Page 312 of Hide and Keep

A collective gasp echoes through the crowd of wedding guests, but I’m not sure for which juicy tidbit. The abusive father? The arranged marriage? Or the rapist son? All three are pretty fucking disturbing in my opinion.

“Who?” Larson, Sr. and Arthur demand at the same time.

“Me.”

Arthur points at Ever. “You better fix this.”

“Crue.” Ever tugs on me until I turn to her.

Her face is covered and I…hate it. Is that why she was always taking my hat off?

I remove the veil from her hair and throw it out to the side.

There’s my beautiful bride. Mine. Not Mallory’s.

Instead of vows, my bride whispers, “Just take the money.”

“What money?”

She widens her eyes at me.

The million dollars.

“That was you?”

“You can get away. Move anywhere you want. Live out your dream.”

“Are you fucking shitting me?” I use her own saying against her. “I wouldneverchoose travel or money oranythingover you. You’re my dream. You.”

Instead of being happy at that, she only looks more miserable.

“I’ll be your end, too.”

“Then finish me.” That’s what she said last night, right? I didn’t fully understand what she meant until now. She chose me to be her end. I’m choosing her to be mine. I drop to my knees at her feet and with my hands together in prayer, I beg, “Fucking finish me, Ever, because I’m yours no matter what, no matter where. Go to outer space and I’ll still come find you.”

She shakes her head, the pain inside her causing fissures in her makeup as it claws its way out and onto her features.

“Ever.”

Tears run down her quivering cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’re—”

Mallory’s moan beside us cuts me off. He starts thrashing around, making me instantly pissed he’s still alive. And obviously not paralyzed.

Pressing the bottom of my shoe against his back, I kick him away from us.

“You’re not marrying him. Not today. Not ever. You’re going to bemywife and you’re going to bearmychildren.” I think. I don’t know. We never talked about having kids before. “We’re going to travel the worldtogether, every single step of the way.” I don’t care how many jobs I have to suffer through to make that happen, or how many years it’ll take to earn enough savings, but I’ll do it. I’ll do anything to keep Ever.

And I’ll do it all without a fucking hat on. Anything to make her happy.

“It’s my choice,” she cries. “I’m choosing your life over mine.”

“I have no life without you, Ever.” Doesn’t she fucking see that? She is my life now.

“I’m sorry. I’m so,sosorry. But I’m—”

Suddenly, she drops to her knees, too, and with my head blocking her from everyone’s view, she whispers in a completely different tone, “There’s a door out back.”

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