He Loved Her Best Friend All Along

Val came home early, and the second he walked in he pulled me into his arms. "Annabel, isn't your husband something? Never home past nine, ever." It was true. He always came back on time, even when the guys teased him about it, just to be with me. That was why I had loved him without holding anything back. "Look what I've got. Your favorite barbecue. I went two streets out of my way to get it. Eat up while it's hot." Was Val's acting really that good? That concern looked like it came straight from his heart. So I had believed it, without a shred of doubt, that this was real love. I even started to wonder whether I'd heard wrong. He watched me eat. Val wiped the corner of my mouth. "Our wedding rings should be almost done, right? I added a few things to the original design. I want to open the box myself on our wedding day and slip it onto your finger, and catch that surprised look on your face and keep it forever. What do you say?" The one small flicker of hope left in me went out completely. So he really did mean to make a fool of me. "Okay." It didn't matter. That day was never going to come now. Muriel had reached out to me. We'd never lost touch over the years, which was why everyone called Muriel such a generous girl, generous enough to end up with Preston. And everyone added the same line: Annabel Pruitt was finally getting what she deserved. Once Val had been called away, Muriel sent me a message. *All it takes is a step from my foot and it turns into a ring. Isn't that something? I wonder which poor soul is going to end up wearing a ring I stamped out with my foot.* The photo was of my wedding ring. As if it were laughing at how stupid I'd been. Making me see that I hadn't misheard a thing. What they'd said in that booth was true. The person Val loved most was Muriel, and he would let Muriel do anything she pleased. Which was why he'd let me lose my dignity twice, just to make Muriel happy. Had he forgotten how I'd gotten through it back then? There'd been a point where I wanted to die. The pain in my chest was crushing, like a hand had closed around my heart. When Grandpa Whitfield's call came through, I hesitated and didn't dare pick up. I'd acted on impulse earlier. Because years ago my mother gave up everything to chase after love and stay behind, and she died only a few years after I was born. Barely three months later, my heartbroken father married another woman. Back then my mother said she didn't regret the choice she'd made. After what happened that year, Grandpa had wanted me to go to France with him. I made the same choice my mother had. And somehow I'd come to understand hers too. A man who was that good to me, who took half the abuse on my behalf. I couldn't bring myself to leave. But in this moment, I regretted it.

"Why aren't you picking up your phone?" Late at night, Val was already dressed and heading out. It was the first time he'd ever done that. He explained, "She's getting married this year, remember? She wants me to make her a custom ring. Such a hassle. Not like you, sweetheart. You're the most sensible girlfriend a man could ask for." My face went stiff. Back when we got engaged, I'd said the two of us should design our own rings. He worked in modeling anyway, and jewelry molds fell under that. But he was always too busy, never had the time, until I promised I'd work on it with him. So the ring got made with a few pointers from him and the rest of the design from me. And now one phone call from Muriel, late as it was, and he climbed out of bed to go design a ring for her. He was so excited he didn't even notice my expression had changed. He turned and walked out humming a little tune, cheerful as anything. So the kindness toward me really had been an act, because he simply couldn't see when I was hurting. That was when I made up my mind and dialed the call straight through. I expected Grandpa to laugh at me. I'd sworn to his face once that I wasn't like my mother, that I trusted my own judgment. That Val would never betray me. But Grandpa spoke as if he'd known all along. "I took care of the paperwork for you long ago. Get your things in order over there and come. Grandpa's always right behind you." "A fall is nothing. It just means they don't know a good thing when they see it." The tears came pouring out of me. Family really does stand at your side after all. So I started packing the things I'd take abroad, selling off some of the rest. The memories that had belonged to the two of us, I threw away what I could throw away and burned what I could burn. For the sake of that one ring, Val had been leaving early and coming home late for days, forgetting his vow that he'd never stay out late. He didn't even come home at all one night. He never noticed the wedding details still sitting unconfirmed on the table, or the way our things dwindled around the house day by day. Completely indifferent, you could say. The day before I was to leave for France, I went to Val's company to pick up a few things. But the moment I arrived, I found the whole place buzzing, no one at their desks. I caught an employee by the arm. "Did something happen today? It's not the company's annual gala, is it?" The employee answered almost without thinking. "You don't know? Muriel Harding, Mr. Pruitt's best friend, she's getting married." "So Mr. Pruitt gifted her half his shares in the company." "He even gave everyone the day off with pay and told us to come in for a raffle." "I heard the grand prize is a car worth three hundred grand. If I were Muriel I'd be over the moon." Another one said, "But doesn't Mr. Pruitt have a girlfriend? I thought she was getting married soon too. Why hasn't there been a peep about it?" "If you ask me, the bride might just be Muriel." "That girlfriend's made up. If she were really his girlfriend, why would he keep coming in to make the ring himself, day after day? Muriel's ring is a rock the size of a pigeon's egg, shipped in from overseas. Mr. Pruitt worked on it with his own hands!" Val had told me once that he'd never make me sign a prenup. Said half of everything he owned was mine. I never agreed to it. He'd also said a man keeps his money wherever his love is. So that was it. His love was with Muriel. I let out a soft laugh. Maybe the photo of me that used to sit in Val's office had been thrown out long ago. What had I even come here looking for? Just as I was about to leave, Muriel showed up and headed straight for me. She grabbed my arm without asking what I wanted. "You're already here. Go on, draw a prize." Val saw the two of us appear together, and his face tightened. "What are you doing here?" "If I hadn't come, how would I ever have known you'd handed half the company to Muriel?" "You owed Muriel so much back then, so I gave her the shares that were meant for you..." "From now on, between you and Muriel, you'll never have to be the one who bows her head again. I did it for your own good." If I hadn't overheard that conversation the other day, I might just have believed him. Val didn't finish explaining. He was pulled away by the crowd before he could. Muriel came over holding a ball and pressed it into my hand. "Half of these shares are already mine. So what if you marry Val? You won't get a single cent out of it now." "Just treat this like a lottery ticket. If your luck's good, you might even win yourself a car worth three hundred grand!" Seeing that I didn't move— "What? You don't know how? Right, of course. You never worked here, so how would you know? Let me help you." Out rolled a single pack of tissues. Muriel covered her mouth. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry. I really didn't expect the prize to be as cheap as you are."

