My ex-husband’s wedding invitation arrived by text.
“Bring the girls. Your invitation includes a +1, though we both know you probably won’t need it.”
I stared at the message for several seconds before turning my phone face down.
That was Brent.
Even when he pretended to joke, he always knew exactly where to aim.
Brent and I had been married for nearly 13 years. We had 2 daughters together—11-year-old Hannah and 3-year-old Maisie.
For most of our marriage, I thought we were happy.
Then, after Maisie was born, Brent started making comments about my body.
At first, they sounded almost harmless.
“You used to dress better.”
“You’d feel more confident if you worked out.”
“You could probably lose a few pounds.”
Eventually, he stopped pretending he was concerned about my health.
The night I discovered he had been having an affair with Brooke, his personal trainer, he packed a suitcase while I stood in our bedroom trying to understand how easily he could walk away from our family.
“You cheated because I gained weight?” I asked.
Brent barely looked at me.
“Men are visual, Natalie.”
Then he added, “Brooke takes care of herself.”
I felt sick.
Before leaving, he looked me over and said, “When was the last time you really looked at yourself in a mirror?”
For months afterward, I looked constantly.
I checked my stomach before leaving the house.
I stopped wearing sleeveless shirts because Brent had once criticized my arms.
Even after the divorce, his voice followed me into every fitting room and every mirror.
Then he announced that he was marrying Brooke.
And sent me that invitation.
I considered skipping the wedding.
But Hannah wanted me there, and Maisie was excited about wearing a new dress.
So I agreed.
Then I made a decision I wasn’t proud of.
I decided to bring someone.
Not because I needed company.
Because I wanted Brent to see me with an attractive man and wonder whether leaving me had been a mistake.
That was how I ended up beside Theo Mercer’s desk on Monday morning.
Theo and I had worked together for years, but we became close during my divorce.
He listened when I needed to vent, brought me coffee the morning my divorce became final and once helped me rewrite a furious message to Brent into something that wouldn’t embarrass me in family court.
He was calm, funny and annoyingly handsome.
Exactly the sort of man Brent would notice.
“I need a favor,” I said.
Theo looked up.
“That sounds expensive.”
“Come to Brent’s wedding with me.”
“As emotional support?”
I hesitated.
“As my boyfriend.”
He blinked.
“Fake boyfriend,” I added.
“That somehow makes this worse.”
I laughed nervously.
“Please?”
Theo studied me.
“Why me?”
I tried to joke.
“Because you clean up well.”
“Natalie.”
I sighed.
“Fine. I want Brent to see me with you and wonder whether he made a mistake.”
Theo’s expression changed.
Clearly, he didn’t like that answer.
But after a moment, he nodded.
“I’ll go.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
I didn’t ask why.
On the day of the wedding, I changed dresses 5 times.
Every outfit reminded me of something Brent had once criticized.
Eventually, I put on a navy dress I had loved before I started imagining his opinion.
Theo picked me up around 4.
There was a large cardboard box in his back seat.
“What’s that?”
“Old clothes,” he said. “I’m finally dropping them at a donation center tomorrow.”
I shrugged and forgot about it.
The wedding was enormous.
White flowers covered the tables. Champagne flowed. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
Maisie somehow found frosting before the cake had even been served.
Then Hannah touched my arm.
“Mom. Dad’s coming.”
I looked up.
Brent had spotted us.
His eyes moved to me.
Then Theo.
Then back to me.
For one satisfying second, he looked surprised.
Brooke stood beside him in her wedding dress.
She was beautiful.
I hated that it still hurt to notice.
Brent approached.
“So this is your plus-one?”
“Brent, this is Theo.”
Theo offered his hand.
“Congratulations.”
Brent shook it while openly looking him over.
Then he laughed.
Several nearby guests turned.
My stomach tightened.
“What’s funny?” I asked.
Brent looked at Theo again.
“Him?”
His grin widened.
“He’s your boyfriend?”
Brooke touched Brent’s arm.
