The Vengeful Groom's Deception

I married Veronica Hayes, the woman whose family destroyed mine.

She thought she was setting a trap for a fool.

She didn' t know she was walking into a decade of meticulous planning.

Ten years ago, in college, I poured my soul into a painting, a raw, dark piece, a silent scream about my father' s story.

She stopped in front of it with her entourage, a campus celebrity with her sharp wit and even sharper tongue.

"A starving artist," she announced, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"How cliché. I bet he thinks this mess is profound."

Laughter rippled around me.