numbers?”
“Nothing.”
“Max.”
“Claire, stop.”
That tone.
I knew that tone.
The same one he'd used on me for years whenever I asked about money.
Don't worry about it.
You wouldn't understand.
Let me handle it.
Edward handed her one page.
“Your fiancé—”
“Husband.”
she corrected automatically.
Edward glanced toward the ceremony area.
“Right. Your husband submitted documents claiming several commercial contracts were worth significantly more than what the underlying records showed.”
Max snatched the paper.
“This is confidential!”
“No.”
Edward said.
“That copy came from materials you personally circulated while seeking outside investors.”
Then he looked at me.
“But that's not why I brought the box.”
My heart started pounding.
“Then why?”
Edward reached underneath the documents and pulled out something else.
A small red notebook.
I recognized it immediately.
My old household ledger.
I hadn't seen it in years.
I grabbed it.
“Where did you get this?”
“Your storage box at work.”
I stared at him.
“You went through my things?”
“You asked me to help move those boxes when your apartment flooded.”
I remembered.
One box of old documents had been temporarily stored in the records room at our office.
“I saw Max's company name on a folder that had fallen open. I recognized it.”
He turned toward Max.
“And then I saw something that bothered me.”
I opened the notebook.
Years earlier, I'd tracked every household expense because Max constantly told me we were short on money.
Mortgage.
Daycare.
Groceries.
Insurance.
Then Edward handed me a photocopy.
It was a transfer record.
My name appeared on it.
My old signature too.
Except—
I had never signed it.
“What is this?”
Max looked away.
I read the amount.
$84,000.
My stomach dropped.
“Max?”
No answer.
“WHAT IS THIS?”
Several guests had gone completely silent now.
Max grabbed my elbow.
“Let's go somewhere private.”
I ripped my arm away.
“Don't touch me.”
“Rachel, you're making a scene.”
I laughed.
“I'M making a scene?”
Claire was reading over my shoulder.
“What account is that?”
I looked at the date.
Six years earlier.
Then I remembered.
My grandmother had died that year.
She'd left me money.
Not millions.
But enough that I'd planned to put most of it toward the girls' future.
Max had convinced me to move it temporarily into a joint investment account.
Months later, he told me the investment had performed badly.
Most of the money was gone.
I had been devastated.
But I trusted my husband.
“Where did my inheritance go?”
I whispered.
Max's face hardened.
“We were married. It was family money.”
My ears rang.
“Where did it go?”
“I invested it.”
“In what?”
Silence.
Edward answered.
“His company.”
I almost dropped the notebook.
“No.”
Max finally snapped.
“It was going to benefit all of us!”
“You told me it was lost in an investment fund!”
“It was an investment!”
“In YOUR company?”
“It was our future!”
“Then why forge my signature?”
That stopped everything.
Even Claire went still.
Max's face changed.
“I didn't forge anything.”
Edward pointed to the document.
“Rachel told me she didn't recognize that signature. So I advised her not to make assumptions and to have the underlying records reviewed.”
I turned toward him.
“When?”
“Last week.”
I remembered.
He'd casually asked whether I still had copies of some old financial paperwork from the divorce.
I thought he was helping because I'd complained that Max was late reimbursing one of our daughters' school expenses.
I hadn't realized what he'd found.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wasn't certain.”
He lowered his voice.
“And I wasn't going to accuse someone of something this serious without documentation.”
Max scoffed.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.”
Edward nodded toward the box.
“That's why there's a second folder.”
Max stopped.
Edward pulled it out.
This one was addressed to me.
“What's that?”
I asked.
“Copies of records you should've received years ago.”
Max lunged for it.
Edward moved it away.
“Don't.”
One word.
He didn't shout.
He didn't need to.
Edward was taller than Max by several inches, but it wasn't his size that stopped him.
It was the look on his face.
“Those belong to Rachel.”
I took the folder.
Inside were bank statements.
Company formation documents.
Transfer records.
Emails.
I couldn't process everything.
Then I saw a familiar address.
A condo downtown.
“What's this?”
Max said nothing.
Claire looked.
Then frowned.
“I know that address.”
I turned to her.
“You do?”
She nodded slowly.
“That was Max's apartment when we first met.”
My whole body went cold.
“No.”
Max closed his eyes.
Claire looked confused.
“What?”
I looked at the purchase date.
The condo had been acquired six years ago.
We had still been married.
Very married.
And according to the records in front of me, part of the money that had gone into it could be traced back to the same company account that received my inheritance.
I looked at Claire.
“When did you meet him?”
Her lips parted.
“Three years ago.”
Max immediately said:
“See? She had nothing to do with—”
I held up my hand.
“I wasn't asking you.”
Claire looked shaken.
“Three years ago.”
