“Come to my wedding with Claire and bring the girls. Your invitation includes a +1. But we both know you don’t have anyone.”
That was very Max.
We had been married for almost thirteen years. Together, we had two daughters, ages ten and three.
Then Max decided I no longer looked the way he wanted.
“You don’t look like you used to,” he told me.
Soon afterward, I discovered Claire.
She was his personal trainer.
When I confronted Max about the affair, he did not apologize.
Instead, he blamed me.
“What did you expect?” he said. “Men are visual. Claire is perfect.”
I stood in our bedroom while he packed his belongings.
“You cheated because I gained weight?”
Max barely hesitated.
“You used to have a slim waist, Ronnie. When did you last look at yourself in the mirror?”
Those words stayed with me long after he left.
His Words Followed Me Everywhere
After that day, I looked at myself constantly.
I examined my stomach.
Then my arms.
I studied my reflection from every angle.
Sometimes, I changed clothes because I could still hear Max’s voice.
I remembered everything he said I should hide.
Eventually, he announced that he was marrying Claire.
I could have skipped the wedding.
However, our daughters were attending.
My oldest daughter also kept asking whether I would be there.
So I agreed to go.
Then I noticed the +1 on my invitation.
Suddenly, I wanted Max to see that I was doing fine.
Actually, I wanted him to think I was doing better than fine.
That was how I ended up standing beside my coworker Edward’s desk on Monday morning.
“I need a favor.”
Edward looked up.
“That sounds expensive.”
“Come to my ex-husband’s wedding with me.”
“As emotional support?”
I hesitated.
“As my boyfriend.”
Edward stared at me.
“Pretend boyfriend,” I quickly added.
“Oh. Much healthier.”
Edward Had Been There Through My Divorce
Edward had become one of my closest friends during the divorce.
He listened without trying to solve everything.
Additionally, he brought me coffee when the divorce became final.
Once, he even helped rewrite an angry message to Max.
Without Edward, I probably would have sent something I regretted.
He was also tall, athletic, and annoyingly handsome.
In other words, he was exactly the kind of man Max would notice.
“Why me?” Edward asked.
I tried to joke.
“Because you’re ridiculously presentable.”
He continued watching me.
“Veronica.”
I sighed.
“I want Max to see me with you. I want him to wonder whether leaving me was a mistake.”
Edward leaned back.
For some reason, my answer seemed to bother him.
Nevertheless, he nodded.
“Okay.”
I should have wondered why he agreed so quickly.
Instead, I spent the entire week worrying about my dress.
I Could Still Hear Max Criticizing My Body
Max had trained me well.
I rejected dress after dress.
Each time, I imagined what he would say about my waist.
Then I worried about my arms.
Finally, I chose the dress I liked before imagining Max’s opinion.
Edward picked me up on Saturday.
There was a large cardboard box inside his car.
“What’s that?”
“Donation stuff.”
I did not ask anything else.
The wedding was enormous.
Flowers covered almost everything.
White tablecloths filled the room.
Champagne flowed freely.
There were also more chandeliers than any room could possibly need.
Our daughters were thrilled.
Then Max saw us.
His eyes moved from me to Edward.
Then they moved back to me.
For one satisfying second, Max had nothing to say.
Claire stood beside him in a fitted white wedding gown.
She looked beautiful.
I hated that noticing it still hurt.
Max Immediately Started Laughing
Max walked toward us.
“So this is your plus-one?”
“Max, this is Edward.”
Edward offered his hand.
“Congratulations.”
Max looked Edward up and down.
Then he laughed.
Not politely.
He actually laughed.
Several nearby guests turned toward us.
“What’s funny?” I asked.
Max looked at Edward.
Then he looked around as though everyone should understand the joke.
“Him?”
He pointed toward Edward.
“Your boyfriend?”
Claire touched Max’s arm.
“Max.”
However, he ignored her.
“I don’t believe it,” he said. “No one would date you. Especially someone like him.”
