The day Marcus Hayes and I got our marriage license, he'd come straight from his ex-girlfriend's wedding.   Standing outside the Clerk's Office, he held our marriage certificate in his hand and looked me straight in the eye.   "She's in my past now. I'll treat you right. I promise."   And he kept that promise. For five years, he respected me and spoiled me rotten. He remembered exactly which store sold my favorite fruit and waited to pick me up from work no matter how late his shift ended.   Little by little, I let go of the resentment I'd held toward that woman.   Until she got divorced and moved back to town with her daughter.   Marcus didn't go looking for her. Instead, he wrapped his arms around me, his whole body trembling as he murmured, "You're so good. I can't stand the thought of you being treated unfairly."   But the very next day, he dropped a divorce agreement onto the nightstand beside our bed.   "Elena Sullivan's daughter is only 6. She can't grow up without a father."   I went completely still.   "So you want to be her father?"   I still remembered how Marcus had begged me to wait before having kids of our own. He'd said he was afraid he wouldn't be a good father. Every time I'd brought it up since then, he'd come up with another excuse to put it off.   It wasn't that he didn't want to be a father. He just didn't want to be the father of my children.   I gently brushed my fingers over my barely rounded belly. Then I picked up the divorce papers and accepted them.

Bruce Sutton was gentle and refined.   Even though our families had arranged our marriage, he took care of me in every way.   He always arrived 30 minutes early to pick me up for dates and insisted on driving me home himself at night.   When I had my period, he put work aside to look after me. He never failed to make my birthdays and our anniversaries special.   After 3 years together, our relationship was as sweet as ever. He'd even helped me choose my wedding gown and shoes himself.   Everyone envied me. They said I'd found the perfect, most thoughtful husband.   Then came our pre-wedding party.   I stepped out to use the restroom. When I returned, Bruce, who was always so composed and restrained, was drinking like a madman, clutching a microphone and belting out songs without a shred of dignity.   Our friends couldn't stop him, no matter how hard they tried.   When videos of his karaoke performance spread that night, everyone said he'd never gotten over his first love.   But he issued a public statement saying he only regretted not meeting me sooner so he could have treated me better.   Watching him lie without so much as a flicker of expression, I felt my heart sink.   "Bruce, you're as good at public relations as you are at playing the perfect boyfriend.   "But I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a performance.   "We're done."