Forever in Love by Nadia Lee

hadn’t asked. He took the eggs off the stove and slid them onto a plate.
    Why did he care about Catherine’s marital problems? Whose business was it but her own?
    Except they’d kissed. And a part of him felt guilty and annoyed about it, that he’d stooped so low that he’d want a woman who was already taken. After his experience with Zoe, he’d sworn he’d never get involved with a woman who had a significant other, no matter what the woman said. Zoe had claimed her boyfriend was abusive and often hurt her in order to gain Blaine’s sympathy. Except she’d lied about everything. She’d just wanted to use sex to gain an ally, one who could hurt her boyfriend because they’d fought over some stupid stuff nobody remembered anymore. Then she’d ended up marrying the guy after high school graduation.
    And then there was Ceinlys. Who was obviously cut from the same social cloth as Catherine, and who had shown up out of the blue after Blaine’s mother had died, visited her grave and then gotten drunk and frisky. She had actually tried to seduce Blaine before he told her who he was.
That ended real well
, Blaine thought sourly as he recalled the incident.
    “I don’t have a husband.” Catherine’s harsh whisper startled him.
    His gaze fell on her left hand. “But you have a ring.”
    She looked at her finger. “I do have a ring,” she agreed. “It’s a reminder not to repeat the mistake.” She looked him directly in the eye. “I’ve been extremely naïve and foolish.”
    * * *
    Catherine noted the skepticism in Blaine’s eyes, like he didn’t quite believe her. Why wouldn’t he? Did he think she’d lie about something like this? “I was married until a few months ago,” she began, then stopped. Why was she explaining herself anyway? But when Blaine’s gaze focused on her, she couldn’t stop herself. She wanted to tell her side of the story, the one that nobody bothered to listen to, not even her own mother. “I…” Where should she begin?
    “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to,” he said.
    “But I do. Everyone’s heard everyone else’s point of view but mine. It’s about time I told my side.” She speared a big strawberry piece from her bowl. “I married this guy, thinking he loved me. He told me he did even though he knew I was with his younger brother at that time. His brother wasn’t bad or anything. He was just kind of…cold and emotionally distant. We would’ve been materially comfortable, but otherwise disconnected and unhappy with each other. So when the older brother approached so sweetly and promised me the world, I couldn’t help myself. I became infatuated, then fell in love with him.” She paused and gave a long soft sigh. “Our marriage was perfect for about a year. Then things slowly started to fall apart. We wanted to have children, but it turned out we…couldn’t. He became busier at work. I sometimes wonder how many nights away from home were spent working and how many were at strip joints and…other places.”
    “He wasn’t faithful?”
    She shrugged, then steeled herself for the dull pain to come. “Probably not. Not that I ever found out for sure. It was better not to know. That way I wouldn’t have to do something about it. I didn’t want our marriage to fall apart. We were a perfect couple in public, and I had my pride. But at home we were like strangers, barely talking to each other. Then his wife showed up.”
    Blaine’s fork stopped in mid-air. “
What?
”
    “He had—has—another wife. He married her first, so she’s actually his real wife, not me. I found out last year. Then his family discovered the family business he’d been managing was in big trouble. Some money’s missing, and things look very bad.”
    “Jesus.”
    “And they blame me.”
    “Why?”
    “I was on the board of directors.”
    “So? Were you making all the decisions?”
    “No. I let my husband do whatever he wanted. I had no reason to think he