Sunlight streamed over him, and the breeze tousled his hair as he leaned closer. Witnessing such magnificence, I couldn’t help but blush.
From that moment, I fell for him and poured myself into studying physics, nurturing a three-year crush.
I fought my way into his university, and on the first day of school, he came to pick me up. That was the first time I mustered the courage to confess.
“Derick, I like you.”
To my surprise, a faint smile tugged at his lips as he wordlessly pulled me into an embrace and kissed me.
Even now, thinking back to that moment makes my face flush.
I thought I was the luckiest person for having my first love as my boyfriend.
But now, I saw the truth. I was not lucky at all. I’d only ever been a stand-in, a substitute for his first love, Alanna Snee.
How could a replacement ever take the place of the real thing?
Marriage? That was just Derick’s excuse to keep me by his side. As long as Alanna stayed abroad, I’d remain his caged canary.
His lies had clipped my wings time and again, keeping me willingly trapped in this cage.
Even now, I can’t seem to break free.
Over the past seven years, marrying Derick had become my obsession.