He wasn’t the prince she thought…
Emily met Daniel just after he’d returned from his service abroad. He looked like he’d stepped straight off a magazine cover—tall, broad-shouldered, with piercing green eyes and dark, tousled curls. Beside him, Emily felt ordinary, though pretty in her own way—blonde, slender, with a shy smile. She couldn’t believe her luck when, out of all their friends, he’d chosen her.
*What does he even see in her?* her girlfriends whispered. *Men like that don’t stay. He’ll have his fun and be gone.*
But Emily just smiled. She believed in their love. They went to the cinema, danced at the pub, met friends. Daniel wasn’t one for flattery, but his touch made her dizzy. When she brought him home, her mum—Margaret—frowned. Later, she pulled Emily aside.
*”Handsome is as handsome does, love. Men like that aren’t the marrying sort. Don’t rush—test him first. He’s all show, no substance.”*
Emily was hurt. She trusted Daniel’s feelings, refused to doubt. Still, her mother’s words lingered.
Slowly, Daniel changed. First, the gym, then football matches, then new friends. Emily tagged along but felt out of place beside the toned, glamorous girls he eyed with interest. She started leaving early, hiding her tears.
*”You’re weak,”* he scoffed when she caught a chill after swimming. *”Should’ve stayed home with your books.”*
The words stung. Emily remembered her mother’s warning. She could feel him slipping away—vanishing for days without calls or explanations, until one day, he was just… gone.
*”Still no word?”* Margaret asked.
*”No…”* Emily turned to the wall.
*”Up you get!”* her mum ordered. *”To the salon first—new hair, new start. Then we’ll pick fabric. You’ve always had an eye for design.”*
They bought material; Emily sketched dresses, forcing her mind elsewhere. Rumours reached her—Daniel with a new girl, then another—but she held firm. When she reappeared at the dance hall weeks later, transformed, radiant, heads turned.
A quiet man named Thomas, unremarkable but kind, began courting her. Not a looker, but his eyes held only warmth. Within a month, he proposed.
*”Now that’s a proper man,”* Margaret said. *”Fell in love, so he’s making an honest woman of you. Well?”*
*”I’ll marry him,”* Emily murmured.
*”Do you love him?”*
*”How couldn’t I? He’s good, steady, loyal. He wants me—just me.”*
The wedding was small, warm. They started from scratch—first chair, first plate. A daughter came within a year, a son three years later. Family. Love.
Emily hardly thought of Daniel. She’d hear snippets—left his wife, ran off with someone else—and just smile.
*”Mine? Oh, he was just a fling. Hope he finds happiness, if he can.”*
At home waited her children, her husband. And her mum—wise, loving, the one who’d saved her from real heartbreak. The reason Emily had found her quiet, true happiness.
Mum… stay a little longer. Without you, the light’s not quite as bright.