“Brent.”
But he kept going.
“Come on, Natalie. No one is going to believe this.”
My face grew hot.
“Believe what?”
“That someone like him would date you.”
Theo’s expression hardened.
Brent laughed again.
“What did you do? Pay him?”
For one second, I was back in our bedroom listening to him tell me I had stopped trying.
Then Theo spoke.
Quietly.
“Excuse me for a minute.”
He walked toward the exit.
Brent smirked.
“He’s leaving already?”
I said nothing.
A few minutes later, Theo returned carrying the cardboard box from his car.
I frowned.
“What are you doing?”
He placed it on an empty table and opened it.
Then he pulled out a pair of enormous jeans.
Brent stared.
“What is that?”
Theo held them up.
“Mine.”
Brent laughed uncertainly.
“Those were yours?”
“About 4 years ago.”
I stared at Theo.
I knew he had lost weight before we became close, but I had never realized how much.
“I was more than 100 pounds heavier,” he said.
Brent shrugged.
“Okay. And?”
Theo looked directly at him.
“You looked at me tonight and decided the way I look now meant Natalie couldn’t possibly be with me.”
Brent’s smile faded slightly.
Theo turned toward me.
“Do you remember a birthday cake in the office a few years ago?”
At first, I didn’t.
Then I did.
Someone had offered Theo a slice.
He had refused and joked, “People who look like me don’t need cake.”
I had been having a terrible week with Brent.
Without thinking, I said, “My husband talks about me like that.”
Theo had gone quiet.
Then I added, “I hate hearing it from him. You probably shouldn’t talk to yourself that way either.”
I barely remembered saying it.
Theo apparently never forgot.
“That stayed with me,” he said.
Brent rolled his eyes.
“So she inspired you to lose weight?”
“No.”
Theo answered immediately.
“She made me realize I didn’t have to hate myself first.”
The people around us went quiet.
“My body changed later,” Theo continued. “But Natalie never treated me as if I had less value before it did.”
Then he looked at Brent.
“You’re standing at your own wedding beside the woman you chose, yet you still need your ex-wife to believe nobody else could want her.”
Brent’s jaw tightened.
Theo lowered the jeans.
“If you’re happy, why does that matter so much?”
Brent had no answer.
For a moment, I felt vindicated.
Then I felt uncomfortable for a different reason.
I had invited Theo partly because of his appearance.
Not because I thought his looks determined his worth, and certainly not because I had treated him the way Brent treated me.
But I had still been trying to use another man’s attention to prove something to my ex.
And I suddenly realized I didn’t want to keep living that way.
Theo looked at me.
“Can we talk somewhere quieter?”
I nodded.
In the hallway, I crossed my arms.
“You knew why I invited you.”
“Yes.”
“And it bothered you.”
“A little.”
“Then why did you come?”
Theo took a breath.
“Because you’re my friend. Because I knew today would be difficult. And because I didn’t want you walking into that room alone just because Brent had convinced you being alone meant you’d lost.”
I looked at him.
“You could have told me that earlier.”
“I should have.”
“And the jeans?”
“That wasn’t planned.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“I swear. Those clothes have been sitting in my apartment for weeks. When he started talking, I remembered they were in the car.”
That, at least, made sense.
Before I could respond, I noticed Hannah several feet away.
My heart sank.
“Hannah?”
She looked worried.
“I saw you leave. I thought you were upset.”
I knelt beside her.
“I’m okay.”
She hesitated.
“Why did Dad say nobody would date you?”
I glanced at Theo.
Then back at her.
“He was being unkind.”
“Is Theo really your boyfriend?”
“No.”
She frowned.
“Then why did Dad think he was?”
I hesitated.
“Because I let him think that.”
“Why?”
I could have lied.
Instead, I told her the truth.
“Because I wanted your dad to believe somebody else wanted me.”
Hannah stared at me for a moment.
Then she said quietly, “But Maisie and I wanted you here.”
