Picking Up My Real Husband At My Exes Party

It was 11:59 PM. I forced myself to push past the anger of being woken by my phone and shoved open the gilded door of the private room. “Excuse me, everyone, I apologize for the interruption, but I’m here to pick up my husband.” The next second, the room’s raucous New Year’s countdown came to a screeching halt. Dozens of eyes belonging to a room full of society’s elite were suddenly pinned on me. And the man sitting in the center seat, impeccably tailored, his expression cool and remote, was slowly tracing the rim of a cocktail glass. “…Audrey Rose?” Someone finally broke the heavy silence. “This is the Crestwood University Alumni New Year’s Eve gathering. This isn’t a refuge for Midtown State rejects.” A wave of laughter erupted. “Isn’t this the one from the ‘Primacy of Audrey’ scandal? The time Crestwood’s star student risked his academic career by rewriting the core thesis of his Political Science paper to be about her?” “I heard you had to desperately trick your way into your stepbrother’s bed and then force a wedding. Why else would he marry a scatterbrain like you? Now his wife is a Cambridge PhD. That’s what you call a perfect match. Why would you even dare show your face here?” The table full of gazes felt like tiny needles stabbing into my skin. They would never know. Rhys had once been the last-ranked student in his class. His desperate, brilliant climb to the top was all for me. But the past was the past, and it no longer mattered. I met all their stares, displaying none of the shame or panic they anticipated. I pulled my lips into a small, calm smile. “I’m not here to join your elite little countdown, ladies and gentlemen. I’m here to take my husband home.” Rhys finally looked up, his eyes deep and unsettling. “Audrey. We’ve been divorced for three years.” I gently curved my lips, putting on my standard, customer-service smile. “I know.” “And that’s why, Mr. Rhys, I wasn’t talking about you.” 1 “The nerve. Still trying to claim a piece of Rhys even after the divorce.” A few repressed snickers echoed in the room. Jax lit a cigarette and watched me with a bored, detached expression. “First time I’ve seen someone so eager to play the mistress.” Jax had been my and Rhys’s best friend in high school. And once, he had been the second-kindest person in the world to me. But when Rhys and I fell apart, Jax didn’t hesitate to side with him. Because the woman he loved was the very reason for the end of my marriage—the other woman. And he had spent years helping Rhys keep their relationship a secret from me. Only I had been the fool, kept completely in the dark from start to finish. “Jax, enough.” Rhys’s lips tightened as he gave a cold warning. Jax, annoyed, stubbed out his cigarette. “What’s the big deal? A couple of words won’t hurt. A dimwit like Audrey Rose can’t possibly compare to someone as brilliant as Sloane. You only kept her around because you felt sorry for her, and she just held you back for years.” Rhys met my gaze, his voice low and firm. “Audrey Rose isn’t dumb.” Audrey Rose isn’t dumb. Coming from the mouth of a genius like Rhys, the statement always felt faintly ridiculous. But the sixteen-year-old Audrey Rose had believed it. The year I finished middle school, my mother married Rhys’s father, forming a new family. Rhys and I were the same age and ended up at the same average high school. We were even in the same class. He was dead last in the rankings; I was comfortably average. Rhys hated me, so he never spoke to me. I often saw Rhys getting into fights and facing disciplinary action. Then my mother would have to go to the school, quietly enduring the scoldings and abuse. One night, I went out for water and saw my mother sitting on the sofa, weeping late at night. “Audrey, what can I do to make Rhys accept me?” I didn’t know. I only knew that after that night, The cold truce Rhys and I had was replaced by open warfare. I put mustard in his drink, poured dirty water into his backpack, and slipped laxatives into his lunch. Rhys finally snarled a threat: “What else you got? Listen, Audrey Rose, if you don’t manage to ruin my life, I’m going to ruin your mother’s.” We maintained that vicious standoff for over six months. I thought I would hate Rhys forever. But in the end, he became the only person left in the world who loved me. 2 My conflict with Rhys ended after an incident of domestic violence. Rhys’s father beat my mother so badly that she ended up in the emergency room. As she was being loaded into the ambulance, his father was still spitting