The Marriage Without a Wedding Night
Chapter 12 - The Marriage Without a Wedding Night
Three weeks had passed since the ceremony.
Abigail and Nathan were legally married but living apart.
They met in the bakery after closing.
His wedding ring remained in the drawer where Abigail had placed it.
“You can ask for an annulment,” Nathan said.
“Do you want one?”
“No.”
“Then don’t offer it like a noble sacrifice.”
He smiled faintly.
“I don’t know how to fix this.”
“You can’t fix it by resigning from everything you care about.”
“I resigned because it was right.”
“You also punish yourself when you feel powerless.”
Nathan looked at her.
She had known him well enough to see that before their wedding.
That was why she loved him.
And why she was afraid.
“I married you,” Abigail said, “because I believed you were building a life separate from your family’s control.”
“I was.”
“Then a piece of paper appeared, and suddenly your mother was in our room.”
Nathan lowered his gaze.
“She has been in every room of my life.”
Abigail opened the drawer.
She removed his ring.
“I cannot stay married to a man still asking permission from people he claims to resist.”
“I’m not asking permission anymore.”
“Then what are you asking?”
He looked at her.
“A chance to prove it.”
Abigail placed the ring in his palm.
Nathan’s face fell.
Then she closed his fingers around it.
“Wear it.”
He stared at her.
“This is not forgiveness,” she said. “It is a decision not to run while we learn whether forgiveness is possible.”
Nathan slid the ring onto his finger.
For the first time since the suite, Abigail felt married.
May you like
Not because the crisis was over.
Because both of them had chosen to remain present inside it.
