Tom gave me an awkward smile. “Calm down, darling. Such a trifle can’t affect our wedding!” he said.

“But Tom, I asked you!” I retorted.

“See, Jessica. I really didn’t invite her! I don’t know why she’s here!” Tom explained.

“Don’t lie, Tom, I know…” Before I could finish, the guests interrupted us. “KISS! KISS! KISS! WE WANT YOU TO KISS EACH OTHER! NOW!”

The girls all stepped out of the festive table and formed a circle. I stood in the center of the circle.

As I positioned myself, I heard some girls talking about how I looked gorgeous in the snow-white dress I had dreamed of a month ago. I blushed. I still couldn’t believe it had finally happened. I had married my boss, a charming and wealthy businessman.

Soon, the girls parted and gathered in one place. Everyone raised their hands and prepared themselves to grab the bouquet and become the next person to get married. I turned my back on the girls and threw the bouquet.

When I turned back, though, I was surprised to see the bouquet in the hands of my rival, Mary. She looked at me and smiled, but I ignored her and walked away.

Mary took a step towards the stage, lifting her purple gown. When she held the microphone in her hands, my heart skipped a beat. I was sure she would say something to ruin our wedding. I should have thrown her out of the hall!

The toastmaster looked at Mary and asked, “What’s your name, young lady? Please introduce yourself!”

The moment I saw Mary standing there to begin her speech, my whole life flashed in front of my eyes.

I was a little girl running along the river when I met my first love. His name was Micheal, and he was five years older than me. He was limping when I saw him that day. Maybe he’d strained his leg in some way.

I came to a halt beside the river and fixed my gaze on him. Suddenly, I saw he slipped and fell in the river. I cried at the top of my voice, and luckily a fisherman saw him and saved his life.

From that moment on, I waited and didn’t move away from Micheal. Even when he went to the army, I waited for him to return. And one day, he finally came back. I was eighteen by then.

“Oh, look, you haven’t forgotten me.” Michael had said, taking my hand. “So, will you marry me?”

Well, I had to, because I soon realized that I was expecting a baby. We had a low-key wedding, and soon, I moved in with Michael’s parents while our house was being built. They were quite nice to me. However, one day, when I was heavily pregnant, Michael didn’t return home.

I got up a couple of times during the night and went to the construction site, but he was nowhere to be seen. Worried, I ran over to my mother-in-law. “Michael is not home yet. I’m concerned,” I told her.

However, soon, the whole town was buzzing that Micheal had an affair with Samantha. I couldn’t take it any longer. so when my daughter, Helen, was born, I moved in with my parents.

Micheal persuaded me to return twice, and each time, I did. But after a while, everything happened again, and this time it was worse.

Micheal now had multiple ladies in his life, not just one or two. Samantha, Vicky, Melinda … every time it was a new woman. I was done trying to make the marriage work, so I divorced him and never looked back again.

Due to that experience, I decided to get married out of convenience. But little did I know I’d actually fall in love.

The contender for this position, though, was Mary. She had already worked as an assistant secretary and was head over heels for her boss. Everyone knew about it, but Tom did not notice it.

Honestly, it wasn’t easy to win against Mary, but finally, it worked out. And now Tom and I are married. The only thing that worried me was that I didn’t tell Tom I had a daughter and an ex-lover.

I thought I’d talk about it when we had children. However, if Mary revealed everything right now, not only would Tom and my relationship be ruined, but I would also be humiliated in front of the guests.

Mary had conducted a background check on me when she learned that Tom and I liked each other. She knew everything that had happened back in my hometown. She never confronted me directly, but I learned that the lady knew everything about me through some people.

“Good afternoon everyone, my name is Mary. I’d been working for Tom for a long time. Nobody invited me here. But I came. I came to say…” she began her speech.

I held Tom’s hand tightly in anxiety and squeezed it.

Tom looked at me affectionately. “You don’t need to worry, Jess. I know everything. I know about your past,” he said.

I was taken aback. “Wait a minute, what? But how?”

“We’ll talk about it later, Jess. And don’t worry, I’ve forgiven you already,” he said. I grasped Tom’s hand hard once more, this time out of love rather than fear of Mary.

Mary continued, “I came to say … words of greeting for you, Tom and Jessica. Be happy! And this is a gift from our team.” With that, she brought a big box into the hall.

As I opened the present, I whispered to Mary, “Did you come just to give us a gift?”

I leaned forward and hugged Mary. “You know, everyone says that I got married out of convenience. But I love him!”

“I know, Jessica,” Mary told me.

He also had a conversation with my ex-husband when he came to ruin our relationship. But Tom fought for me. He didn’t pay attention to the rumors. He didn’t pay attention to the fact that I kept my past a secret. He wanted to be a loving husband and the father of my children. And he played the role extraordinarily well.

We had twins, Sam and Aaron, a year after we married, and Tom loved all of the children, Helen, Sam, and Aaron, unconditionally.

What can we learn from this story?