I said, "You put on quite a show. Does Val know about this? Does Preston?" "And another thing. I have a job. I'm a cellist." "But you? Living off your own man wasn't enough, so now you're living off another one's, gloating over the things he hands you like they mean something. Can't you survive without a man to prop you up?" Muriel's face went white with anger, but she recovered fast, smug again. "So what? You still don't know, do you? The truth is, Preston and I were together a long time ago. You want to know why he went ahead and had that wedding with you? Because I told him to." "Before the two of you ever shared that bed, it was mine and Preston's! What can I say, I'm young, I'm beautiful, and he couldn't stay away from me." She saw the color drain from my face and pressed in closer. "Why don't you take a guess? What do you think happened at your wedding?" So that ring really had been their little gift of humiliation. Old grievance and new rage boiled over, and I slapped Muriel twice, hard. "Muriel, we were supposed to be best friends. How could you do this to me? I never owed you anything!" For years I'd lived buried in guilt over Muriel, while the two of them stood back and watched me become everyone's joke, letting the whole world tear me down. I searched my memory and could not find a single thing I'd ever done to wrong her. Muriel was beside herself. No one had ever dared touch her face. She screamed, "Because you're an eyesore, that's why!" Then her expression flipped in an instant. "Val, save me." Val saw all of it, and his face turned livid. He shoved me away with one hand. The force sent me slamming into the car behind me, its corner driving hard into the small of my back. Muriel melted against Val's chest, all delicate and sweet. "Just because you gave me those shares, Annabel kept slapping me out of jealousy." "I really didn't want them. I never meant to come between the two of you. Maybe I should just keep my distance from you. Your girlfriend is terrifying." Val pressed her tight against him and looked at me, eyes cold and vicious. "Annabel. Apologize." Only then did the crowd understand that this was Val's fiancée, the one so rarely seen that none of them recognized her. Muriel was the one they saw all the time. Between these two women, who could ever win? Then Val said it. "Annabel, get on your knees and apologize." I stared at him, unable to believe it. Even after everything, some part of me had still thought Val had treated me well these three years. In front of the entire company, I knelt down and apologized to Muriel. Three years. Keep a dog that long and you grow attached. And he had trampled my dignity, again and again. The last thread of light went out. "Val, do you know what Muriel told me?" "She confessed everything. All the filthy things the two of you did to me back then—"