Page 6 of Black Mark's Heart

Before I could respond, Warren turned his back and marched into the wardrobe. Grinding my teeth, I made my way to the first meeting.

***

If I thought I'd run the gamut of awkwardness with my two best friends, I was wrong. On Wednesday night, when I was getting ready to head home, I turned off the office light and was just grabbing my gym bag from the wardrobe when Mora's voice floated into my office.

"I'm here to return what doesn't belong to me."

I held my breath and moved quietly back into my office. She stood by Warren's desk in a pair of jeans and a winter jacket, her hair shoved up under a beanie. Warren was right, she'd lost weight. She looked quite ill, and her beautiful blue eyes seemed to lack any luster. I heard every word, but the word coward was like cymbals being played right next to me. My ears rang and my head hurt at the viciousness in her tone.

Her voice changed. It quavered under the weight of her hurt, and all I wanted to do was fall at her feet and beg forgiveness; to kiss her and make love to her until she smiled for me again.

"The biggest thing he gave me, I mean the lasting thing that is going to stay with me for life, I can't give back," Mora mourned.

"I am sorry, Mora. I know your father explained the situation. You must understand, Dare never meant to hurt you like this." It was the first bit of sympathy to my side of this that Warren had shown.

Mora's anger overtook the pain and her words pierced my heart. Not because they were mean and unwarranted, but because she spoke the truth. I handled it so badly.

"Yeah, Marshall explained. That is the problem, Warren. It's not what happened; it’s how it happened. Darius should have been the one to explain it to me. He should have taken me back to the room where my stuff was at The Mill, sat me down, and explained why he was about to break every promise he made me. Instead, he threw me out. He couldn't even look me in the eye and tell me goodbye. He still won't. He's a coward."

When Warren picked up the envelope with the annulment papers, I almost walked out to take them back. I didn't want to see the hurt this was going to cause her. I was already haunted enough with the memory of our wedding day.

I could see Mora's hands shaking as she held the envelope. "He signed them?" Mora whispered. "So, I'm unattached, single, and never been married? It was all a dream that never really happened?" Every one of those words was a dagger to the stomach.

"Once you sign the papers and lodge them, you will be free to marry someone else; to the church and the government, you will have never been married," Warren explained.

"Just another of his lies." Mora was on the edge of tears. I could hear it in her voice.

"Mora," Warren pleaded.

She held up the envelope. "You and I both know this is a lie, Warren, and you know why it is a lie."

"It is a lie that will allow you to move on with your life, Mora. You will both be free to build the future you had planned with each other, just with someone else." Warren encouraged.

Mora lifted her glistening eyes to the ceiling and nodded as if something had just dawned on her. "So he can find someone else and pretend I never existed is what you mean, Warren."

I wanted to march out there and tell her that was not what I wanted, but what good would it do for her to know the truth? Maybe it would be easier for her to move on if she hated me.

"Mora, do not think for a second it is any easier on him." Warren grabbed her arm to turn her back to him. "You are not the only one hurting in this."

"No," Mora snapped, pulling her arm free of his grasp. "I am, however, the only one who lost everything, aren't I? I gave up my career for him. I broke my rules for him. He took everything from me, Warren, and he gave me my worst nightmare. He made me my mother, and I will hate him for an eternity for doing that to me."

I sat back on my desk, shocked, feeling like I'd been punched in the gut and stabbed in the heart in unison. Mora was gone, but I felt the ghost of her pain like she stood in front of me.

"Still think you made the right choice?" Warren asked as he walked into my office. He didn't sound angry like I expected; he sounded heartbroken.

"No," I answered honestly. "But it is too late now. The damage is done."

"Yes, it is." Warren held a small black box out to me. "This was in the case with the clothes."

I cracked it open as Warren turned to leave. I frowned. "Only the wedding band," I muttered, surprised.

"The bad memory." Warren spoke over his shoulder. "The diamond is on the long chain around her neck. She's taking the good memory with her."

***

I heard the door open behind me, but I couldn't take my eyes away from Mora's back, walking away from me for good.

"She's an amazing girl," Jeremy stated as he came to stand next to me. "You'll never find one like her again."

---