He Broke Our Wedding for His Student ,Now He's Begging Me Back

On the day of our wedding, my fianc was taken away by the police for raping his female student.

I chased after him in my wedding dress, desperate to clear his name.

Only to learn that he had turned himself in.

He looked at me with an apologetic expression and said:

Elise's family found out that she was taken advantage of by someone, and now they're forcing her to marry the thug who did it.

"I couldn't bear to watch her end up like that, so I came forward and took responsibility myself."

"Her family said that as long as I agree to marry her, they'll drop the charges. Whether it's the university investigation or the rumors flying around, I need you to handle all of it for me."

"Elise and I have already agreed. It'll be a sham marriage, three years only. After three years, I'll give you a proper wedding. Just wait for me, okay?"

I turned and walked away without a word.

I pulled the veil from my hair and draped it over a stray dog on the side of the road.

Benjamin Delgado, what makes you think I'd wait for you?

Benjamin demanded I return to the venue immediately, smooth things over with the university officials, and squash the rumors for him.

But I only did two things.

First, I contacted his university and informed them I was pulling my investment from his research project and shutting down his lab.

Second, I left the venue and went straight back to our apartment.

I wiped my tears and began erasing every trace of Benjamin Delgado from the place, one item at a time.

The matching couple's mugs we'd shaped together in Porcelain Creek. The matching pajamas we wore every night.

The wedding portrait we'd just picked up yesterday, freshly and lovingly framed.

I threw all of it into the bathtub, flicked a lighter, and watched the flames eat through every last piece until nothing was recognizable.

As the fire climbed, I called the hotel where the wedding was being held.

"The wedding is off. Send the remaining bill to the groom. And deliver everything I left in storage at the hotel back to my home."

But the voice on the other end was the hotel manager's, thick with confusion.

"The groom just told us the wedding is still on, just postponed by one day. He also said we printed the wrong name on the photos and banners and asked us to replace the bride's name with Elise Simmons."

A thorn drove itself deep into my chest.

That wedding was something I had spent ten years envisioning, shaping detail by detail in my mind.

Every flower arrangement, every piece of dcor, I had spent six months crafting with my own hands.

Benjamin knew full well that it was our dream wedding.

And he was handing it to his student?

I drew a long breath, forcing the pain down before I spoke.

"Fine. Whatever. Just send my things back. Especially the bracelet in the safe."

The manager sounded even more bewildered.

"But the groom already took the bracelet from the safe. He said it was going to be a bride gift for the new bride."

My head exploded with a deafening ring.

I hung up and dialed Benjamin's number. Over and over.

Every call was rejected. He declined each one until the eighteenth, when he finally picked up.

His voice carried a thin, weary irritation.

"Didn't I already tell you? Don't contact me for a while. I need to play the part of a real husband for Elise. I was just chatting with her parents and you almost blew my cover."

My throat locked shut, but I forced the words out.

"Benjamin Delgado, did you take my bracelet?"

He paused for a second, then laughed.

"Yeah. Elise's mom said it's their family tradition to have a bracelet as part of the bride gift. Yours was heavy enough and pretty, so I grabbed it for her."

My heart felt like it was being ripped apart, stitch by stitch.

"Benjamin Delgado!!"

My voice cracked, shrill enough to shatter.

"That was the only thing my mother left me before she died! What gave you the right to take it and hand it to your mistress as a bride gift?!"

"Give it back! Right now! Bring it to me this instant, or I'm calling the police! I'll make sure you two have your wedding behind bars!"

I was shaking with rage, every word barbed.

Benjamin flinched on the other end of the line, then fired back with anger of his own.

"What kind of way is that to talk? I told you it was all for show! I just borrowed it! It's not like I'm keeping it forever!"

"I was going to wait until tomorrow and buy you a few similar ones as an apology gift. But you just had to"

Fury surged through me. I couldn't stand to hear his voice for another second.

