“What truth?”
I asked softly.
He laughed.
“A truth everyone here deserves to know.”
My heart started beating faster. Then he said it.
“My son made the biggest mistake of his life.”
A few gasps, some whispers.
“And that mistake,”
he pointed at me,
“is standing right here.”
The words hit me like a slap. Murmurs spread through the crowd as I looked at Salem, waiting, hoping, but he said nothing. My chest tightened.
“I accepted her,”
his father continued,
“thinking maybe she would bring something into our lives.”
He paused, looking me up and down.
“But she brought nothing.”
Soft laughter began, then grew louder.
“She has no family,”
he added.
“No background, no value.”
Each word cut deeper.
“And my son,”
he sighed,