My Groom Sold Me to a 90-Year-Old

I'd been with my childhood sweetheart Anderson for eight years. We were finally getting married.

The night before the wedding, I overheard Anderson giving instructions to his friends: Tomorrow, drive the wedding car straight to the Brown estate.

The Brown estate?

Anderson lowered his voice. Mia's family is bankrupt. They owe the Browns hundreds of millions, and her parents want to hand her over to the old Brown patriarch to settle the debt. How could I just watch her life get ruined? Lisa will have to take her place.

His friend couldn't believe it. "You can't bear to ruin Mia, so you'll ruin Lisa instead?"

"That old man is already ninety. He just wants a young woman around to feel young again. When he dies in a year or two, I won't hold it against Lisa that she's been married before. I'll still take her back."

"But do you really think Lisa will just go along with marrying some old man?"

Anderson was quiet for a moment. "Tomorrow I'll have my mom slip something into Lisa's cake. By the time she wakes up, she'll already be in the old man's bed. At that point, she won't have a choice."

I listened to every word without making a sound.

I just walked quietly back to my room and waited for the wedding.

By the time Anderson came looking for me again, wanting to get back together, I was already five months pregnant.

"Just like you said," I told him. "It's done. You don't have a choice anymore."

The next morning, Anderson arrived with his groomsmen to pick me up.

Mia came along too.

When she walked through the door and saw me in my wedding dress, she burst into tears.

"Lisa, I'm so jealous. You get to marry the man you love. You're so lucky."

"Not like me. My parents are trying to marry me off to a ninety-year-old just to pay off their debts."

"But thankfully," she dabbed at her tears and shot a pointed look at Anderson, "someone already took me to get our marriage license this morning. That old man can't have me now."

Hearing the pride in her voice, I went completely still.

I'd already known about the plan to send me in her place.

What I hadn't known was that Anderson had already married her.

My best friend Laura didn't know any of this. She leaned close and whispered, "Today is your big day with Anderson. What is she even doing here?"

"And crying on purpose like that is she trying to bring bad luck?"

"It's fine," I said, patting Laura's hand.

Today was never going to be my wedding with Anderson.

He was only pretending to go through the motions just long enough to get me into the car.

Laura suggested we play the traditional game of hiding the bride's shoes.

Anderson frowned slightly. "Everyone help look. We don't have much time."

His friends searched the room and quickly found my wedding heels.

Anderson took the shoes and walked straight toward Mia.

"Lisa, Mia twisted her ankle on the way here. Her heels are broken."

He crouched in front of Mia and smoothly swapped out her damaged shoes.

"Mia has delicate feet. She can't wear rough shoes." He glanced back at me. "Let her have your wedding heels."

Then he pulled a worn-out pair of sneakers from the shoe rack and set them in front of me.

"They're just shoes." He looked at me steadily, his smile still soft. "You won't make a fuss over something like this, will you?"

"Anderson, those are her wedding shoes!" Laura couldn't stay quiet.

"So what?" Anderson's brow creased slightly. "They're just shoes. Does it really matter which pair she wears?"

"It's not just about the shoes "

"Let it go, Laura." I stepped in front of her. "She can have them."

Mia was the daughter of Anderson's boss.

For the past two years, Anderson had always used that as an excuse "we can't afford to upset her" and I had given way every single time.

I gave Mia credit for my work projects. I gave her my pet. I gave her clothes and jewelry I loved.

And now, apparently, I was giving her my husband too.

Eight years with Anderson, and what I got in return was an elaborately planned betrayal.

Mia slipped on my wedding heels and couldn't hide her satisfaction.

"Anderson, these fit me perfectly. It's like they were made for me." She smiled smugly. "Where did you get them?"

The pattern on those shoes had been designed by Anderson himself.

When he was twenty, he pricked his fingers countless times working on them.

He'd told me then: "Lisa, I don't mind the pain. When we get married, you'll wear these. I want to make you the only pair of wedding shoes like this in the whole world."

Back then, Anderson had been so good to me.

He hated seeing me hurt. He wanted to give me everything.

Then Mia came along, and everything changed.

Lost in those memories, I barely noticed Anderson kneeling in front of me, putting the beat-up sneakers on my feet.

The bridesmaids hadn't caught on to any of the tension. They started chanting, "Kiss! Kiss!"

Anderson gave in to the crowd and leaned in toward me.

