Chapter 144
Aston
I had travelled to see Mara’s parents, eager to ask for her hand in marriage. I had brought gifts and rehearsed my speech, determined to make a good impression. I had been thinking about this moment for days, and I was nervous.
As I arrived, they welcomed me with open arms. “Aston, it’s so great to see you again, it’s been so long!” Mara’s mother exclaimed. “We’ve missed you so much.” She pulled me into a lo, I wasn’t expecting and it felt nice.
I smiled, feeling a sense of relief. “Thank you for having me,” I replied. “I’ve brought some gifts for you.”
I handed them the presents, and they thanked me. Then, I took a deep breath and began my speech.
“I know this may seem sudden, but I wanted to ask for Mara’s hand in marriage,” I said, trying to sound confident. “I love her dearly, and I believe we would be happy together. I know I don’t have much to offer, but I promise to take care of her and make her happy.” I was being humble, I had a lot to offer.
But instead of the expected congratulations, they looked confused
“Aston, what are you talking about?” Mara’s father asked, furrowing his brow.
“I’m asking for Mara’s hand in marriage, I repeated, starting to feel uneasy.
Mara’s mother laughed. “Aston, Mara is already married,” she said gently. “She has two beautiful children, and we’re bo proud of her,”
I felt more than a little confused, I was losing my mind. “What?” stammered. “I don’t think you understand-”
Mara’s father chuckled not letting me finish. “We invited you to the wedding, but you never called or RSVP’d. We figured you weren’t interested”This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
I felt like a fool. Like they were playing pranks on me but I knew this couple and they were not a big fan of jokes.
“I…I had no idea,” I stammered. “I’m so sorry. I feel like such an idiot.” I said not wanting to tell them what was really happening.
A
Mara’s mother smiled kindly. “Don’t be sorry, Aston. We’re just glad you came to visit. You can meet Mara’s family and see how happy she is.”
I nodded, still trying to process the news. I spent the rest of the day with Mara’s family, meeting her husband and children. They were all so happy, and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. I was glad that at least the real Mara was okay. I just had to deal with the one in my house.
I walked into my house, looking for answers, but the fake Mara seemed just as oblivious as ever. I found her in the living room, lounging on the couch, and I sat down next to her, trying to keep my cool. Her face brightened up as she saw me.
“Mara, who are you?” I asked her point-blank, trying to keep my voice steady.
She looked at me nervously, her eyes darting be?” she replied, her voice trembling slightly.
ck and forth like a trapped animal. “I’m Mara, of course. Who else would I
I sighed. “You’re wrong, you’re my wife to be. I lied and the relief seemed to return to her face.
Oh, that’s so sweet, Aston.” She kissed me on the cheek and I was trying to hard to resist the strong urge to wipe I decided to investigate further. She didn’t know that I knew anything and I wanted to use that to my advantage it off.
I was still trying to wrapmy head around the whole thing. The fact that the Mara I had been living with for months was a fake was still hard to believe. 1 thought back to all the times she had been reluctant to visit her parents, and how she never wanted to talk about her past. It all made sense now. She knew nothing about Mara’s past because she wasn’t Mara.
1 remembered the first time I met her, she was so charming and sweet. I had no idea she was pretending to be someone else. I felt like I had been blindfolded, and now that the blindfold had been removed, 1 could see everything clearly.
I decided not to confront her yet, I wanted to find out who she truly was and what her motives were. Was she dangerous? Did she have an ulterior motive for pretending to be Mara?
I started by observing her behavior, trying to see if she would slip up and reveal something. But she was careful, too careful. I needed to come up with a plan to get her to talk
I decided to have a conversation with her, try to get her to open up. I sat down next to her on the couch and asked her about her day,
“It was good,” she replied, “just went to the store and got some groceries.”
I nodded, trying to seem interested. I had no idea why she would go the grocery store by herself when she has car. “Oh, yeah? What did you get?”
She shrugged. “Just the usual stuff, milk, bread, eggs.”
I kept pushing, trying to get her to talk about something else. But she was tight-lipped, not giving me anything
“Hey, can I ask you something?” I said, trying to sound casual.
“Sure,” she replied, looking at me warily.
“What’s your favorite childhood memory?” I asked, trying to catch her off guard.
She hesitated, looking away. “I don’t know,” she said finally. “I don’t really remember much from my childhood.”
I knew she was lying, but I didn’t push it. I just nodded and changed the subject.
“So, what do you want to do for dinner?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation light.
“I don’t know, what do you want to do?” she replied, shrugging.
I suggested we order pizza, and she agreed. As we waited for the pizza to arrive, I kept trying to get her to talk.
“So, what do you like to do for fun?” I asked.
She shrugged again. “I don’t know, just stuff
I was frustrated, but I didn’t want to show it. I needed to keep her calm, keep her talking.
The pizza arrived, and we ate in silence. I was thinking about my next move, trying to come up with a plan to get her to reveal her true identity.
As we finished dinner, I decided to try a different approach. “Hey, can I ask you something?” I said, trying to sound serious.
“Sure,” she replied, looking at me warily.
I was deep in thought. I wondered if Brax knew about Mara being fake. He was younger than I was, so he might not really remember as much as I did, but still wondered if there was a chance that he knew she wasn’t who she said she was
I thought about asking him, but I decided against it. I didn’t think Brax would be able to keep his cool if I let him know. He already disliked Mara, and he would waste no time kicking her out of the house. I didn’t need a scene at the moment.
Sat, Oct
I remembered the conversation I had with Brax a few days ago. He had been complaining about Mara, saying she was lazy and didn’t help with household chores, I had defended her, saying she was pregnant and needed to take it easy.
But now, I realized that Brax might have been right. Mara was fake, and she might have been pretending to be pregnant too but I smelled the baby.
I decided to observe Brax’s behavior, see if he would say anything about Mara that would indicate he knew she was fake. I sat down next to him on the couch, trying to act casual
“Hey, Brax, what’s up?” I asked.
“Not much, just playing video games,” he replied, not looking up from the screen.
I nodded, trying to think of something to say. “Hey, have you noticed anything weird about Mara lately?”
Brax looked up, a hint of curiosity in his eyes. “Weird? Like what?”
I shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. “I don’t know, just anything out of the ordinary
Brax thought for a moment before responding. “Now that you mention it, she has been acting strange. She’s always avoiding me, and when I try to talk to her, she just gives me one-word answers.”
I nodded, trying to keep my cool. This was interesting. Brax had noticed something was off about Mara, but he didn’t know what it was.
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that too,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Maybe she’s just stressed out or something”
Brax nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t convinced. He knew something was off about Mara, and I wondered if he would eventually figure out the truth,
We sat there in silence for a moment, Brax going back to his video game and me lost in thought. I was trying to come up with a plan, trying to figure out what to do next.
“Hey, Brax?” I said finally.
“Yeah?” he replied, looking up from the screen.
“Do you think marrying Mara is the right choice?” I asked, trying to sound casual.
Brax raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know, man. I’ve never really thought about it. You never really ask me anything you know? Especially important things so give me a moment. I’m not used to this.”
“Your moment is over. Speak.”
“No, I don’t think you should marry her.”