I nodded.
“So the condo existed before you.”
“Yes.”
Then another thought hit me.
“If Claire wasn't the woman…”
Max went white.
I stopped.
Claire stared at him.
“What woman?”
“Rachel.”
Max whispered.
“Don't.”
I almost laughed.
For years, he'd told me the marriage ended because I had changed.
Because two pregnancies changed my body.
Because I wasn't exciting.
Because Claire was younger, fitter, prettier.
I'd spent months looking at myself in the mirror wondering what I'd done wrong.
And now?
It looked like Claire might not even have been the beginning.
Edward quietly said:
“There are hotel charges in the records.”
Claire grabbed the papers.
Max tried to stop her.
She moved away.
“Dates?”
she demanded.
Edward pointed.
Claire read.
Her face changed.
“Max.”
He said nothing.
“This one is from eight months ago.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Eight months ago.
Max and Claire had been engaged.
“Who were you with?”
she asked.
“Client meeting.”
“Overnight?”
“It was business.”
“In a honeymoon suite?”
I actually closed my eyes.
Dear God.
Claire looked at me.
For the first time since she'd started sleeping with my husband while we were married, there was no smugness between us.
Just the awful realization that we had both believed different versions of the same man.
She turned back to Max.
“Who?”
“Claire, we're not doing this here.”
She laughed.
“We just got married.”
“Exactly.”
“And you were in a honeymoon suite with someone eight months ago?”
“It isn't what you think.”
I almost said it with him.
I'd heard that line before.
Claire ripped the veil from her hair.
“Who?”
Max's mother rushed over.
“Please. Everyone calm down.”
Claire turned on her.
“Did you know?”
His mother froze.
That was enough.
“Oh my God.”
Claire whispered.
“You knew.”
“Sweetheart—”
“Don't call me sweetheart.”
The reception had turned into a disaster.
Guests were pretending not to stare while staring harder than I'd ever seen people stare.
And suddenly I wanted out.
I hadn't come to destroy Max's wedding.
I hadn't even known there was anything to destroy.
I turned to Edward.
“I'm leaving.”
He nodded.
“I'll come with you.”
Max laughed bitterly.
“There. Perfect.”
I stopped.
He pointed at Edward.
“You really expect me to believe this guy wants you?”
Even after everything—
that was what mattered to him.
Humiliating me.
He looked at Edward.
“Come on, man. You don't have to keep pretending anymore.”
Edward stared at him.
Then something unexpected happened.
He laughed.
“What?”
Max demanded.
Edward reached into his jacket.
He pulled out his phone.
Opened something.
Then handed it to me.
It was a restaurant reservation.
For two.
The following Saturday.
Under special requests, it said:
First real date. Please give us the table by the window.
I looked up.
“Edward?”
For the first time all evening, he looked nervous.
Actually nervous.
“I was going to ask you after tonight.”
My mouth fell open.
“Ask me what?”
“Whether we could stop pretending.”
Max's face went blank.
I stared at Edward.
“You're serious?”
“Oo.”
“You agreed to come because—”
“Because you're my friend.”
He smiled.
“And because I've wanted to ask you out for four months.”
“Four months?”
“Oo.”
“Why didn't you?”
“You were still rebuilding your life.”
He shrugged.
“I didn't want to become another man telling you what you needed.”
Something inside me softened.
Max scoffed.
“This is pathetic.”
Edward looked at him.
“No, Max.”
Then he put an arm gently around my shoulders.
“What's pathetic is having a woman like Rachel spend thirteen years building a life with you and convincing her she should be grateful you stayed.”
Max's face tightened.
Edward continued.
“You mocked her body.”
“Stay out of my marriage.”
“It's over.”
“You don't know what she was like.”
Edward smiled.
“Actually, I know exactly what she's like.”
I looked at him.
“She talks too much when she's nervous.”
Excuse me?
“She steals fries after saying she doesn't want any.”
Okay.
“She remembers everyone's birthday but forgets where she puts her keys.”
True.
“She cries at dog videos.”
Also true.
“She brings two lunches to work when she knows somebody forgot theirs.”
My eyes started burning.
“And she spent almost a year after your divorce believing she wasn't worth wanting because you needed an excuse for cheating.”
Max said nothing.
Edward looked directly at him.
“So yes.”
He squeezed my shoulder.
“Someone would date her.”
Then he looked at me.
“If she'll let me.”
For the first time that evening, I didn't care who was watching.
I kissed him.
Not dramatically.
Not to punish Max.
Just a small kiss.
And when I pulled away, Edward looked stunned.
“You could've warned me.”
“You brought financial documents to a wedding.”
“Fair.”
I laughed.
A real laugh.
Then we left.
But the story didn't end there.
Because the next morning, Claire called me.
