Chapter 10

[ 1,248 words ]

Chapter 10:

The SUV pulled up in front of Caroline’s parents’ house an hour later.

Caroline stared out the window at the familiar facade, her stomach in knots. The lights were on in the living room, casting a warm glow onto the lawn. It looked so normal, so peaceful. It was a lie.

“I can come in with you,” Romero said, his voice low.

Caroline shook her head. “No. That will only make it worse. I need to do this alone.”

He was quiet for a moment, his gray eyes searching her face. “You are not alone anymore, Caroline. Remember that.”

She nodded, not trusting her voice. She opened the car door and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

The front door flew open before she even reached the porch.

“Caroline Elizabeth Thompson!” her mother shrieked, standing in the doorway in her bathrobe. “Where have you been?! I have been calling you for hours!”

𝖳𝗵𝖾 b𝖾𝘀𝗍 rе𝘃i𝗲𝗐ѕ 𝘰𝘯 𝗀𝘢l𝘯ov𝗲𝘭𝘴.𝖼𝗈m

Caroline walked up the steps, her legs heavy. “I was busy, Mom.”

“Busy?!” Her mother grabbed her arm and yanked her inside, slamming the door behind her. “You disappeared! You didn’t come home last night! I was about to call the police!”

“I’m fine,” Caroline said, pulling her arm free. “I’m an adult, Mom. I don’t have to check in with you every five minutes.”

“Don’t you take that tone with me!” her mother snapped, her face red with anger. “You live under my roof, you follow my rules! And where were you? Out with that man? The one you were supposed to apologize to?”

Caroline’s jaw tightened. “No, Mom. I wasn’t with Preston.”

“Then who? Because Brenda Dawkins called me again today. She said Preston told her you made a scene at the cafe. You humiliated him in front of his colleagues! Do you have any idea how that makes me look?!”

Caroline felt the anger building inside her, a hot, suffocating pressure in her chest. “How it makes you look? What about how it makes me feel, Mom? He grabbed me. He called me a liar. He didn’t care that I was almost killed yesterday!”

“Almost killed?” Her mother scoffed. “You and your dramatic stories. I’m sure it wasn’t that bad. You always overreact.”

“It was that bad,” Caroline said, her voice shaking. “I had a scalpel at my throat. I was pushed down a flight of stairs. A man defended me and got hurt because of it.”

Her mother waved her hand dismissively. “Well, if you had just been polite to Preston in the first place, none of this would have happened. You brought this on yourself, Caroline. You always do.”

The words hit Caroline like a physical blow. She felt the last thread of her patience snap.

She reached into her purse and pulled out the marriage certificate. The paper was crisp and white, the black ink still stark against the page.

She walked over to the coffee table and slammed it down.

“Here,” she said, her voice cold. “Read this.”

Her mother stared at the paper, then at Caroline. “What is this? Another one of your excuses?”

“Read it.”

Her mother picked up the certificate, adjusting her glasses. She scanned the page, her lips moving as she read the words.

Caroline watched her mother’s face. She saw the exact moment the words registered. The confusion, the shock, the disbelief.

“Marriage certificate?” her mother whispered. She looked up at Caroline, her eyes wide. “Caroline Thompson… and Jarrod Romero? What is this? Some kind of joke?”

“It’s not a joke, Mom,” Caroline said, her voice steady. “I got married today.”

The room went silent. Her father, who had been sitting in his armchair watching the TV, slowly turned his head. He stared at Caroline, his mouth open.

“You… you got married?” he stammered. “Today? To a man we’ve never met?”

“Yes,” Caroline said. “His name is Jarrod. He’s a Colonel in the Army. And he’s my husband.”

Her mother’s face went from red to white and back to red again. “You’re lying. This is a fake. You’re just trying to get out of apologizing to Preston!”

“It’s not a fake, Mom,” Caroline said, pointing to the seal at the bottom of the certificate. “It’s legal. It’s binding. I am a married woman.”

Her mother dropped the certificate like it had burned her. “You’re crazy,” she hissed. “You’ve completely lost your mind. Who is this man? How do you know he’s not a serial killer? Or a con artist? You’ve only known him for two days!”

“I know he’s a good man,” Caroline said. “He’s the only one who has ever stood up for me. He protected me when no one else would.”

“Protected you?” Her mother laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. “From what? Your own stupidity? Caroline, you are throwing your life away! You had a chance with a good, stable man like Preston, and you threw it away for some soldier you barely know!”

“Preston is a monster,” Caroline shot back, her voice rising. “He grabbed me, Mom. He bruised my arm. Is that the kind of ‘stable’ man you want me to marry?”

Her mother’s expression didn’t change. “Men get angry, Caroline. It’s our job to calm them down, not provoke them. You must have said something to set him off.”

Caroline felt the tears prick her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She looked at her father, hoping for some support, but he just shook his head sadly.

“Your mother is right, Caroline,” he said quietly. “This is too fast. You need to get this annulled. It’s not too late.”

“It is too late,” Caroline said, her voice hard. “I made my choice. And I’m not changing my mind.”

Her mother stepped toward her, her face twisted with rage. She snatched the marriage certificate from the table, her hands trembling as she tried to rip it in half. “I will not let you ruin this family!”

Caroline moved faster, grabbing her mother’s wrist. “Don’t you dare.” The paper was thick, and her mother struggled, her face turning purple. It was the first time Caroline had ever physically defied her.

“You get out,” her mother finally spat, yanking her hand free, the certificate crumpled but intact. “You are not welcome in this house anymore. Do you hear me? You chose him over your family. You can go live with him and see how long that lasts!”

“Fine,” Caroline said, turning on her heel. “I will.”

She walked out the front door, slamming it behind her. She didn’t look back.

She walked down the sidewalk, her legs shaking. The SUV was still parked at the curb, the engine running. The back door opened as she approached.

She slid inside, the warmth of the car enveloping her. Jarrod Romero was sitting there, his gray eyes watching her carefully.

“How did it go?” he asked.

Caroline let out a shaky breath. “About as well as expected. I’m homeless.”

“You’re not homeless,” he said, his voice firm. “You’re coming home with me.”

He reached over and took her hand, his fingers intertwining with hers. Caroline looked down at their hands, then up at his face.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He didn’t say anything. He just squeezed her hand and nodded at the driver.

The car pulled away from the curb, leaving her parents’ house behind. Caroline leaned her head against the window, watching the lights blur past.

She had no idea what the future held. She was married to a stranger, hunted by an assassin, and disowned by her family. She should be terrified.

But sitting there, holding Jarrod Romero’s hand, she felt a spark of hope. For the first time in her life, she was in control. She had made a choice, and she was going to see it through.

No matter what happened next.

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