That's when Mia stumbled and fell straight into his arms.

He caught her.

Their lips met.

The room went dead silent.

Laura snapped. "Mia, you did that on purpose!"

"I'm sorry, I just lost my balance..."

"You lost your balance and somehow fell directly into the groom?"

"Enough." Anderson helped Mia steady herself, his expression tight. "Mia twisted her ankle today. Of course she lost her balance."

He turned to Laura, his tone cooling. "It was an accident. Is it really worth getting this upset over?"

"It is absolutely "

Laura was about to lose it. I put my hand on her arm.

Over the past two years, Anderson had written off a lot of things as "accidents" or "not worth fighting over."

Last year, Mia plagiarized a proposal I'd spent three months on. He said it wasn't a big deal.

Six months ago, Mia crashed our anniversary dinner. He said it wasn't a big deal.

Last month, Mia accidentally killed my cat the one I'd had for six years. He said it wasn't a big deal.

Every single time, he told me not to make a thing of it.

This time, I wasn't going to bother either.

While we were still standing there in that awkward silence, Anderson's mother walked in carrying a cake.

"Lisa, I've waited so long for this day." She cut a slice and held it up to my mouth. "Here, have some cake. May your marriage be nothing but sweetness."

I stared at the slice in her hand.

My parents died when I was young. For over a decade, Anderson's family had taken me in and treated me like their own.

And now, these two people who were the closest thing I had to family were working together to push me into something terrible.

I knew exactly what eating that cake would mean.

I opened my mouth and swallowed it anyway.

Then Anderson lifted me in his arms and carried me downstairs, one step at a time.

He used to carry me like this when we were kids.

I was twelve when my parents died in a car accident. The shock was too much. I hid away for three days without eating or drinking anything.

Anderson was the one who found me. He carried me home on his back, barely alive.

He held my bony hand and told me: "Lisa, my home is your home now. My parents are your parents."

"Don't be scared. I'm here. I'll always protect you."

His shoulders felt exactly the same as they did back then warm and steady.

They just didn't belong to me anymore.

We reached the bottom of the stairs and Anderson set me down.

"Lisa." He adjusted my veil, smiling gently. "This is as far as I carry you. The rest of the way, you walk on your own."

Laura was furious. "By tradition, the groom is supposed to carry the bride to the car!"

"Says who?"

"Anderson, what is wrong with you today?" Laura was shaking. "Something has been off with you since the moment you walked in."

"Laura." I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's okay. I can walk."

Anderson was never my groom.

What right did he have to carry me anywhere?

The wedding car was parked about a hundred feet away.

Once I walked that road, everything between us would be finished.

After I got in the car, Anderson stood at the door without moving.

"Lisa."

He looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read.

Finally, he said only: "Take care of yourself."

Laura's voice was clipped. "Why are you still standing there? Aren't you getting in?"

Anderson smiled and pointed to the car behind us. "I'll ride in the other one. I'll be right behind you."

He shut the door with a thud.

Laura's frown deepened. "What is going on with Anderson today? He's acting completely bizarre."

"Nothing's going on," I said quietly. "He just wants to send me to marry someone else in Mia's place."

"In her place?"

Before I could explain further, Laura suddenly tensed.

"Wait driver, stop the car!"

"You're going the wrong way. Why are you heading out there? Turn around!"

"Laura." I cut her off. "He's not going the wrong way. I'm being taken to the Brown estate."

"The Brown estate?"

I told her everything.

By the time I finished, Laura was trembling with rage. "That bastard. How could he do this to you? Has he completely lost his mind?"

I stayed calm. "Anderson's family raised me all these years. Consider it repayment."

"They raised you, yes but you saved Anderson's life. That debt was settled a long time ago!"

"And on top of that, these past two years, every time his back gave out and he could barely get out of bed, you were the one who never left his side!"

"You gave him everything. How dare he treat you like this?"

Laura wasn't wrong.

If we were keeping score, I had cleared my debt long ago.

But it didn't matter anymore.

My phone buzzed with a new message.

It was from Mia.

"Lisa! Today is such a happy day Anderson just gave me a wedding gift. Isn't it gorgeous?"

I stared at the photo.

The gemstone bracelet.

My whole body went cold.