venom. “I chased you for a year or two, and you’re useless! All beauty, zero substance.” My mother was nearly forty, and for the first half of her life, my own father had spoiled her rotten. She naturally hadn’t learned to do much for herself. Hearing that comment, the cold mask Rhys wore instantly shattered. He stared at me in shock, murmuring to himself. “My dad didn’t tell me your mom seduced him…” Rhys hated my mother. He’d always believed she actively broke up his parents’ marriage, which led to his mother leaving. It didn’t matter anymore, because after that day, I didn’t have a mother, either. I took her favorite White Gardenias to the hospital to visit her, only to learn she had run off. She hadn’t taken anything. And she hadn’t taken me. Audrey Rose was homeless. I didn’t know where to go. Wandering the streets late that night, Rhys was the one who found me. His eyes were red, and he looked furious. Afraid he was going to hit me, I curled into a ball. Amidst my terror, his warm embrace wrapped around me. For the first time, I heard him speak with such tenderness. “Audrey Rose, come home with me.” “From now on, I’ll be your whole world.” I took the hand he offered and held on tight. And so, from that day when I was sixteen, Audrey Rose’s world had consisted of only Rhys. 3 After my mother’s passing away, Rhys’s father’s temper became increasingly volatile. Rhys, worried I might get hurt, moved us out. Our lives continued, but they were different now. I was no longer mischievous or a troublemaker, and Rhys’s eyes held a gentle softness. Rhys started spending more and more time reading and studying. I couldn’t help but ask him about it. “You never liked reading or going to class before.” He looked at me with great seriousness, then finally pinched my cheek gently and said with a warm sigh, “Audrey Rose, I want you to have a better life.” I saw the flush on his ears and nodded firmly. Audrey Rose, you absolutely cannot hold Rhys back. So I studied even harder, but while Rhys flipped his rankings from last place to first, I remained stuck in the middle. Rhys tutored me until midnight every night. I just stared at the Calculus problems, shaking my head. He’d say, “Audrey Rose, you really are a bit dense.” “But I love that about you. You’re adorable when you’re confused.” Sleepiness washed over me, and the pen slipped from my hand. I mumbled, “Rhys, can you slow down a little? I’m going to be left behind.” Rhys promised me. I would never have to chase him. He would always wait for me. He broke that promise. Later, he came to despise that confused, clumsy side of me. It only irritated him. 4 “Not dumb? You practically tutored her full-time, and she still only managed to get into a second-rate state college.” Jax played with his lighter, picking up the thread of the conversation. I glanced around the room, not seeing my actual husband, Leo Maxwell. Leo had indeed attended Crestwood, the same as Rhys, but they were in different programs. It was unlikely they would be at the same alumni party. I figured Leo must have sent me the wrong address. I couldn’t be bothered to dwell on the past any longer. “My apologies for the intrusion.” I dropped the words and walked out. I texted Leo, but he didn’t reply. His phone went straight to voicemail. I decided to head home. Just as I reached the car door, a hand clamped down on my wrist. “Please, Audrey. Can you forgive me?” Rhys looked down, an expression I couldn’t decipher in his eyes. Audrey. That casual, familiar use of my name. It used to make me blush, a perfect way for a conservative guy like Rhys to flirt. But later, that very familiarity was what ruined me. “Rhys, are you addicted to performing?” I shook off his hand, my face blank. “I don’t need your forgiveness.” The tension was broken by a soft, contemptuous sneer. “Audrey Rose, I never expected to see you here.” Sloane approached in high heels, as arrogant and self-satisfied as always. In the past, I would have been intimidated by her presence. I would have felt admiration, even a reflexive self-loathing. But now, after that shameful history had tormented me countless times, all that remained was a profound calm. “Audrey Rose, why don’t you come home with Rhys and me? Your mother misses you so much.” I didn’t think I’d be able to say it so calmly, three years later. “I don’t have a mother.” My former love, my mother. They all chose her, Sloane. And I had long ago decided I didn’t want any of them. Sloane grabbed my wrist, subtly exposing the gold bracelet on her own. It was Rhys’s mother’s family heirloom. I had