I f****d A Ghost

Tracy’s POV “I, Tracy Heather, take you, Evren Sterling, to be my lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward.” My voice trembled over the last words, forcing me to swallow against the hard lump in my throat as I stared at the empty space beside me. I was getting married today, but the man I was supposed to marry had been dead for six months. The chapel remained quiet around me, filled with the soft sounds of expensive fabric and the low hum of the air conditioner. Hundreds of people watched from their seats, their faces carefully composed as though this were an ordinary wedding, yet the absence of a groom made the entire ceremony feel wrong. My grip was firm around the bouquet in my hands, crushing a few delicate petals as I looked toward my father, Ethan, whose stiff expression gave nothing away. Beside him, Emma wore a small smile that looked equally uncomfortable, but neither of them said a word. Neither asked me if I wanted to stop. They all knew what I was doing. They all knew who I was marrying. And they all knew Evren Sterling was dead. Six months earlier, his death filled the news. “Evren Sterling, the twenty-nine-year-old heir to one of Manhattan’s wealthiest families, was killed in an assassination attempt that left the Sterling family in mourning and the city full of questions.” I barely knew him even before his death. Our families arranged the marriage years earlier, and although I met him a handful of times, those meetings were never enough for me to understand the man I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with. His death should have ended everything between us, yet the Sterling family refused to cancel the marriage contract. That was what brought me to the altar. It wasn’t love, or a relationship. It was because of a contract. When I first learned about Evren’s death, I expected my father to contact the Sterling family and put an end to the arrangement. Instead, Ethan returned from his meeting with them looking tired and told me the contract would remain in place. I thought he was joking until the Sterling family’s lawyers sent the documents confirming it. I couldn’t understand it. Evren was dead, so what purpose could the marriage possibly serve? Whenever I asked, my father told me there were obligations attached to the agreement, but he never explained enough to satisfy me. He only reminded me that our family business was already struggling and that breaking the contract would create problems we couldn’t afford. I didn’t want to believe that my marriage could be smalled to a business decision, but every conversation eventually led back to the same thing. The contract had to be honored. Now, standing in front of everyone, I could feel its weight more clearly than the ring resting on the velvet cushion beside the priest. “Tracy Heather,” the priest said, turning toward me, “do you accept Evren Sterling as your lawful husband?” I stared at him for a moment, then glanced toward the front row where Brandon Sterling sat beside the rest of the family. Evren’s father watched me without offering the smallest sign of hesitation. There was no grief on his face, no discomfort about the unusual ceremony, only the calm certainty of a man who expected the agreement to be completed. I slowly looked back at the priest. “I accept.” The priest picked up the ring and held it out to me. I took it with trembling fingers, staring at the plain band before slipping it onto my finger myself. There was supposed to be another hand there, another person standing beside me, but there was only empty air. “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the priest announced. Polite applause spread through the chapel, and I managed a small smile as I lowered my bouquet. Someone behind me whispered congratulations, while another guest began taking photographs, but I couldn’t stop noticing the chair that remained empty near the altar. Everything had been arranged as though Evren would be there, from the second place prepared at the reception to the wedding documents carrying his name, yet everyone knew there was no possibility of him walking through those chapel doors. The ceremony ended, and I walked toward the reception hall with my father. My wedding dress brushed against the polished floor as I moved, the sound almost lost beneath the conversations surrounding me. Guests congratulated me along the way, calling me Mrs. Sterling and telling me how beautiful I looked, but every time I heard the name, something inside me refused it. Mrs. Sterling. It didn’t feel real. At the reception, I sat at the head table beneath another arrangement of white flowers, with an empty chair beside me. The sight became more unbearable with every passing minute. Plates of food arrived, champagne filled crystal glasses, and music played softly in the background, yet the celebration never felt genuine. The Sterling family remained reserved, while my father barely touched his meal. Eventually, I couldn’t sit there any longer. I found Ethan near the entrance and stopped beside him. “Dad, I need to ask you something.” He looked at me, then glanced toward the Sterling family before lowering his voice. “What is it?” “Why are they doing this?” I asked, keeping my voice quiet enough that the nearby guests wouldn’t hear. “Evren is dead. Why wouldn’t they cancel the contract?” Ethan’s eyes dropped briefly to the floor before returning to mine. “Tracy, we’ve talked about this.” “No, you told me the contract couldn’t be cancelled. You never told me why.” I glanced toward Brandon, who stood a short distance away speaking with another guest, then looked back at my father. “How am I supposed to marry someone who isn’t alive?” Ethan’s face hardened with discomfort. “The agreement was made between both families. The Sterling family expects us to honor it.” “But Evren can’t honor it.” My father didn’t answer. I stared at him, waiting for an explanation that never came. “You knew this would happen, didn’t you?” “I knew the contract was important.” “That isn’t what I asked.” Ethan reached for my hand, but I pulled it away before he could touch me. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. I looked at him, hurt and confused by the apology. “You should be.” Before Ethan could say anything else, Brandon approached us, his expression calm as ever. “The guests are leaving soon. Tracy, you should go upstairs and rest.” I looked at him. “Your family could have cancelled the contract.” Brandon’s gaze remained steady. “We chose not to.” “Why?” “Because the agreement between our families still stands.” “That doesn’t explain anything.” “It explains exactly what you need to know.” I stared at him, anger rising beneath the tiredness that had followed me throughout the day. “I married a dead man because your family decided a piece of paper mattered more than anything else.” Brandon didn’t react to the accusation. “You knew the terms before you stood at that altar.” “No,” I replied, looking toward my father, “I knew what everyone told me. That’s not the same thing.” For once, Ethan looked away. I said nothing else. I turned and walked toward the staircase, leaving the noise of the reception behind me as I climbed toward the room set for me. The Sterling mansion was quiet upstairs, the thick walls muting the voices below until only the distant sound of music was left. I entered the bedroom and closed the door, finally alone after an entire day surrounded by people who seemed determined to pretend that everything was normal. I removed my veil and placed it carefully on the dresser before looking at myself in the mirror. The woman staring back at me still wore a wedding gown, still carried a bouquet, and still had a ring around her finger, but there was no happiness in her expression. I turned toward the bed and stopped when I saw the empty space beside it. This was supposed to be my wedding night. Instead, I was alone in a room that belonged to a man I barely knew, wearing a ring that carried his name while his coffin lay beneath the ground where I had watched him being buried six months earlier. I slowly sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the ring as the last sounds from the reception disappeared downstairs. I was now Tracy Sterling, wife of Evren Sterling, and there was something deeply unsettling about knowing that the marriage everyone insisted on preserving could never become what a marriage was supposed to be.