I hung up, walked out the door, and hailed a cab, giving the driver Elise's address.

I grabbed Benjamin's luggage on my way out.

During the ride, my phone buzzed nonstop. Text messages from Benjamin.

"I got a little worked up just now. I said some things I shouldn't have. Maud, I'm sorry."

"How about thisI'll return the bracelet tomorrow, but you have to come to the wedding and be Elise's bridesmaid."

"Think about it. We were supposed to get married, and then I suddenly went and got my marriage license with Elise instead. That doesn't look good for a young woman's reputation."

"If you show up tomorrow as the bridesmaid, nobody will think Elise came between us. And if anyone asks about what happened with us, just cover for me... Tell them you cheated, that you fell for someone else, that you'd been wanting to break things off for a while. Just don't drag Elise into it."

I stared at his messages, and a laugh escaped me. The sheer absurdity of it.

But the laughter didn't last. Tears rolled down and soaked into the hem of my coat.

The driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror and silently handed me a tissue.

I thanked him quietly, pushed open the car door, and dragged the suitcase behind me as I stormed upstairs.

I went straight to Elise's front door and pounded on it with everything I had.

The door rattled like thunder under my fists.

Hurried footsteps echoed from inside, and the door swung open.

"Who the hell? It's the middle of the night!"

Benjamin stood there in a pink apron, flour dusted across his forehead.

My eyes burned red in an instant.

Benjamin and I had been together for ten years.

I'd watched him go from a penniless student to a respected professor.

The deepest scar he carried was from college, when he'd worked part-time as a kitchen hand at a restaurant to put himself through school. A group of rich kids who resented him had jumped him, pinned him to the ground, and poured leftover food over his head.

"Pathetic little cook. You think you can steal another man's girl?"

After that, he despised the kitchen. Loathed everything about cooking.

Even when I brought him home to meet my mother after our engagementmy mother, who was already gravely illall I asked was for him to carry the dishes out from the kitchen. He went cold, slammed the door, and left.

My dying mother wept for me.

Even then, I forced a smile and made excuses for him.

After that, I treated him even more carefully, walking on eggshells around his wounds.

I'd never cooked a day in my life, but I burned and blistered my hands learning, just so he'd never have to.

And now I knew. His scars had already been healedby another woman.

The moment Benjamin saw me, he froze. Then, instinctively, guiltily, he tugged at the apron.

"Maud... what are you doing here?"

Behind him, Elise's face appeared. Her small features were pinched with anxiety as she peered at me.

"Professor's wife... no... Miss Fox, what are you doing here?"

Tears welled in her eyes as she stepped in front of Benjamin, shielding him.

"Miss Fox, if you need someone to take your anger out on, just hit me. Professor Delgado only did all this to help me..."

Benjamin looked at her with aching tenderness, then turned on me.

"Maud, how can you be so heartless? Elise's family is trying to force her to marry the thug who assaulted her. All I did was step in to protect her. Can't you show a shred of compassion?"

"No!"

My voice trembled with fury.

"If she's so pitiful, that's between her parents and whoever hurt her! She could have said no! She could have called the cops! Why should I be the one to sacrifice my marriage and my happiness?"

"Unless..."

A sob crept into my voice.

"Unless none of it ever happened. Unless you two were already together, and that's why"

The slap came before I could finish.

Benjamin stood with his hand raised, face twisted in rage. "Don't you dare talk about her like that! I already told youElise and I are only getting married on paper! Why do you insist on twisting everything into something ugly?"

Our shouting drew a crowd. Neighbors from upstairs and downstairs poked their heads out, gathering on the landing.

Someone turned to Elise and Benjamin. "Elise, who is this? What's her relationship with your husband?"

Elise stammered, her voice small. "She's his... ex..."

The look on her face said everything she didn'twounded, long-suffering, victimized.

Understanding dawned on the neighbors' faces. They turned to me with open disgust, and one of them actually shoved me.

