…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.<\/p>\n
The ride to the botanical gardens was agonizingly slow. I tried calling Max five more times. Each call went straight to voicemail.<\/p>\n
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\u2014a beautiful vintage photo album chronicling our college days together with the bride, Lily\u2014was ripped open on the passenger seat. Several pages were violently torn out.<\/p>\n
Why would he destroy Lily\u2019s gift?<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
I stepped behind a floral pillar, close enough to hear his frantic whisper.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Lily buried her face in her hands. “Max, I told you it was over! You shouldn’t have come. If Thomas finds you here\u2014”<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
The earth stopped spinning. The strange behavior, the sudden refusal to attend, the stolen car, the ruined gift\u2014it 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“Actually, Max,” I said, my voice echoing sharply across the stone patio.<\/p>\n
Both of them violently whipped around, the color draining from their faces. Max looked as though he had seen a ghost.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
“Honey, please, it’s not what\u2014”<\/p>\n
“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\u2019s suite has a sudden vacancy.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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