worn that bracelet for ten years. Rhys and my relationship had only lasted ten. 5 Jax was right; I was always dense. Even though Rhys worked himself to the bone tutoring me, I could only manage to scrape into Midtown State. Rhys, however, crushed the college entrance exams, was named the state’s top scorer, and went to Crestwood University. We were both in the city, not too far apart. Though we couldn’t be together all the time, our relationship was intensely close and affectionate. It was the simplest happiness, and a memory I would cherish for the rest of my life. Rhys was handsome and brilliant; many people chased him. But he always gave me complete security. I often went to his campus to visit him during college. He was too famous; the smallest rumor would draw attention. Gradually, people on the forums started saying I wasn’t good enough for him. That I was worthless aside from my face, a fool with no ability or background who didn’t deserve a prodigy. Rhys had already made our relationship public. He was furious when he heard these things. He said they didn’t know how wonderful I was. So, on a major final exam that semester, He took the foundational principle of Dialectical Materialism and replaced it everywhere with The Primacy of Audrey. He nearly failed the course and was publicly reprimanded by the department for having “love on the brain.” The incident rocked the entire campus. Rhys was afraid that anyone might not know I was his girlfriend, yet when we got married, he insisted: “Audrey Rose, let’s keep this a secret for now.” “Just wait a few years. I’ll make a name for myself, and then I’ll marry you in the grand style you deserve.” I agreed. In the fourth year of our marriage, Rhys’s career had soared. I never got the wedding I dreamed of. I got his betrayal. 6 On our fourth wedding anniversary, Rhys flew into a terrible rage. Because I had apparently lost the bracelet he gave me. Furious, he slammed the door and stormed out. It was the first time in his life he had ever spoken to me with such venom. It was pouring rain that day. I searched everywhere we’d ever been. I suddenly remembered the little house where Rhys and I had lived in high school. Rhys had bought that house later on. Because the walls inside were covered with thousands of photos of us from those three years. The moment I pushed open the door. I saw Rhys with another woman pressed underneath him. A moment of intense, breathless frenzy. My head spun, and I instantly lost my voice. I knew who she was: Sloane. Rhys had mentioned her, but rarely. He initially told me her father had forced her onto his team and he figured she’d be nothing but trouble. But later, he’d said Sloane was incredibly capable, brilliant, and sharp. It was around that time that Rhys started thinking I was dumb. Our common ground shrank. Rhys would often say: “Can you please stop asking? I tell you things, and you still don’t get it.” “Audrey Rose, you’re so slow.” Yet, I was genuinely happy he had found a compatible colleague. But now, Sloane was wearing that bracelet, her eyes filled with cold provocation. I had been tormented by guilt, searching like a dog for something I thought I’d lost. It turns out I hadn’t lost it. Rhys had personally handed it over to someone else. She slowly stood up, leaning against Rhys. “Why so surprised?” “We’ve done it in your bedroom, in the bathroom, in front of the window in your penthouse—everywhere in the city you thought was yours. Today, we just wanted to try the spot where you two first did it.” A ringing in my ears deafened me, and all the strength drained from my body. Operating on pure instinct, I grabbed the photo frame from the table and hurled it. Rhys shielded her with his body, his eyes bloodshot. “Audrey Rose, are you insane!” The man who had promised to be my whole world. He shoved me hard to the floor. My hand was covered in glass shards. The photo— It was the first picture Rhys and I ever took. He was beaming, his arm around me, showing me off. But now, it was shattered. And the look in his eyes was pure revulsion. Before I could even process that, another bombshell exploded near my ear. “Audrey Rose, can you stop the drama? You’re suffocating! No wonder your own mother walked out on you!” It turned out my mother had remarried. She had married Sloane’s father and had genuinely doted on Sloane for ten years. My decade of fantasy had become a nightmare. Later, Rhys demanded a divorce. I didn’t want to give them what they wanted, but I couldn’t fight them. Everyone I loved had defected to the other side. My partner, my friend. And, my mother. 