“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what, Richard? What would you have done?”
“I don’t know. Apologized sooner? Bought you a burger to make up for it?”
Her eyes lit up with fire, “You think what you did to me… you think a burger can make up for it?” her eyes twinkled like she was fighting tears. Did I hurt her that badly? I was just a foolish teenager.
“Nita, I am sorry. I was young, I was stupid. I wish I could take it all back and tell you how I feel instead of being a constant jerk to gain your attention.”
“How did you feel that would justify what you did to me?”
I paused for a minute, finding the words. “I had a huge crush on you at the time. And I didn’t know how to express myself. I was full of myself, I was the school’s ladies' man and the one girl I had eyes for didn’t even care if I existed,”
 “And that justified what you did to me? Richard, you broke me. I can forgive you for ‘accidentally’ spilling your ice cream on me, or throwing my due assignment in the toilet, or the gum in my hair, or the glue in my chair but tell me how can I forgive you for what you did that night? Tell me!”
“What night? Nita, what are you talking about?”
“Remember when you asked me if I knew who sexually assaulted me?”
I nodded, but what does that have to do with anything?  The more we spoke, the more confused I became.
“You did and I cannot believe that you would stand there and pretend like it didn’t happen!”


Nita has spent years trying to forget the torment she endured at the hands of Richard. When her family’s financial ruin forces her into an arranged marriage, she is horrified to find out the groom himself was her bully.
Richard, a charming and successful businessman meets the first woman to be repulsed by him. Intrigued, he proposes a deal of a one year marriage of convenience.
Navigating life as a couple, old wounds reopen, buried memories surface. As Richard learns more about his wife, he finds that he has enemies that followed him from his past to continuously cloud his wife’s judgement.
Will Nita believe the truth and bury old wounds or will the pain of the past prove too strong to heal?

I clenched my fists. "Dad, I wanted to fight for Chayara not you."


He exhaled heavily, rubbing a hand down his face. "If you hadn't, I would have." His voice trembled. "I won't make the same mistake twice. I won't let my grandchild be manipulated by those callous minds." His jaw tightened. "But if I knew that decision would cost me Abby…" He trailed off, shaking his head as fresh pain tore through him.


Then I took a deep breath. "Dad, we have to let her go."


He closed his eyes blocking out the reality before him. His shoulders shook as he drew in a shuddering breath.


And then, slowly he let go of her hand.


The moment their fingers unthreaded, his body sagged. His own hands fell to the sides drained of life too. I knew a fraction of what he was feeling. My wife's life had been threatened more times than I can count. I had seen her crash in an accident while in labour.


Chapter 123 - I Would Have