"They're about to get married! You're still chasing after someone else's husband? That makes you the other woman! You look decent enoughhave some shame!"

"Exactly! Someone get a photo of her! Post it online!"

I laugheda sharp, bitter soundand slammed my suitcase down in front of them.

"Benjamin, why don't you tell them who the real other woman is?"

The suitcase popped open on impact. But Elise let out a shriek and crouched down.

Benjamin looked at her legat a red, swollen mark no bigger than a fingernail.

His expression changed instantly.

"Maud! When will you stop? Elise and I already have our marriage certificate! So tell mewho's the other woman here?"

I stared at him, stunned, and let out a hollow laugh. "Benjamin. This is what you call a fake marriage? You got the certificate and it's still fake?"

He realized his slip the moment the words left his mouth. Guilt flickered across his face before he deflected.

"All this over some worthless braceletyou come here and assault people!"

"Maud, I never knew you could be this heartless. This selfish. This cold-blooded!"

My eyes went wide as Benjamin stormed back into the apartment. When he came out, he was holding the bracelet I treasured more than anything in the world.

He hurled it at the ground.

"You want your bracelet so bad? Take your piece of junk and get out!"

"No!" I screamed and lunged for it, hands outstretched, but I wasn't fast enough.

I watched it shatter against the floor, pieces scattering like broken teeth.

My head snapped up. I fixed him with a stare full of something he had never seen from me before.

Not love. Not devotion. Not patience.

Hatred.

Even through his rage, it shook him. For one brief second, panic crossed his face.

But the next second, Elise whimpered through her tears. "Professor Delgado, my leg hurts so much. Do you think it's broken?"

Benjamin snapped back to attention. He scooped her up and strode past me toward the stairs.

"Don't be scared. I'm taking you to the hospital."

He moved fast and hard, and as he passed, he knocked straight into me where I crouched on the floor.

I tumbled down the steep staircase and hit the landing below with a sickening thud.

People gasped. I called out, my voice thin and weak.

Benjamin never looked back.

Before my eyes closed, the last thing I saw was Elise resting her head against his shoulder, looking right at me.

Smiling.

In that moment, something inside my chest cracked openclean and sharp, like porcelain breaking.

There was a time when Benjamin had protected me the way he now protected Elise.

When those trust-fund boys followed me, catcalling and closing in, and I was shaking with fearhe had charged out and planted himself between us. He told them to back off without flinching.

Then he grabbed my wrist and pulled me through their circle, and we ran.

Later, I learned that Benjamin had been targeted and harassed by those rich kids because of what he'd done.

I found him with tears brimming in my eyes and apologized. He just smiled, patted my head, and said, "Don't worry about it. I just can't stand to see you cry."

The man who once panicked at the mere sight of tears in my eyes could now ignore my pain entirely for another girl's sake.

When exactly had Elise Simmons wedged herself between us?

Maybe it started the day she became Benjamin's graduate student. He talked about her constantly, saying she reminded him of his younger self. But the look in his eyes was nothing like nostalgia. It was pure adoration.

Or maybe it was the time she called him crying, saying a group of male students had cornered her with unwanted confessions. Benjamin, always so calm and rational, had charged in like a hotheaded teenager and thrown punches.

When I went to bail him out, I looked at his split, bruised lip and felt something bitter settle in my chest for the first time.

He explained it away: "Maud, when I heard what happened to her, it reminded me of how you used to get bullied. I just lost it."

But the thing was, when I'd been in that exact situation, all he'd done was quietly walk me away.

...

When I woke up, I was already in the hospital.

The doctor told me with a worried expression that it was a good thing I'd been brought in quickly. I'd hit the back of my head in the fall, and there was bleeding in my brain. A little longer, and I might not have woken up at all.

I thanked him softly, had my wounds treated, and left.

The moment I reached the lobby of my apartment building, a group of men followed me in. Leering. Closing in.