My face burned.
Then Max gave me that familiar grin.
He always used it when he wanted cruelty to sound like humor.
“What did you do?” he asked. “Pay him to come?”
For half a second, I was back inside our bedroom.
I could see him packing his bags again.
And once more, I wanted to disappear.
Edward Had a Wedding Gift for Max
Edward did not raise his voice.
Instead, he smiled.
“Actually, Max, I brought you a wedding gift.”
Max looked surprised.
“For me?”
“Especially for you.”
Then Edward turned toward me.
“Give me five minutes.”
He walked outside.
Max watched him leave and smirked.
“I knew it.”
Five minutes later, Edward returned.
He was carrying the cardboard box from his car.
He placed it on an empty table.
“For the groom.”
Max laughed.
“You were serious.”
“Open it.”
By then, several guests were watching.
Max opened the box.
Immediately, his smile disappeared.
Inside was an enormous pair of trousers.
Max lifted them out.
“What is this?”
“Mine,” Edward answered.
Max looked at Edward.
Then he looked at the trousers.
“You wore these?”
“Yes.”
Edward took them back.
“I used to be much heavier.”
Max frowned.
“So?”
Edward Revealed Something I Had Forgotten
Edward looked at me.
“Veronica knows part of this story.”
I stared at him.
“I do?”
He nodded.
“About three years ago, someone brought birthday cake into the office.”
Suddenly, I remembered.
Edward had been standing beside the break room.
Someone offered him a piece of cake.
He refused.
“People who look like me don’t need cake,” he said.
At the time, I was having a terrible week with Max.
Therefore, I answered without thinking.
“Funny. My husband talks about me like that.”
Edward’s smile disappeared.
Then I told him something else.
“I hate hearing it from him. I don’t like hearing it from you either.”
Afterward, I picked up my cake and walked away.
I had almost forgotten that conversation.
Edward had not.
“That stayed with me,” he said.
Max Still Did Not Understand
Max looked impatient.
“What exactly is the point?”
Edward folded the trousers over his arm.
“The point is that Veronica never told me what I should weigh.”
He continued.
“She never said I would become more valuable if my body changed.”
Edward looked at me again.
“She made me realize something important.”
Everyone nearby was listening now.
“I had started speaking to myself the same way someone else was speaking to her.”
Edward paused.
Then he continued.
“I stopped postponing my life until I looked acceptable.”
Later, he changed some habits.
As a result, his body changed too.
Max smirked.
“So Veronica inspired you to get in shape. Great.”
“No.”
Edward answered immediately.
“That is exactly what you still don’t understand.”
Max’s smile slowly disappeared.
Edward Said What Max Never Understood
“She didn’t fix me,” Edward said.
“There was nothing wrong with me that needed fixing.”
He held Max’s gaze.
“I deserved to enjoy my life before my body changed.”
Claire glanced at Max.
Then she looked at me.
Max gave an uncomfortable laugh.
“What does any of that have to do with me?”
Edward handed him the trousers.
“Because you looked at me tonight and decided my appearance proved something about Veronica.”
Max shrugged.
“It does.”
Edward did not look away.
“Then why are you still trying so hard to prove it?”
Max stopped smiling.
For the first time that evening, he had no clever response.
However, Edward was not finished with me either.
A few minutes later, he asked me to step into the hallway.
His expression had changed.
“Veronica, Max was wrong about you.”
Then he paused.
“But there’s something I should have said before we came.”
Edward Had Something to Tell Me Too
“What?”
Edward took a breath.
“You asked me because you thought arriving with a man who looks like me would prove something to Max.”
My face warmed.
“I know.”
“I agreed because I hoped you would realize it wouldn’t.”
I stared at him.
“You could have told me that before the wedding.”
“Yes.”
I became angry.
“Instead, you let me pretend you were my boyfriend so you could teach me a lesson.”
Edward nodded.
“You’re right.”
There was no excuse.
There was no argument either.
