The Price of a Promise

"Five years, and Jake treated me like I was made of gold.

Everyone in our circle envied my good luck.

But I was still waiting for him to say those magic words: Marry me.

Eventually, I did hear them... but in the cruelest way possible.

It happened the day Jake's foster sister, Tiffany, hit someone with her car.

Jake went down on one knee, slipping a ring onto my finger.

'Sarah, can you take the fall for Tiffany? I promise, when you get out, I’ll marry you.'"

1.

I’ll marry you.

They're supposed to be the sweetest words in the world.

But Jake said them in the most heartless way imaginable.

I didn't want to go to prison for Tiffany.

Jake saw the hesitation in my eyes.

He pulled me close, appealing to my emotions.

"Sarah, Tiffany just got accepted to her dream college. Her future is just starting. She can’t go to jail; it would ruin her."

But I had just found out that I got into grad school myself.

My future was just starting too.

But what could I do?

I’d been in love with Jake for five years.

People said he spoiled me rotten.

Only I knew that he was like a kind of toxin, planted deep inside my heart.

To get a wedding proposal from him, I’d been doing everything to please everyone around him.

Jake knew me so well.

He knew I wouldn't pass up this chance.

I brushed Jake’s worried-looking eyes with my fingers.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"But I have one condition."

"I go to jail; Tiffany leaves the family. We’ll call it even. No more debts."

Jake closed his eyes, like he was having a major battle within.

Finally, he gave me a kiss.

He said, "Okay."

…

When I walked out of the prison gates,

Jake was off to the side, under a tree, talking on his cell.

He had his shades on, showing off his chiseled profile.

His low voice floated to me through the warm summer air.

"Yeah… get what she likes, Sarah's not picky..."

He kept rambling on.

Realizing I was there, he hung up.

He pulled me into a hug, his arms tightening.

"Sarah, you've lost so much weight."

I took his sunglasses off.

His eyes, the ones I adored so much, were as deep as the ocean.

Whenever I looked into them, I would get lost.

Jake scooped me up, carrying me around the car and setting me into the passenger seat.

I asked him,

"Why didn't my dad come, Jake?"

I’d lost contact with my dad a year ago.

Before that, he’d visit me every month, and he’d write me letters.

But a year ago, he just vanished.

Jake's hand gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"Sarah, let's go home, and we can talk about it there."

I grabbed his sleeve.

"Jake, tell me, what happened to my dad?"

Jake was silent for a while.

"Sarah, your dad... he passed away."

After I lost contact with my dad, I'd prepared for the worst.

But even so, when I actually heard the terrible news,

I couldn’t believe it.

“My dad was always so healthy, what happened?”

"It was an accident." Jake said softly, smoothing my hair with his hand, "I'll take you to visit him tomorrow.”

I slumped back into the seat.

Bi...