“Allison, this isn’t what you think.”
I laughed, but the sound was broken.
“Really? Because it looks exactly like what I think.”
The young woman looked between us, visibly confused.
“Mark, who is she?” she asked.
That question broke something inside me.
Who was I?
After six years, was I so insignificant that he hadn’t even mentioned me?
I stepped closer.
“I’m the woman he’s been living with for six years. The woman he keeps telling isn’t ready to get married.”
Mark reached for my arm.
“Please, don’t do this here.”
I pulled away.
“Don’t touch me.”
He looked frightened now, and for one terrible moment, I wanted him to be frightened. I wanted him to feel even a fraction of the pain I was feeling.
“You had six years to tell me the truth,” I said. “You could have ended things honestly. Instead, you let me believe we were building a future together.”