"You're that bitch from the internet, aren't you?"

"You look decent enough on the outside, but turns out you're rotten to the core. Hiring thugs to bully some college girl? You like men that much? Well, today we'll give you a taste of what that's like!"

They lunged at me with ugly grins, tearing at my clothes.

I screamed and stumbled backward, but they were faster. My shirt ripped. Their fingers twisted into my skin, leaving bruises wherever they grabbed.

It wasn't until the building's security guard rushed over and called the police that they finally scattered like rats.

I collapsed to my knees, shaking uncontrollably.

The security guard stood over me, looking down with undisguised contempt.

"You brought this on yourself. Who told you to be so vicious, going after an innocent girl like that?"

My head snapped up. My voice trembled. "What did you just say?"

He scoffed and walked away.

My skull felt like it split open. I fumbled for my phone and started scrolling.

There it was. A public statement Benjamin had posted.

"I'm sorry to take up everyone's time, but I need to set the record straight. The accusations about me bullying a female student were a misunderstanding. My ex-girlfriend, Maud Fox, hired thugs to harass my student out of jealousy, nearly forcing her into a marriage with that animal."

"I took the blame to protect Maud because I felt sorry for her. But she showed no remorse and only escalated her behavior, so I've decided to reveal the truth."

"I will also take responsibility for my student. I intend to marry her and take care of her for the rest of her life."

Elise had commented underneath:

"With you by my side, I'm not afraid of anything."

Blood rushed to my head. My whole body felt like it had been hit by a freight train.

Below that post, the comments were split between congratulations for the happy couple and a torrent of abuse aimed at me. My photos had been edited into obscene, degrading images. People were calling for someone to doxx me, to find my address and "teach me a lesson."

My phone was flooded with messages. Filthy, vile curses, one after another.

I kept trying to explain. I hadn't done any of it. Benjamin was lying.

But no one believed me.

"Your own boyfriend came out and exposed you! You definitely did it!"

"Do you have any proof you're innocent? Didn't think so! Die, you worthless slut!"

With trembling hands, I forwarded the post to Benjamin.

"Why are you smearing me like this?"

His reply came fast:

"Didn't I tell you yesterday to smooth things over with the university administration for me? You just walked out without a care, and now I've been called in for accountability. This was the only way I could think of to clear things up."

"Besides, everyone was dragging Elise online, calling her a homewrecking tramp. She cried so hard yesterday she nearly passed out. This protects her reputation too."

"What about ME?! I deserve to be the one getting torn apart?"

"Maud, it's just a few nasty comments from strangers. Just don't look at it. Give it some time and people will forget. It'll blow over."

"Oh, and the wedding starts in an hour. Elise's and mine. Hurry up and come be the bridesmaid. Apologize to Elise in front of everyone. If we're putting on a show, we need to commit to the whole act."

Then, in a tone that was neither gentle nor harsh, he added:

"Be a good girl. If you keep throwing tantrums, I can't guarantee I'll still marry you and file the paperwork in three years. Remember, your mother is gone. I'm the only family you have left in this world."

My entire body shook with rage.

Once, at my mother's bedside, he had held my hand and sworn he would be my last remaining family, that he would take care of me for the rest of my life.

Now, my loneliness and helplessness had become the very reason he felt free to trample all over me.

Tears were still sliding down my cheeks when my phone buzzed with a new message.

"Miss Fox, there's something I'm not sure I should tell you."

"I have the surveillance footage from the day Elise's incident happened... I think you deserve to know what really went on that day..."

I stared at the video that loaded on my screen, and my body went rigid.

One month ago. Graduation day.

Elise was supposed to be onstage for the tassel-turning ceremony, but she and Benjamin had both vanished.

As the lab's sponsor, I followed the university staff backstage to look for them.

That was when we walked right into Benjamin, rushing out with an unconscious Elise in his arms.

