Married By Chance, Loved By Choice

Ronnie' s very public campaign, insis

," she'd said gently. "Sho

e smiles, the whispered judgme

e gala caused an

sed. I could feel the weight of

ht Ronnie's narrative. I was the

é" status and Ronnie's public declarations

his arm, looki

Heard you're still going through with a wedding. Bit

ndescending, hi

eard the whispe

still chasin

a chance again

without Eleano

le. "Congratulations on your engagement, Mark.

arily surprised by

ed. She still thought

mall smile playing on my lips. "Same day as your

end of Mark's, a boorish man n

on? Giving her an ult

e public humiliat

"Alex, how dare you! Yo

ired. "It's not you. How man

hen who is it, Thompson

, when Todd, emboldened by the crowd' s amusement and

d, Thompson!

ackward into the large, ornamental pond th

ter closed

m the shock of the fall, but

g weight of the car, Ronnie screaming, and t

shing, water filling m

d swim, but the trauma, the sud

king laughter from t

as part of the spectacle, the jilted fo

o die again, humiliated and alo

kened. The world

drow