Short Story - Being right or wrong

The other day I was wondering who decides what or who is right or wrong.  I think rightness and wrongness are just illusions.

Rebecca had been recently asked by her neighbors to leave her apartment because she had apparently moved in with her partner, an already married man. She was called a house-breaker and a mean woman who could not see another woman happy. The man in question, Steve, was married for the past three years to Anne.

Three years ago, Steve was urgently called back home from UK, where he had been working for 8 years as an investment banker. His father, John, was terminally ill and would die any moment. He was a rich businessman, with acres of land and a lot of money. On his deathbed, John held Steve’s hand and called Anne, his friend’s daughter.  Putting her hand in his, he said, “Please fulfill this last wish, son. Marry her.” Steve looked at Anne. She gently smiled at him.

A couple of hours later, Steve’s father passed away. The funeral took place in the same week. Two weeks after the funeral, Steve and Anne were married in a simple ceremony, where only family and close friends were invited. Shortly after the wedding, Steve went to UK to resign from his job. He did not want to leave his mother alone after dad’s demise. In 15 days, he completed all the exit formalities and came back home.

Steve and Anne went to Greece for their honeymoon, as insisted by his mother.  Both of them had been busy after John’s death with the legal formalities of his will and property. Anne had been looking after Steve’s mom and persuading her to eat, talk, and sleep to move on.  A month after her husband’s death, Steve’s mother was looking better. She had started talking about her husband without getting emotional and had volunteered to visit the workplaces once a week to manage from where her husband had left.

It was impossible to understand why Steve and Anne had decided to part ways. Family members who had seen them together were eagerly waiting for their child to be born, as the big business empire needed an heir.  Anne and Steve looked good together.  One could often see them lost in conversation in the garden or the library. They left for work together in the morning and returned home together too, much to the pleasure of Steve’s mother. Occasionally, they would go out for dinners or to watch a play. On some weekends, they would stay at their farmhouse, sometimes, taking mom along.

But one fine day, Steve and Anne went to mom’s room and announced about their separation. Surprisingly, she said nothing. They filed for divorce soon.  When family members asked for explanation, Ms. John calmed them down saying that it was their life and their decision.

A month after filing for divorce, Anne moved back to her parents’ place. Soon after, she left abroad for her further studies. Steve moved in with Rebecca. After the initial gossip about them, they were left to themselves by the bothering neighbors. Occasionally, Steve’s mom would visit them. They would have a good time together; going out for a city tour, eating, and visiting interesting places in the town.

One day, Rebecca bought home a guest. It was a Saturday and she had gone out for grocery shopping while Steve caught some sleep after a late night with clients at work. Rebecca used her keys to open the door as Steve was still asleep. She asked her guest to be comfortable while she made some tea. The two were chatting away while Rebecca made tea. Steve woke up to the chatter.

As Rebecca and her guest were sipping tea, Steve came out wondering who the other person was.  

“Hi, Steve, did we wake you up?” asked the stranger.

Steve stood stunned for a moment, but then immediately hugged the stranger. It was Anne.  He had forgotten that she was supposed to come to stay over at their place before catching her flight for home.   Anne had returned from Australia where she had gone to complete her abandoned course.

Anne stayed with them the whole day before they went to the airport for her early morning flight back home. 

“Keep in touch, Anne.” Said Steve, as he hugged Anne while Rebecca smiled, looking at them.

Steve and Rebecca returned to their car after seeing Anne off.

 As Steve reversed his car from the parking lot, he smiled into oblivion.

“What is it?” asked Rebecca.

“If you were in Anne’s place, would you do what she did?” asked Steve.

“I don’t know, Steve, I really don’t know. But I wish I could do what she did.”

They smiled at each other and drove away.

Just before their wedding, Steve told Anne about his six year old relationship with Rebecca. They both worked in the same bank, he told her.  He did not want to betray Rebecca, who knew about his father’s last wish, and had asked him to go ahead and marry Anne.  Not even once, had Rebecca questioned Steve’s actions from his urgent visit home to his resignation.

Anne then told Steve about the real reason behind their marriage. His father was in a huge debt.  Her father had promised to help Steve’s father if their children got married. If Steve refused to marry Anne, he would lose even the house they were living in, leave alone the business and the land.

So they decided to get married for the world. Good friends that they always were, Anne always painted a pretty picture of their fake marriage. Meanwhile, Steve started making changes to his father’s conventional business strategies and took a few risks. In two years, the business was virtually free of debt. He did not need Anne’s father’s help.  By the third year, the business opened its doors to foreign nations, and surpassed Anne’s father’s company in profits. Everything looked better than before.

“It’s time now, Steve. We must tell mom,” said Anne, as she looked at the newspaper, reading about the profits Steve’s new business was making.

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew all this?” asked his mother.

“It wouldn’t matter, mom. Dad had made his decision. He wanted me to listen to him for you. I only did what he wanted. But now, I want you to let me do justice to Rebecca. She has never asked me any questions all this while.”

“If you two have already planned, I will not stop you. But you must be sure not to be unfair to Anne in an attempt to be good to Rebecca.”

“This is what she planned, mom.” Steve said, looking at Anne.

Mom looked at Anne in astonishment. She came to know that Anne had planned how Steve would recover his father’s business and make it independent from her father’s support. According to her, if the business started flourishing on its own, her father wouldn’t cause problems in their separation. To her father, she asked him not to mess with her life any further, saying that business collaborations don’t always work at personal levels. After filing for divorce, she resumed her studies that he had forced her to quit for getting her married.

For the world, it was a god-made alliance broken when Anne and Steve divorced. But for Anne, it was the union of two people in love. She never existed as an entity in all this ever. As Steve had promised his dying father, so had Anne promised him too, to help Steve. And that is what she exactly did.