My best friend is marrying my husband novel Chapter 18

Stephen’s heart felt as if a hammer had slammed straight into it. He opened his mouth, wanting to refute her, but no

words came out.

Because she was right. What right did he have to question Julia?

If he hadn’t lied about being married… if he hadn’t toyed with Julia while enjoying all the devotion Maria gave him… if

he hadn’t been greedy, indecisive, selfish…

None of this would have happened.

“You’re right.” Stephen closed his eyes, exhaustion weighing down every syllable. “I’m the one who deserves to die the

most.”

Julia looked at him, and the hatred in her eyes slowly dimmed. What replaced it was emptiness, a hollow kind of

confusion.

“But Stephen…” she whispered, tears sliding down her cheeks, “I really did love you…”

“Love?” Stephen opened his eyes. They were icy cold. “Your love is terrifying.”

He turned to the officer standing nearby. “Please… handle it according to the law.”

Julia was escorted out. Before crossing the threshold, she cast one last glance back at Stephen, a look tangled with love.

resentment, unwillingness, and a faint, indescribable sense of relief.

The door shut. Silence smothered the room again.

Stephen remained seated on the bed, staring out at the sheets of rain pouring down the window. He didn’t move. He

barely breathed.

Three months later, Julia’s case finally went to trial. Because she confessed, and because Maria’s death was ruled an

accident, she was sentenced to three years in prison.

On the day of the sentencing. Stephen didn’t attend. Instead, he traveled to a small northern town. Maria’s hometown.

Using the address the butler gave him, he found the cemetery on the outskirts of town, and the two graves of Maria’s

and their daughter’s.

Two plain stone slabs stood side by side. No photographs. Just their names and the dates of their short, tragic lives.

Beside Maria’s grave, someone had planted a jasmine bush, her favorite flower.

Beside their daughter’s, a small stuffed bunny sat slumped against the stone, its fabric faded from wind and rain.

Chapter 18

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Stephen stood before the graves, the cold biting through him. And suddenly, a memory surfaced.

Years ago, Maria had taken his hand, eyes bright with excitement as she told him.

“Stephen, when the baby is born, let’s take her traveling every year. And when she grows up, we’ll plant jasmine all over

the yard. In summer, the whole house will smell wonderful.”

He had agreed. He never kept the promise.

I’m sorry…” He collapsed in grief, pressing his forehead against the icy stone. “Maria… sweetheart… I’m so sorry…”

Rain soaked his hair, his clothes, his face… blurring into the tears he could no longer hold back.

“I shouldn’t have doubted you… shouldn’t have treated you that way… shouldn’t have…” His voice cracked apart, the rest

swallowed by grief.

He thought of the pool of dried blood in the basement, the black–and–white funeral photos, the doctor shaking his head

and saying. You brought her in too late.

Every memory sliced through him like a blade, carving him open again and again.

“If I could go back…” He choked on the words. “If I could go back. I would treat you well… I would treat our daughter well…

I would do everything right…”

But life offered no rewinds.

Stephen stayed there for a time long enough for his legs to go numb, long enough for dusk to fall, until the cemetery

keeper approached to say they were closing.

Only then did he force himself to stand, swaying on unsteady legs as he walked away.

He didn’t notice, behind a large tree not far from the graves, a woman stood silently, holding a little girl’s hand.

They watched him leave. Quiet. Unseen.

Chapter 18