I couldn’t speak.
She didn’t mean romance.
She didn’t mean beauty.
She simply meant that I mattered to her.
And somehow that cut through every cruel thing Brent had ever said.
I hugged her.
“You’re right.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck.
After she went back inside, I stood.
Theo was waiting a few feet away.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“I’m still annoyed with you.”
“That seems fair.”
Before I could answer, Brent appeared.
Brooke followed him.
“This whole thing is ridiculous,” Brent said.
Something inside me finally settled.
“You’re marrying Brooke today.”
“Yes.”
“You got what you wanted.”
“What’s your point?”
“Why do you still need me to be undesirable?”
His expression changed.
“Natalie—”
“No. Why does it matter so much whether someone else could want me?”
“I was joking.”
I almost laughed.
“That was always your excuse.”
Brooke looked at him.
“You told me she stopped trying.”
Brent frowned.
“She did.”
Brooke’s expression cooled.
“That isn’t what I just heard.”
“She’s twisting everything.”
“No,” Brooke said quietly. “You humiliated the mother of your children at our wedding.”
Brent glanced around.
“Can we not do this today?”
Brooke stared at him.
“You should have thought about that before you started.”
Then she walked back inside.
Brent followed her.
For the first time, I watched him leave without wondering what his reaction said about me.
Theo put the jeans back into the box.
“I think I’ve permanently ruined these as a normal charitable donation.”
“They have a dramatic history now.”
He smiled.
“I’m still annoyed with you,” I reminded him.
“Understood.”
“You owe me.”
“Coffee?”
“Several.”
We stayed long enough for the girls to finish dessert.
As we headed toward the exit, Brent called after me.
“Natalie.”
I turned.
His eyes moved toward Theo.
“So what exactly is going on between you two?”
And suddenly I understood.
He still needed an answer.
If Theo wanted me, Brent could measure that.
If Theo didn’t, Brent could measure that too.
I smiled.
“You really need to know, don’t you?”
His mouth opened.
I walked away before he could answer.
Outside, Hannah stopped beside the car.
“Mom?”
“Yeah?”
She looked down at her dress.
“Do I look weird in this?”
The question sounded casual.
That made it worse.
For years, I would have immediately told her she looked beautiful.
Instead, I asked, “Do you like it?”
She looked down.
Then she spun around once, making the skirt flare around her knees.
“Yeah.”
“Then that’s your answer.”
She smiled and climbed into the car.
Maisie followed, covered in frosting.
“I look sticky.”
I laughed.
“You definitely do.”
After buckling them in, I walked around the car.
My reflection stared back at me from the dark window.
For a moment, Brent’s voice returned.
When was the last time you really looked at yourself in a mirror?
So I looked.
I didn’t inspect my waist.
I didn’t turn sideways.
I didn’t wonder what Brent would think.
I didn’t wonder whether Theo found me attractive.
I just looked at myself.
And for once, that was enough.
On Monday morning, Theo appeared beside my desk with coffee.
“Peace offering.”
I accepted it.
“This does not erase Saturday.”
“I know.”
He hesitated.
“There is one thing I should tell you.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“That sentence sounds dangerous.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“I wasn’t pretending about everything.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I agreed to be your fake boyfriend partly because I’ve wanted to ask you on a real date for a while.”
For once, Theo looked genuinely nervous.
I smiled despite myself.
“I’m not ready to prove anything to anyone.”
His expression softened.
“Good.”
“Not Brent. Not you. Not even myself.”
“I understand.”
I looked at the coffee in my hand.
“But maybe someday.”
Theo smiled.
“Someday works.”
He started to walk away.
“Theo?”
He turned.
“You still owe me several coffees.”
He grinned.
“I was counting on it.”
And that was enough.
Not a dramatic kiss.
Not another man choosing me so I could prove my ex wrong.
Just coffee, 2 daughters who already knew I mattered, and the quiet realization that my life no longer needed Brent’s approval—or anyone else’s—to have value.