He simply admitted it.
I walked farther down the hallway.
I refused to cry where Max could see me.
Edward followed, although he kept his distance.
Then I heard a small voice behind me.
“Mom?”
My oldest daughter stood nearby.
I quickly wiped beneath one eye.
“Hey.”
She looked toward the reception.
“Why did Dad say nobody would date you?”
My Daughter Asked the Question I Needed to Hear
I crouched beside her.
“He was being unkind.”
She thought for a moment.
“Edward isn’t really your boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say he was?”
For a second, lying would have been easier.
Instead, I told her the truth.
“Because I wanted your dad to think somebody wanted me.”
She frowned.
“But we wanted you here.”
I had no answer.
She hugged me.
That one sentence affected me more than anything Max or Edward said that evening.
Afterward, she ran back toward the reception.
Edward was still waiting nearby.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“I’m still angry with you.”
“You should be.”
Then Max appeared.
His confidence had returned.
However, it looked much more fragile now.
I stared directly at him.
“You’re marrying Claire. You got what you wanted.”
Then I asked the question I should have asked years ago.
“Why do you still need me to be undesirable?”
Claire Finally Heard Another Side of the Story
Max did not answer me.
Claire had followed him into the hallway.
He glanced toward her.
“She’s twisting this.”
Claire looked at me.
Then she looked at Max.
“You told me she stopped trying.”
“She did.”
Claire’s expression changed.
“That isn’t what I just heard.”
For the first time since Max packed those suitcases, something inside me shifted.
I was no longer waiting for him to explain me.
His opinion no longer decided what I was worth.
Eventually, I returned to the reception.
Edward was putting his old trousers back inside the box.
“What are you doing with them?” I asked.
“Taking them to the donation center.”
“Good.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I’m still mad at you,” I reminded him.
“Fair.”
“You owe me.”
“Also fair.”
I pointed toward the box.
“Start by getting those pants out of my ex-husband’s wedding.”
Edward picked it up.
“Best fake date you’ve ever had.”
“Only fake date I’ve ever had.”
“Still undefeated.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
Max Still Needed One Final Answer
Soon afterward, I gathered my daughters.
We headed toward the exit.
Then Max called my name.
“So what happens with you and Edward?”
I turned around.
Even now, he needed to know.
If Edward wanted me, Max could use that to measure my value.
If Edward did not want me, Max could measure that too.
Suddenly, I understood the pattern.
“You really need the answer, don’t you?”
Max opened his mouth.
However, I did not wait for him to respond.
I simply walked away.
Outside, my older daughter stopped beside the car.
She smoothed the front of her dress.
“Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“Does this make me look weird?”
The question sounded casual.
That made it hurt even more.
I Finally Broke the Cycle
My first instinct was to tell her she looked beautiful.
Instead, I asked something different.
“Do you like the dress?”
She looked down.
Then she spun around once.
The skirt moved around her knees.
“Yeah.”
I smiled.
“Then that’s the answer that matters.”
She smiled and climbed into the car.
Her younger sister followed.
She immediately left frosting on the door.
“I look sticky.”
I laughed.
“You definitely do.”
After buckling her in, I walked toward the driver’s side.
My reflection appeared in the dark car window.
For a moment, Max’s old question returned.
When was the last time you even looked at yourself in the mirror?
So I looked.
However, this time was different.
I did not inspect my waist.
I did not turn sideways.
I did not wonder what Max would criticize.
Moreover, I did not wonder whether Edward would approve.
I simply looked at myself.
Then my three-year-old shouted from inside the car.
“Mom! Go!”
I smiled.
Then I opened the door and got in.
Related Articles
My Late Daughter’s Boyfriend Showed Up at Her Sister’s Wedding Wearing a Lavender Dress, but Nobody Knew Why
My Brothers and I Sent Our Sister Money Every Year for Mom’s Heating, but I Found Mom Sleeping in Her Coat With an Empty Propane Tank
