The-Wrong-Bride-Ares--Raven’s-story-(Maura,-Catharina)_bibis

signature movie star smile on her face. Not too long ago, that smile would’ve made me grin at her in
return. Now, it just makes me miss Raven’s genuine little smiles, her giggles, her authenticity.
“Ares,” she says, walking up to me.
I sigh and dismiss Dom with a head gesture. He throws a reassuring smile my way before he bolts
out the door, deserting me.
“Hannah,” I say, my tone clipped. “What brings you here today?”
She rolls her eyes and walks around my desk, leaning against the edge of it. “Don’t be like that,”
she pleads, her tone playful. “You aren’t still mad at me, are you?”
I shake my head. “If you aren’t here to discuss business, I need to ask you to leave.”
“Ares.” The remorse in her voice makes me look up, and I instantly feel myself waver when my
eyes meet hers. She looks so hurt, so dejected.
“Hannah,” I murmur. “It isn’t my intention to hurt you, but I made my boundaries very clear.
Things will never be the same again between you and I. There’s no going back to what we used to
have, and we both know it. We’ve been in denial, pretending three years would pass and we could
just act like they didn’t happen at all, picking back up where we left off… but that’s not how this
works. It isn’t that simple. You’re nothing more than my wife’s sister, Han. You’ll never be more than
that. Not ever again.”
The torment in her expression hits me right in the heart. Tears fill her eyes, and I look away.
“Ares,” she pleads. “Don’t say that. It’s always been you and me, from the very start. This is just
a detour. You’re confused because you’re living with Raven. The whole world is seeing this fairytale
romance that just doesn’t exist. History like ours isn’t replaceable, Ares.”
She wipes away her tears, but they won’t stop falling. It’s been years, yet despite our history, I
still can’t tell if any of her tears are real. They don’t hit me the same way Raven’s do.
“Last time I asked, you refused to answer when I asked if you’re sleeping with my sister.”
I freeze, genuine guilt and shame fighting for dominance over my thoughts. Fuck.
“Are you, Ares?”
I look into her eyes. “Yes,” I say simply. There’s no point in hiding it. I can’t allow her to hang
onto even a single shred of hope. Doing so would hurt my wife, and I can’t let that happen.
Hannah’s eyes widen a fraction, and something about her expression genuinely guts me. Perhaps
none of the tears she’s shed so far have been real, but these most certainly are.
“W-what?”
I look away, unable to provide her with the consolation she needs from me. I can’t encourage
continuous blurring of the lines between us. It isn’t fair to Raven, but it isn’t fair to Hannah either.
“I’m sorry, Hannah. She’s my wife.”
She buries her face in her hands, loud sobs tearing through her throat as she falls apart. Once upon
a time, I would’ve been the one to catch her, to hold her. Part of me still wants to do that for her — on
account of our shared past, perhaps, but a larger part of me knows that this must end here.
“H-how could you?” The way her voice trembles and catches on the last word is a testament of
her devastation, and it kills me that I did this to her. Despite that, I’d rather see tears in her eyes
instead of my wife’s.
“Hannah, I’m sorry. You and I both knew we were over the moment you got onto that flight. You
knew what the consequences would be, but you were self-centered enough to think you’d get away
with it. Yes, it fucking kills me to watch you fall apart, but do you know what hurts even more? The
fact that you walked away from everything we could’ve had. The fact that you’re here in my office
now, clinging onto something you forced me to let go of. You did this. You destroyed three lives with