…summoned a rideshare app on my phone, my thumb jabbing the screen with enough force to crack it. A driver was five minutes away. I threw on my emerald silk dress, slipped into my heels, and stormed out the front door, my mind racing with a million different disastrous scenarios.
The ride to the botanical gardens was agonizingly slow. I tried calling Max five more times. Each call went straight to voicemail.
When I finally pulled up to the sprawling estate, the first thing I saw was our silver sedan parked haphazardly on the grass, two wheels up on a curb near the catering entrance. I marched over, peering through the window. The custom-wrapped gift box I had painstakingly assembled—a beautiful vintage photo album chronicling our college days together with the bride, Lily—was ripped open on the passenger seat. Several pages were violently torn out.
Why would he destroy Lily’s gift?
A sickening feeling settled in my stomach. The string quartet was already playing in the distance. I bypassed the main entrance and slipped through the side garden doors, following the hushed whispers of the guests.
I didn’t have to look far. The ceremony hadn’t started. Instead, near the ivy-covered archway, a private, explosive argument was taking place. Lily, looking beautiful but panicked in her white gown, was cornered by Max. The groom, Thomas, was nowhere to be seen.
I stepped behind a floral pillar, close enough to hear his frantic whisper.
“I couldn’t let her give you that album, Lily,” Max hissed, running a hand through his hair. “I remembered the lake house trip. There’s a photo from that night. If my wife saw it, if Thomas saw it… the whole timeline of our affair would be right there in high definition.”
Lily buried her face in her hands. “Max, I told you it was over! You shouldn’t have come. If Thomas finds you here—”
“I left my kids at the arcade and stole my own wife’s car to protect us!” Max pleaded, stepping closer. “You can’t marry him.”
The earth stopped spinning. The strange behavior, the sudden refusal to attend, the stolen car, the ruined gift—it all snapped into crystal-clear focus. They hadn’t just been college friends. For God knows how long, they had been hiding a betrayal right under my nose.
I didn’t scream. I didn’t cry. Instead, an eerie sense of calm washed over me. I stepped out from behind the pillar, my emerald dress catching the afternoon sun.
“Actually, Max,” I said, my voice echoing sharply across the stone patio.
Both of them violently whipped around, the color draining from their faces. Max looked as though he had seen a ghost.
“You didn’t steal my car,” I continued, closing the distance between us. I reached into his jacket pocket, retrieving the keys to our sedan while he stood completely paralyzed by shock. “It’s registered in my name. And you didn’t protect anything.”
“Honey, please, it’s not what—”
“Save it,” I interrupted, turning my icy gaze to the trembling bride. “Happy wedding day, Lily. I’d say I hope you two are very happy together, but I have a feeling Thomas is going to be very interested in why the groom’s suite has a sudden vacancy.”
I turned on my heel and walked away, the sound of my stilettos clicking rhythmically against the stone path. I didn’t look back when Max called my name, nor did I stop when I passed Thomas walking out with a confused expression.
I got into my car, tossed the ruined photo album into the nearest trash bin, and drove back to the amusement center. Max had made his choice, but I had two kids waiting for me, and I wasn’t about to let him ruin our day.