7 Rhys locked me up in the city apartment. For nearly a week, he unleashed all his rage on me. “I won’t sign. You want to marry her? In your dreams.” At the time, the marriage certificate felt like my only leverage. I was stubborn, desperate, and felt like a madwoman. A week later, a blurred video was leaked. The audio, however, was painfully clear. “My darling, I love you most. Just try to love Audrey a little more than you do now.” This was from years ago, when he was always traveling. He’d said he needed a way to feel close to me when I wasn’t there. Rhys was terrifyingly conservative. So when he initially suggested making the video, I was both shy and surprised. Rhys and Sloane were masters of spin. That one sentence on the video completely turned public opinion against me. And the final nails in my coffin were driven by my own mother and my closest friend. My mother said I was a manipulative child who had trapped Rhys, forcing her to leave. Jax claimed Rhys had only ever seen me as a little sister, that I was the one who climbed into his bed, forcing him to take responsibility and marry me. The final, fatal blow came from Rhys himself. I lay numbly on the bed, watching my family and friend’s accusations, when Sloane came to see me. She told me she had confessed her love to Rhys in college. Rhys had rejected her. His reason? He didn’t feel worthy of her yet. If she was willing, she could wait a few years for him. Wait until he had the success to stand beside her, until he could approach her openly. That night, I finally gave in. I agreed to the divorce. As I signed the papers, I thought back. Sixteen-year-old Rhys, full of ambition, promising me a better life. But twenty-six-year-old Rhys’s future never included Audrey Rose. Wiping away my tears, I forced myself to ask him. “What was I to you? A consolation prize?” “Or just a temporary fix until you found the person you truly loved?” Rhys said, “I did love you, Audrey Rose. That was real.” I held back my tears. The love was real, but the change of heart was just as real. 8 During the mandatory cooling-off period, I barely left the house. The scandal with Rhys and me had become too public. Leaving the apartment meant I was mocked and insulted, or worse, subjected to various forms of harassment. The day we were officially divorced, I discovered I was pregnant. Rhys and I had tried to conceive for two years with no luck, but on the day we divorced— I went back to the old high school house. I hadn’t taken any assets from the divorce, only the title to that one small property. I threw out the bed they had used, and I lived curled up on the sofa every day. Listening to music, playing the guitar, reading. When I thought of Rhys, I would burn a photo. In the beginning, I burned hundreds a day. I forced myself to wait at least an hour between sessions. Later, the frequency of burning photos became less and less. I never paid much mind to the baby growing inside me. I suppose the child knew I didn’t want her. She was very gentle, very quiet. For six months, I had an easy pregnancy. But in the sixth month, I terminated the pregnancy. Because in the sixth month after the divorce, Rhys and Sloane got married. It was an enormous wedding. Even grander than the unfulfilled fantasy of the one Rhys had promised me. That day, I ran out of photos to burn. How could twenty-six-year-old Audrey Rose possibly be dumber than sixteen-year-old Audrey Rose? What sixteen-year-old Audrey Rose had held onto so tightly, Twenty-six-year-old Audrey Rose could finally let go of. Rhys would no longer be a part of Audrey Rose’s world. 9 “Audrey, you’ve changed so much, I barely recognize you. You weren’t this cold before.” Rhys frowned at me. I smirked. “Oh, really? And you used to say you only loved me.” Sloane shot me a fierce glare. “Audrey Rose, don’t be shameless. Are you trying to flirt with my husband right in front of me?” “I have zero interest in your husband.” I glanced at Rhys, my heart devoid of any reaction. I pushed past them. “Get out of my way. I’m going home.” The moment I opened the car door. A man’s coarse yell echoed through the parking garage. “Sis! Don’t you dare leave! Your husband is about to tear this whole place apart looking for you!” Finn, Rhys’s younger brother, gasped as he ran up to me, his face pale. “Holy hell, thank goodness you weren’t lost, Sis. My brother was about to kill me.” I was a bit slow to process. I looked up to see Rhys’s face frozen solid. He opened his mouth and squeezed out a few words: “You got married? When? To who?”