I almost didn't answer.
“Rachel.”
Her voice sounded destroyed.
“I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Did you know about the other women?”
“I knew about you.”
Silence.
“That sounded worse than I meant.”
“No.”
she whispered.
“I deserved that.”
I sat down.
“What happened?”
Claire had spent the night going through Max's phone.
The wedding lasted less than twelve hours before she learned she wasn't special.
There had been two other women during their relationship.
One had ended months earlier.
The other apparently hadn't.
Claire cried.
And I expected to feel satisfied.
I didn't.
I remembered being that woman.
Holding a phone.
Reading messages.
Realizing the person sleeping beside you has been living a life you weren't allowed to see.
“I thought he chose me because we had something special.”
she said.
I closed my eyes.
“He made me think you had stopped caring about him.”
“That's what cheaters do.”
“I know.”
“No.”
I said softly.
“You know now.”
She eventually ended the marriage.
As for the financial records, that became a separate problem for Max.
I won't pretend one magical box instantly destroyed his life.
Real life isn't that neat.
But the documents gave me enough reason to have old financial arrangements reviewed properly.
What mattered most to me was discovering that money I'd been told was simply “gone” had a much more complicated history.
For years, I'd trusted Max's version because he handled the finances.
I never made that mistake again.
But none of that was the biggest change in my life.
Edward was.
Our first real date happened the following Saturday.
Same reservation.
Same table by the window.
I was more nervous than I'd been at Max's wedding.
Edward noticed.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Want to leave?”
“No.”
“Want me to pretend we're still fake dating?”
I laughed.
“Maybe.”
So he held out his hand across the table.
“Hi. I'm Edward. Your extremely handsome fake boyfriend.”
“Extremely?”
“My mother says so.”
“Your mother is biased.”
“She has excellent judgment.”
We dated slowly.
Very slowly.
He met my daughters properly.
Not as Mommy's replacement husband.
Not as some man trying to win them over.
Just Edward.
My ten-year-old watched him like a detective for months.
One evening, she asked him:
“Are you going to make Mom sad too?”
My heart broke.
Edward didn't give her some grand promise.
He simply said:
“I'll do my best not to.”
She stared at him.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
That was enough.
Three years later, Edward asked me to marry him.
Privately.
In our kitchen.
I was wearing sweatpants.
There were dishes in the sink.
My younger daughter was asleep upstairs.
The older one was pretending not to listen from the hallway.
Edward held out a ring.
Before I could answer, my daughter shouted:
“SAY YES ALREADY!”
I laughed so hard I started crying.
Then I said yes.
Sometimes people ask whether bringing Edward to Max's wedding was my revenge.
Hindi.
At least, hindi na iyon ang tingin ko ngayon.
Pumunta ako roon dahil gusto kong patunayan kay Max na may lalaking puwedeng magkagusto sa akin.
Iyon ang malungkot na bahagi.
Dahil kahit divorced na kami, binigyan ko pa rin siya ng kapangyarihang sukatin ang halaga ko.
Kapag wala akong date, tama siya.
Kapag may handsome akong date, panalo ako.
Napakaliit na mundo pala noon.
Ang pinakamagandang ginawa ni Edward ay hindi iyong pinahiya niya si Max.
Hindi rin iyong kahon.
At lalong hindi iyong mga dokumentong nagpabago sa takbo ng gabing iyon.
Ang pinakamahalaga ay iyong tanong niya pagkatapos:
“Pwede na ba tayong tumigil sa pagpapanggap?”
Dahil doon ko naintindihan—
hindi ko kailangang magmukhang desirable para magsisi ang ex-husband ko.
Hindi ko kailangang pumayat.
Hindi ko kailangang magkaroon ng mas guwapong lalaki sa tabi ko.
Hindi ko kailangang manalo sa breakup.
Ang kailangan ko lang ay tumigil sa pagtingin sa sarili ko gamit ang mga mata ng lalaking nanloko sa akin.
At si Max?
Ilang taon matapos ang kasal na iyon, minsan niya akong nakita kasama si Edward sa school event ng mga anak namin.
Magkahawak-kamay kami.
Walang audience.
Walang malaking kahon.
Walang eksenang kailangang gawin.
Tumingin siya sa amin nang ilang segundo.
Pagkatapos ay umiwas.
Noon ko lang naisip ang sinabi niya sa akin sa sarili niyang wedding reception:
“No one would ever date you.”
Mali siya.
Pero hindi dahil may dumating na Edward.
Mali siya dahil kahit walang Edward, hindi kailanman nakadepende sa opinyon ni Max ang halaga ko.
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At iyon ang regalong hindi niya nakita sa loob ng kahon.
Pero iyon ang pinakamahalagang naiuwi ko mula sa kasal niya.