We followed them to the hospital, where the doctor gave us a strange look and said, "Young people chasing thrills still need to be careful."

Only then did we learn the truth: Elise and someone had been fooling around in a storage room full of high-powered stage lights. The door had locked behind them, and they'd been baking inside for a full three hours until she collapsed from dehydration.

The campus erupted. University leadership issued an immediate order to expel Elise.

When she came to, she sobbed and screamed that she'd been assaulted, that her attacker had already fled.

The university pulled the surveillance footage, but the recordings had been deleted.

When they pressed her for details, she refused to talk and threatened to throw herself off a building.

Benjamin also threatened to pull his research funding, pressuring the administration to drop the investigation and bury the whole thing.

I couldn't understand it. Again and again, I tried to get justice for Elise.

But every single time, Benjamin shut me down with that sharp, scolding tone of his.

"Stop making trouble! Digging into this isn't helping her. You're only forcing her to relive the trauma!"

Now, watching the footage on my screen, watching Benjamin tangled up with Elise, the two of them so desperate they nearly broke down the equipment room door, the pain that tore through my chest was beyond anything I could control.

So it was true. Exactly what I had suspected all along.

Elise had never been assaulted. She had been cheating with him.

I dragged the video's progress bar forward, and something unbelievable appeared on the screen.

My pupils blew wide.

After a long silence, I let out a bitter, broken laugh.

Benjamin Delgado.

Did you have any idea that your self-righteous little act of "protection" just made you someone else's fall guy?

My phone buzzed with a string of messages from Benjamin, urging me to hurry. I pushed the thoughts down and typed back a calm reply.

"Fine. I'll be there."

I would go. But not to clear their names.

I was going to deliver the heaviest blow of their lives.

When I arrived at the wedding venue, every pair of eyes that found me carried the same look: mockery and contempt.

Elise's mother spotted me and marched straight over, spitting at my feet. Her voice was shrill enough to cut glass.

"You! You shameless little tramp! You're the one who ruined my daughter! Go to hell, you filthy whore!"

She and a handful of equally aggressive older women grabbed at my clothes, tearing at the fabric, the word whore flying from their mouths like a refrain until security finally pulled them off me.

I ignored every word. I smoothed my clothes, lifted my chin, and walked inside.

The ceremony was about to begin. The venue was packed with guests, and I could see media crews set up along the sides. Of course. Benjamin wanted to use this occasion to cement the story he'd been spinning online, to prove his and Elise's innocence in front of as many witnesses as possible.

The moment Benjamin saw me, relief washed over his face. He smiled the easy, knowing smile of a man who believed he'd already won.

He walked up and reached for my hand with practiced familiarity.

"See? Would it have killed you to cooperate from the start? Why'd you have to push things to where they went last night?"

"I already sent the bracelet out for restoration. I promise it'll come back looking exactly the way it was."

He pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and held it out to me.

"Just read this when you get up there. It'll be over before you know it. Once the wedding wraps up, I'll come home and spend time with you, okay? And after that, I'll buy you a plane ticket. Go abroad for a while, lie low for three years. When the three years are up, I'll marry you."

I glanced down at the paper. It was a full confession, written in his hand, detailing how I had been so consumed by unrequited love and jealousy that I'd orchestrated a campaign to persecute Elise.

If I read this aloud, I would become the villain everyone already wanted me to be. The vicious, spiteful woman the whole country could hate without guilt.

I tore the paper to shreds and flung the pieces in his face.

White scraps of paper drifted through the air around him, framing the ugly expression that twisted his features.

I strode past him, climbed the steps to the stage, and signaled to the technician I'd already paid off. The backstage surveillance footage from that day began to play on the massive screen behind me.

I turned to the crowd and spoke, my voice ringing through the speakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I am indeed here to set the record straight!"

"But what I'm here to clarify is this: who is the real culprit behind what happened to Elise Simmons?"