Turning My Back on Love

Winona's expression changed before she came over to me, the hem of her wedding dress trailing behind her. There was an aggrieved look on her face as she said, "Mary, are you here to snatch George away?"

She grabbed my arm, her voice sounding like she was about to cry as she pleaded, "I promise that once the baby is born, I'll return George to you, so please, can you not ruin my wedding? I beg you!"

I extricated my arm from her grip. "You're overthinking it."

Nonetheless, Winona refused to leave me alone. George also approached, his brow furrowed deeply.

"George, I don't want a wedding anymore. Have Mom and Dad tell everyone that the wedding is canceled." As Winona spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks.

Frowning harder, George yanked me aside to reprimand me. "Mary, can you please stop being so insensitive? Stop agitating Winnie. Rest assured, I'll marry you, so don't do something as foolish as crashing the wedding."

A sense of bitterness welled in me, but I simply turned and headed for the restroom.

I was drying my hands when I spotted Winona in the mirror, a smug look on her face.

While caressing her belly, she said with a smile, "Marilyn, do you know just how gentle George looks when he touches my belly? Once the baby is born, they will call George 'Daddy' and me 'Mommy.' We will be a happy family of three."

I tossed the used napkin in the trash bin before answering blithely, "Oh, then congratulations to you. I wish you two a happy marriage."

There was silence behind me for a while, but I could still sense that gaze fixed intently on my back.

Suddenly, Winona laughed and taunted me, "Shall we see who George will choose between us?"

Following that, I heard her calling George on her phone. "G-George… I can't… My stomach hurts so much! M-Mary, she… She still blames me, so she pushed me down… It hurts!"

I found the entire situation ridiculous and couldn't be bothered with her any longer. However, I was abruptly shoved aside, and my hip hit the sink.

There was a sharp flare of pain..

"Winnie, are you okay?" George didn't bother hiding his worry as he carefully picked Winona up.

"George, it hurts!"

I forced myself to endure the pain coming from my hip and exited the restroom, only to hear George shouting at me. "Marilyn Lithos, how could you be so wicked? I already told you I would marry you, so why did you still hurt Winnie?"

I looked over my shoulder, seeing an iciness in his gaze that I had never seen before. In his arms, Winona had a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

When the passersby spotted the pregnant woman in George's arms, they instinctively sided with him. They shook their heads and commented, "How could she push down a pregnant woman? Does she have no morals?"

In that instant, I wasn't sure if I wanted to cry or laugh more. I had been with George for so many years, yet it seemed he didn't have even the slightest bit of trust in me.

Winona, probably thinking there wasn't enough drama, continued to moan and whine about how much pain she was in.

George gritted his teeth, his eyes becoming red with anger.

"Marilyn Lithos, get out of my way! If you ever appear before Winnie again, don't blame me for overlooking our past!"

Each word was like a cold bullet slamming into me.

I opened my mouth, wanting to explain, but when I met George's hate-filled eyes, it was like a hammer had bludgeoned my heart. He had already deemed me guilty of something I didn't do, and nothing I said would change that. It would only make me appear even more foolish.

I had originally thought that even if our relationship fell apart, it was built on the foundation of many years, so we would still know each other's characters well.

However, at the end of the day, nothing could beat one single sentence from Winona.

Immediately, I became the subject of scorn for the crowd as they began cursing and scolding me.

Even the security guard was rough as he shoved me to get me out of there. I had clearly done nothing wrong, yet I was being treated like the vilest of criminals.

One particularly hard push from the security guard caused me to lose my balance, and I resigned myself to falling.

But in the next second, a pair of strong arms caught and steadied me.

The low voice of a man sounded in my ear. "Sorry, I'm late."