That bracelet had belonged to my mother. It had been passed down from my great-grandmother's generation. Because I was so young when she died, Anderson's mother had been keeping it safe for me. They had promised promised to give it back on my wedding day.

How could he just give it to Mia?

"Stop the car!"

"Miss, once the wedding car starts moving, it can't stop "

Right. The driver had already been paid off by Anderson. They were dead set on delivering me to the Brown estate.

Anderson's car was right behind mine, but there was no way to confront him face to face.

My hands were shaking as I called him.

"Anderson." I kept my voice steady. "Why did you give Mia my mother's bracelet? That belongs to me."

"Lisa, it's just a bracelet."

His voice on the other end was dismissive. "Mia liked it. Just let her have it. If you want a bracelet, I'll buy you any one you want "

"She likes it, so she gets everything that's mine?" I cut him off. "My wedding heels. My mother's bracelet. My husband. And now you want me to take her place marrying some old man?"

Anderson went quiet.

"You know about that?"

After a brief pause, his voice dropped lower. "Lisa, the old Brown patriarch is ninety years old. He's not going to do anything to you. This marriage is just a formality."

"Mia saved my life once. She's so young. I can't just stand by and let her life be destroyed."

Saved his life?

"Lisa, I only registered the marriage with Mia to protect her from her parents. Once things settle down with her family, once the old man passes, I'll come and bring you home. Everything will go back to the way it was. Trust me."

"I don't need you to bring me home!" The anger I'd been holding back finally broke loose. "Anderson, I want my mother's bracelet. Give it back to me "

He hung up before I could finish.

The steady beeping of a dead line filled my ear.

It felt like the ground had dropped out from under me.

Laura was sobbing with rage. "He's unbelievable. How dare he do this to you he's going to get what's coming to him, I swear "

[Bang.]

Before she could finish, a truck ahead of us jackknifed and triggered a chain-reaction collision.

Our wedding car got pinned between two other vehicles.

Laura and I were trapped in our seats, unable to move.

The truck in front caught fire. The flames were already spreading toward us.

Anderson saw what happened. He threw open his car door and sprinted toward us.

Then, from behind him, Mia screamed. "Anderson! My head I'm bleeding there's so much blood!"

He stopped dead.

Without a moment's hesitation, he turned back.

"Anderson!"

I tore the words from my throat. "If you walk away right now if you choose her then everything between us, every single year we had together, is over!"

He hesitated.

Then he turned away.

"Lisa," he said. "Mia isn't strong. I have to get her to a hospital first."

Ten years ago, under the moonlight, he had made me a promise: "Lisa, no matter what happens, you will always be my first choice."

Ten years later, he was saying: "Mia isn't strong. I have to get her to a hospital first."

Over a decade of being each other's everything, and it all meant less than a woman who had shown up out of nowhere.

I watched him walk away without looking back.

In that moment, something crystallized inside me.

It didn't matter where I ended up. Anywhere was better than here.

Mia had a mild concussion and was kept at the hospital for observation.

Anderson stayed by her side the entire night.

When he woke up the next morning, a dull ache was already gnawing at his lower back.

Out of habit, he called out: "Lisa, my back is acting up again. Come help me up."

The words had barely left his mouth before he remembered.

Lisa wasn't there.

One of his friends had told him Lisa had been pulled from the wreck by people from the Brown estate and brought safely into their household.

Anderson felt hollowed out.

He'd heard the Brown family was heading up to their ancestral burial grounds that day for a memorial. He couldn't stop thinking about Lisa. He had to see for himself that she was okay.

He followed them from a distance.

At the cemetery, he spotted her from afar.

She wasn't causing a scene. She stood quietly among the family gathered for the ceremony, pouring water for old Mr. Brown, who sat in a wheelchair.

Something uncomfortable twisted in his chest.

He told himself: once the old man dies, he would bring Lisa home. He would never let her be treated poorly again.

On his way back down the hill, he caught a fragment of conversation between two of the Brown household staff.

"The new wife was crying out all night in the bridal suite. I was standing right outside I didn't know where to look."

"First night of marriage. That kind of passion is normal."

Anderson stopped in his tracks.

All night?

A ninety-year-old man?

He stood there, dazed, as a tall young man walked past him close enough to brush his shoulder.

Anderson turned to look. Something about the man nagged at him. He was certain he'd seen him somewhere before.

Then he noticed what the man was holding, and Anderson went completely rigid.

"Wait."